James Corcoran

March 30, 1820 (age 69)

In 1843 Corcoran returned to Charleston to begin his notable services to the Church in America. He started to teach in the Charleston Seminary, with the rectorship of the cathedral and other pastoral duties added. When preparations began for the Eighth Baltimore Provincial Council of 1853, he came to national prominence as a theologian. He was made secretary of the Council and was so successful that he was given a like post at the Ninth Council in 1838. Charged with supervising the progress and drawing up the decrees at these Councils, which were in effect national gather ings, he left his stamp on the results of both. Thus when the Second Plenary Council was held at Baltimore, eight years later, he was promptly chosen secretary-in-chief. Seven archbishops, thirty-nine bishops or their procurators, and two abbots signed the fourteen decrees of this Council, all of which bore the mark of Corcoran’s deep knowledge and exactness as an interpreter of conciliar decisions recognized by the whole body of the Church as binding precedents. In 1868, the American hierarchy unanimously named him their theologian on the preparatory commission for the Twentieth Ecumenical Council at the Vatican, which he later attended. It was he who drew up the “Spalding formula” on Papal Infallibility, the chief matter dealt with at this gathering. Following this period, he became professor of theology at Overbrook Seminary near Philadelphia, which had just been opened. This post he held until his death. When, however, the American archbishops went to Rome in 1883 preparatory to the Third Plenary Council, they took Corcoran as their secretary, and at their request he attended their sessions. Returning, he brought his experience and learning to bear once more at the Council’s meetings in Baltimore. Corcoran's editorial periods were two in number. Immediately after his return from his studies in Rome, he became a co-editor of the United States Catholic Miscellany. He continued with the Miscellany for fifteen years, from 1846 to 1861, and it was in this period that an accident denied him the authorship of a great work. Having become engaged in an editor’s controversy over Luther, he gathered a wealth of material and was well advanced in writing a life of the outstanding figure of the Reformation when his library burned, destroying both manuscript and material. His second editorial period began in 1876, when he was chosen chief editor of the newly-founded American Catholic Quarterly Review. His contributions to this journal were notable and successful. He was one of the editors of the works of Bishop England (1849). In 1883 he was made a Domestic Prelate. Corcoran was a pastor as well as a scholar. When in 1862, General Beauregard sent four doctors to Wilmington, North Carolina, which was swept by yellow fever, Corcoran unhesitatingly accompanied them. He labored with great fortitude amid his disease-smitten flock, and continued as their pastor until 1868.

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The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Volume 13...

(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Vol. 1 (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Vol....)

The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Volume 7

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Vol. 2: From January to October, 1877 (Classic Reprint)

(Excerpt from The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Vol....)

The American Catholic Quarterly Review ..., Volume 34...

(This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. T...)

The American Catholic Quarterly Review, Volume 12

(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

James Andrew Corcoran

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clergyman editor theologian

Background

James Andrew Corcoran was born on March 30, 1820 in Charleston, South Carolina, United States,

Education

At the age of fourteen James went to Rome to attend the Propaganda College, and there, eight years later, he was ordained by Cardinal Fransoni, being the first native son of the Carolinas to enter the priesthood. He had made a brilliant record, especially in languages. Latin came as fluently as English, and he was thoroughly familiar with the European tongues. A year’s added study gained for him the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology. In 1883 the Propaganda College conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.

Career

In 1843 Corcoran returned to Charleston to begin his notable services to the Church in America. He started to teach in the Charleston Seminary, with the rectorship of the cathedral and other pastoral duties added. When preparations began for the Eighth Baltimore Provincial Council of 1853, he came to national prominence as a theologian.

He was made secretary of the Council and was so successful that he was given a like post at the Ninth Council in 1838. Charged with supervising the progress and drawing up the decrees at these Councils, which were in effect national gather ings, he left his stamp on the results of both. Thus when the Second Plenary Council was held at Baltimore, eight years later, he was promptly chosen secretary-in-chief. Seven archbishops, thirty-nine bishops or their procurators, and two abbots signed the fourteen decrees of this Council, all of which bore the mark of Corcoran’s deep knowledge and exactness as an interpreter of conciliar decisions recognized by the whole body of the Church as binding precedents. In 1868, the American hierarchy unanimously named him their theologian on the preparatory commission for the Twentieth Ecumenical Council at the Vatican, which he later attended. It was he who drew up the “Spalding formula” on Papal Infallibility, the chief matter dealt with at this gathering.

Following this period, he became professor of theology at Overbrook Seminary near Philadelphia, which had just been opened. This post he held until his death. When, however, the American archbishops went to Rome in 1883 preparatory to the Third Plenary Council, they took Corcoran as their secretary, and at their request he attended their sessions. Returning, he brought his experience and learning to bear once more at the Council’s meetings in Baltimore.

Corcoran's editorial periods were two in number. Immediately after his return from his studies in Rome, he became a co-editor of the United States Catholic Miscellany. He continued with the Miscellany for fifteen years, from 1846 to 1861, and it was in this period that an accident denied him the authorship of a great work. Having become engaged in an editor’s controversy over Luther, he gathered a wealth of material and was well advanced in writing a life of the outstanding figure of the Reformation when his library burned, destroying both manuscript and material.

His second editorial period began in 1876, when he was chosen chief editor of the newly-founded American Catholic Quarterly Review. His contributions to this journal were notable and successful. He was one of the editors of the works of Bishop England (1849). In 1883 he was made a Domestic Prelate.

Corcoran was a pastor as well as a scholar. When in 1862, General Beauregard sent four doctors to Wilmington, North Carolina, which was swept by yellow fever, Corcoran unhesitatingly accompanied them. He labored with great fortitude amid his disease-smitten flock, and continued as their pastor until 1868.

Achievements

James Andrew Corcoran was known mainly as the editor of the United States Catholic Miscellany, the pioneer Catholic literary journal of the country. In its pages, he defended Catholicism against its critics. He vigorously defended states’ rights and castigated abolitionists, whom he thought were motivated by anti-Catholicism and the nativist Know-Nothing movement.