Background
Francis James Brennan was born on May 7, 1894 in the coal-mining town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the son of James Brennan, a dentist, and Margaret Connor.
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Francis James Brennan
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also known as
Francis John Joseph Brennan
Education
Brennan attended public school in Shenandoah until 1910, when he entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary near Philadelphia. Eight years later Brennan was chosen for advanced study at the Pontifical Roman Seminary and in 1920 he received his D. D. and was ordained a priest.
After four years of additional study at the Juridical Seminary of St. Apollinare in Rome, he received his doctorate in civil and canon law.
Career
After receiving his doctorate in the field of civil and canon law from the Juridical Seminary of St. Apollinare in Rome, Brennan returned to Philadelphia in 1924. He then served as assistant pastor at St. Charles Borromeo Church and then at St. Carthage Church, and taught Latin at West Philadelphia High School for Boys.
In 1928 he went to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary as professor of canon law and moral philosophy. In 1937, Brennan became a member of the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Court and director of the conference of clergymen that advised the archbishop on moral cases under canon law.
His judicial work came to the attention of the apostolic delegate (papal representative) in the United States, Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, who had been one of Brennan's teachers in Rome and who later became a cardinal and the Vatican's secretary of state. Cicognani recommended him for a post in the Sacra Rota, the Vatican court of appeals from diocesan tribunals.
In 1940, Brennan became the first American appointed an auditor (judge) in the Rota, which had been established in 1171. While it had once played a key role in the Vatican's relations with secular rulers and states, in modern times it dealt primarily with appeals for church annulment of marriages.
After nineteen years of service in the Rota, Brennan became its dean (chief judge), with the title of monsignor. In that capacity, he carried the pope's miter, a symbol of law, in papal processions and served as president of the Vatican Court of Appeal, a civil court.
Between 1959 and 1967 he served in administrative, financial, and legal posts in several congregations (governing committees) of the Roman Catholic church, including the Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments, which governs legislation on ritual; the Congregation of the Council, which administers many aspects of discipline in the church; the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, which directs work in missionary areas; and the Congregation of Sacred Rites, which oversees the performance of the liturgy. In 1962, Brennan served as a consultant to the central commission of the Second Vatican Council. In May 1967, Brennan was nominated by Pope Paul VI to the College of Cardinals, an unusual honor for a nonprelate. A month later he was consecrated as titular bishop (bishop of a see that no longer exists) of Tubune, Mauritania, and given the red biretta, red cape, and sapphire ring of the cardinal's office. As titular bishop, Brennan remained in Rome working in the Curia, the collective title given to the administrative, judicial, and legislative bodies that govern the Roman Catholic church.
In September 1967 he was appointed an assistant to the president of the new Cardinals Commission for the Prefecture of Economic Affairs, which was to supervise the economic assets of the Vatican.
In January 1968, when he was named head of the Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments, Brennan became the first American to chair a congregation.
He became ill five months later. In June he returned to the United States for tests and treatment at Philadelphia's Misericordia Hospital, where he died from a heart attack in Philadelphia, aged 74 and was buried in the crypt of SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral-Basilica.
Achievements
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As a result of Francis Brennan's great judicial work he became the first American appointed as an auditor (judge) in the Sacra Rota, Rome. He served in the Rota for over nineteen years and became its dean (chief judge), with the title of monsignor. In that capacity, he carried the pope's miter, a symbol of law, in papal processions. He also served as president of the Vatican Court of Appeal, a civil court. He was then acknowledged by Pope Paul VI who nominated him to the College of Cardinals, and then after a short period of time he was consecrated as titular bishop of Tubune, Mauritania, and given the red biretta, red cape, and sapphire ring of the cardinal's office. His efforts in the capacity of an assistant to the president of the new Cardinals Commission for the Prefecture of Economic Affairs, which was to supervise the economic assets of the Vatican, was merely recognized, so he was named head of the Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments in 1968. Consequently, Brennan became the first American to chair a congregation. At the time of his death, he had risen to the highest post within the Holy See ever held by an American. Although Brennan was little known outside the Roman Curia, he rose higher in its ranks than any American before him. Yet, he cultivated a reputation within the Curia as a careful administrator and jurist who handled a heavy work load without strain.
Religion
Francis Brennan was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest after receiving D. D. degree from the Pontifical Roman Seminary. Thus he served in administrative, financial, and legal posts in several congregations (governing committees) of the Roman Catholic church, including the Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments, which governs legislation on ritual; the Congregation of the Council, which administers many aspects of discipline in the church.
Personality
Called in Rome "the quiet American, " Brennan was self-effacing and shunned publicity.
Quotes from others about the person
A priest who knew Cardinal Brennan described him as "so extremely proper, extremely quiet, so extremely strait-laced and cautious that his demeanor might be summed up as almost saturnine. "
Nevertheless, after a talk he gave in a papal audience, Pope John XXIII complimented Brennan for his simplicity of speech: "It was fitting", said the pope, "for one who, possessing the art of weighing the value of words, gives to each great importance. "
Connections
Francis James Brennan was never married.
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Born
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Died
July 2, 1968 (aged 74) -
Nationality
American -
Religion
Roman Catholic