Saint of the day October 25: Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy. Catholic Saints

Every October 25, the Church commemorates Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy (Thaddeus McCarthy, in English, or, in the original Gaelic, Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh – ca. 1455-1492), an Irish ecclesiastic, who was appointed bishop on two occasions, but who never arrived to assume any of its headquarters.

McCarthy was born around 1455 in Innishannon, County Cork, Ireland, into a noble family. His father held the title Lord of Muskerry, while his mother was the daughter of Edmund Fitzmaurice, 9th Lord of Kerry. Due to his social status, he received a dedicated education, probably by Franciscan friars.

From a very young age, he began to prepare for the priesthood, first under the guidance of an uncle of his, Canon Thady Mac Cárthaigh, and then embarked for France and continued his studies at the prestigious University of Paris. Priestly ordination would take place back in his native Cork, where he would remain for a short time, since Rome was waiting for him to be the last link in his academic training.

The bishop whose see was taken from him twice

It is then that Pope Sixtus IV (p. 1471-1484), aware of the personal qualities of the young Irish priest, appointed him archbishop of Ross, in Cork. Thaddeus was only 27 years old at the time, and would be consecrated bishop on May 3, 1482 at St. Stephen’s Church in Rome.

Arriving in Munster, in the south of the island territory of Ireland, the blessed learned that the see he was going to assume was in the possession of Hugh O’Driscoll, who had occupied it since 1473 on behalf of Sixtus IV himself. Ireland lacked a unitary political government and was rather divided between Gaelic kingdoms and Anglian lordships. Everything indicated that the Pope had been misinformed about O’Driscoll’s supposed death.

Even today there is no certainty if the erroneous information was part of a political plot or if it was simply an error. What is certain is that Blessed McCarthy and O’Driscoll entered into a dispute over the see of Ross, which encouraged their respective families, houses or dynasties to clash politically.

News of this controversy reached Rome, carrying with it rumors about Thaddeus McCarthy’s lack of legitimacy to assume the seat of Ross. Bishop O’Driscoll protested to the Pope about McCarthy’s presence, accusing him of being an impostor. This accusation was strengthened by the approval of the lords who supported, in 1485, the appointment of Henry VII as king of England and Ireland. Most of the landed lords wanted O’Driscoll to remain in the Ross seat because he was politically friendly to them.

Unjustly accused and excommunicated

Three years later, in 1488, Pope Innocent VIII – successor of Sixtus IV – supported O’Driscoll and excommunicated McCarthy. The blessed travels to Rome and appeals the decision of the new pontiff, before whom he appears, and a commission appointed by him declares him innocent of all accusations and the excommunication is void.

Pope Innocent VIII then decided to give McCarthy the see of Cork and Cloyne in 1490. The blessed, who remained in Rome, immediately headed towards Munster (Ireland), but great was his surprise to find that the Earl of Kildare, Gerald Fitzgerald, known as “the uncrowned king,” had usurped the see. Fitzgerald did not like the new bishop and was prepared to enforce his will by force. He had his men occupy the cathedral and prevent McCarthy from even entering. On the other hand, he managed to file criminal charges against the newcomer. The cathedral headquarters would remain in this situation for years.

Shepherd all over the coast

Tadeo McCarthy then dedicated himself to traveling through the territory that corresponded to him pastorally, attending to the spiritual needs of his people, and trying to assert the right that corresponded to him, showing countless times the papal documents that certified his episcopal appointment.

The blessed situation gradually worsened because no one wanted to confront Fitzgerald. Even his own family – his dynasty – abandoned him in the end. They were at least two years of intense pain for McCarthy, a time of purification for his soul and bringing him closer to the cross of Christ. After that period, he decided to go to the Pope again and headed, once again, towards Rome. Innocent VIII received him and gave him a special document in which he directly ordered the Earl of Kildare to desist from his position and take charge of protecting McCarthy himself.

Pilgrims in this world

Fearing another conspiracy against him, the blessed man decides to travel back to his headquarters incognito, like another pilgrim. He left Rome visiting the sanctuaries he found along his way. He did not wear episcopal clothing, nor did he allow anyone to accompany him. And it was on the way back home where death surprised him, in Ivrea, near Turin. He died peacefully in his bed, in an inn run by friars that he found on the night of October 24, 1492.

Blessed Tadeo, because he was not from the place and lacked apparent identification, was destined to be buried in a common grave. However, an extraordinary event occurred. Bishop Nicolás Garigliatti, local bishop, had a dream on the same night of October 24. In this he saw a man dressed in episcopal attire ascend gloriously to heaven.

Garigliatti, summoned to the morgue, upon seeing McCarthy’s body, recognized the person he saw in his dream. Then he asked that the dead man’s belongings be examined: a small saddlebag, a container for water, his pilgrim’s staff and some of those shells that since ancient times were used to certify that a pilgrim had visited a sanctuary were found, replacing the pompous ones. certificates. Those were his only possessions. However, the inn’s servers had overlooked one detail: there was also a set of papers that they could not understand. These were papal documents that wrapped an episcopal ring. The pilgrim who had died during the night was Bishop Thaddeus McCarthy, Bishop of Cork and Cloyne, who incredibly traveled without an entourage and without ecclesiastical attire.

The true rest of the warrior

Monsignor Garigliatti ordered that the body be dressed according to his investiture and taken to the cathedral of Ivrea to be buried there in a solemn manner. What happened brought together hundreds of people who accompanied the funerals. Today, the remains of “Blessed Thaddeus” rest in the same cathedral under the altar of San Andrés Apóstol.

Four centuries after his death, the Diocese of Cork together with that of Ivrea raised the cause of Bishop Thaddeus McCarthy. As a result, he was declared Blessed in 1895.

The bishop of Cork at the time took some of the blessed relics, among which was a lock of his reddish hair. These were placed under the main altar of Cork Cathedral.

“The Cobh Way”

In St Colman’s Cathedral, in the port city of Cobh, on the south coast of Ireland, there is a side altar dedicated to Blessed Thaddeus. In 2019, on the occasion of the centenary of said cathedral, Fr. John McCarthy instituted “the Cobh Way”, a symbolic pilgrimage route within the temple, marked by ‘pilgrim shells’ on the walls, in memory of our pilgrimage on this earth – where there is no real security other than Christ. This spirit of providentiality is perfectly captured in the life – without rest – of Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy, pastor and pilgrim.