Francis P. Duffy
Encyclopedia
Francis Patrick Duffy was an American
soldier
, Roman Catholic priest
and chaplain. As the chaplain for the "Fighting 69th"
, he became the most highly decorated cleric in the history of the U.S. Army. Duffy Square
, the northern half of Times Square
, is named after him.
, Canada
, and attended St. Michael's College
in Toronto
. He immigrated to New York City, where he taught for a time at the College of St. Francis Xavier
, and was awarded a master's degree. He became a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, being ordained on September 6, 1896. He attended The Catholic University of America
where he earned a doctorate in 1905.
After ordination, Duffy served on the faculty of St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, Yonkers, which trains priests for the Archdiocese of New York. He was professor of Philosophical Psychology – a course more related to the Philosophy of the Human Person than to Clinical Psychology, in today's terms – and functioned as a mentor to numerous students. He was also editor of the New York Review, at the time the most scholarly and progressive Catholic theological publication in the United States. Extremely popular with students, Duffy was part of a group faculty members who introduced ground-breaking innovations into the seminary curriculum, putting the institution in the forefront of clerical education.
When authors in the New York Review fell under suspicion of the heresy of modernism
, the archbishop of New York, Michael Augustine Corrigan, broke up the faculty and reassigned them to other work. The New York Review itself never published an article that was suspect, but it did print papers by leading Catholic Biblical experts who were part of the newly-emerging schools of Biblical criticism, and several of these authors' other works, which would be uncontroversial today, raised eyebrows in Rome. Duffy himself wrote few signed items in the journal, although he did author parts of it, but was responsible as editor for the entire publication.
Duffy's new assignment was creating the parish of Our Savior in the Bronx
. There, he organized the parish and built a physical structure that combined parish school and church, one of several innovations he introduced.
During this period, Duffy was active in both the Catholic Summer School, a sort of adult summer camp and continuing education system that foreshadowed the explosion in Catholic higher education for the laity today, and in the military – he was regimental chaplain to the 69th New York
, which was federalized for a time during the Spanish-American War
.
Already well known in theological circles, Duffy gained wider fame for his involvement as a military chaplain
during World War I, when the 69th New York
("The Fighting 69th") was federalized again and redesignated the 165th U.S. Infantry Regiment. When the unit moved up to the front in France, Duffy accompanied the litter bearers in recovering the wounded and was frequently seen in the thick of battle. Recognized by the regimental commander, Lt. Col. William "Wild Bill" Donovan
– who would go on to found the OSS
in World War II) – as a key element in the unit's morale, Duffy's role in the unit went beyond that of a normal cleric: the regiment was composed primarily of first- and second-generation Irish immigrants from New York City, many of whom wrote later about Duffy's leadership. Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur
admitted later that Duffy was very briefly considered for the post of regimental commander.
For his actions in the war, Duffy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
and the Distinguished Service Medal, the Conspicuous Service Cross
(New York State), the Légion d'honneur
(France), and the Croix de guerre
. Father Duffy is the most highly decorated cleric in the history of the U.S. Army.
Following the war he wrote Father Duffy's Story, which grew out of a manuscript originally started by Joyce Kilmer
, the poet and convert to Catholicism who had joined the regiment and had become a close friend to Duffy. When Kilmer was killed in France, he was working on a history of the regiment's involvement in the war, which Duffy intended to continue, but Duffy was prevailed upon to include his own reminiscences.
in Hell's Kitchen
, a block from Times Square
, until his death. While there, he had one last opportunity to make a contribution to Catholic thought: in 1927, during Al Smith
's campaign for president, the Atlantic Monthly published a letter by Charles Marshall
, a Protestant lawyer, which questioned whether a Catholic could serve as a loyal president who would put the nation and the Constitution before his allegiance to the Pope, a common thread in American anti-Catholicism
. Smith was given a chance to reply: his article, which was ghost-written by Duffy, was a classic statement of the intellectual ideas behind American Catholic patriotism. It hinted at notions of religious freedom and freedom of conscience which would not be spelled out by the Church itself until the Second Vatican Council
's Declaration on Religious Freedom in the 1960s.
, which is located in the northern triangle of Times Square
between 45th and 47th
Streets in Manhattan
, New York City
. A momument, which is located in front of the steps of the TKTS booth
, portrays Duffy standing in front of a Celtic cross
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
, Roman Catholic priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
and chaplain. As the chaplain for the "Fighting 69th"
U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment
The 69th Infantry Regiment is a military unit from New York City, part of the New York Army National Guard. It is known as the Fighting Sixty-Ninth, a name said to have been given to it by Robert E. Lee during the Civil War...
, he became the most highly decorated cleric in the history of the U.S. Army. Duffy Square
Duffy Square
Duffy Square is the northern triangle of Times Square in Manhattan, New York City. It is located between 45th and 47th Streets, Broadway and Seventh Avenue and is well known for the TKTS reduced-price theater tickets booth located there....
, the northern half of Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, is named after him.
Early life and career
Francis Duffy was born May 2, 1871 in Cobourg, OntarioCobourg, Ontario
Cobourg is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario 95 km east of Toronto. It is the largest town in Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is located along Highway 401 and the former Highway 2...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and attended St. Michael's College
University of St. Michael's College
The University of St. Michael's College is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1852 by the Congregation of St. Basil of Annonay, France. While mainly an undergraduate college for liberal arts and sciences, St. Michael's retains its Roman Catholic affiliation through its postgraduate...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. He immigrated to New York City, where he taught for a time at the College of St. Francis Xavier
Xavier High School (New York City)
Xavier High School is a independent Jesuit university-preparatory high school for young men located at 30 West 16th Street, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1847, as the College of St. Francis Xavier by Father John Larkin, S.J...
, and was awarded a master's degree. He became a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, being ordained on September 6, 1896. He attended The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
where he earned a doctorate in 1905.
After ordination, Duffy served on the faculty of St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, Yonkers, which trains priests for the Archdiocese of New York. He was professor of Philosophical Psychology – a course more related to the Philosophy of the Human Person than to Clinical Psychology, in today's terms – and functioned as a mentor to numerous students. He was also editor of the New York Review, at the time the most scholarly and progressive Catholic theological publication in the United States. Extremely popular with students, Duffy was part of a group faculty members who introduced ground-breaking innovations into the seminary curriculum, putting the institution in the forefront of clerical education.
When authors in the New York Review fell under suspicion of the heresy of modernism
Modernism (Roman Catholicism)
Modernism refers to theological opinions expressed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but with influence reaching into the 21st century, which are characterized by a break with the past. Catholic modernists form an amorphous group. The term "modernist" appears in Pope Pius X's 1907...
, the archbishop of New York, Michael Augustine Corrigan, broke up the faculty and reassigned them to other work. The New York Review itself never published an article that was suspect, but it did print papers by leading Catholic Biblical experts who were part of the newly-emerging schools of Biblical criticism, and several of these authors' other works, which would be uncontroversial today, raised eyebrows in Rome. Duffy himself wrote few signed items in the journal, although he did author parts of it, but was responsible as editor for the entire publication.
Duffy's new assignment was creating the parish of Our Savior in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
. There, he organized the parish and built a physical structure that combined parish school and church, one of several innovations he introduced.
During this period, Duffy was active in both the Catholic Summer School, a sort of adult summer camp and continuing education system that foreshadowed the explosion in Catholic higher education for the laity today, and in the military – he was regimental chaplain to the 69th New York
U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment
The 69th Infantry Regiment is a military unit from New York City, part of the New York Army National Guard. It is known as the Fighting Sixty-Ninth, a name said to have been given to it by Robert E. Lee during the Civil War...
, which was federalized for a time during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
.
Chaplain
Chaplain Corps (United States Army)
The Chaplain Corps of the United States Army consists of ordained clergy who are commissioned Army officers as well as enlisted soldiers who serve as assistants. Their purpose is to offer religious services, counseling, and moral support to the armed forces, whether in peacetime or at war.-Army...
during World War I, when the 69th New York
U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment
The 69th Infantry Regiment is a military unit from New York City, part of the New York Army National Guard. It is known as the Fighting Sixty-Ninth, a name said to have been given to it by Robert E. Lee during the Civil War...
("The Fighting 69th") was federalized again and redesignated the 165th U.S. Infantry Regiment. When the unit moved up to the front in France, Duffy accompanied the litter bearers in recovering the wounded and was frequently seen in the thick of battle. Recognized by the regimental commander, Lt. Col. William "Wild Bill" Donovan
William Joseph Donovan
William Joseph Donovan was a United States soldier, lawyer and intelligence officer, best remembered as the wartime head of the Office of Strategic Services...
– who would go on to found the OSS
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
in World War II) – as a key element in the unit's morale, Duffy's role in the unit went beyond that of a normal cleric: the regiment was composed primarily of first- and second-generation Irish immigrants from New York City, many of whom wrote later about Duffy's leadership. Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
admitted later that Duffy was very briefly considered for the post of regimental commander.
For his actions in the war, Duffy was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest military decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States Army, for extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. Actions that merit the Distinguished Service Cross must be of such a high degree...
and the Distinguished Service Medal, the Conspicuous Service Cross
Conspicuous Service Cross (New York)
The Conspicuous Service Cross is a decoration for military service awarded by the State of New York to members of the military who have also been awarded any of the following by the United States:...
(New York State), the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
(France), and the Croix de guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
. Father Duffy is the most highly decorated cleric in the history of the U.S. Army.
Following the war he wrote Father Duffy's Story, which grew out of a manuscript originally started by Joyce Kilmer
Joyce Kilmer
Alfred Joyce Kilmer was an American journalist, poet, literary critic, lecturer, and editor. Though a prolific poet whose works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his religious faith, Kilmer is remembered most for a short poem entitled "Trees" , which was published in...
, the poet and convert to Catholicism who had joined the regiment and had become a close friend to Duffy. When Kilmer was killed in France, he was working on a history of the regiment's involvement in the war, which Duffy intended to continue, but Duffy was prevailed upon to include his own reminiscences.
Holy Cross Church
Duffy then served as a pastor of Holy Cross ChurchHoly Cross Church (New York City)
Holy Cross Church is a Roman Catholic church located at 329 West 42nd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, near Times Square and across the street from the Port Authority Bus Terminal....
in Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River....
, a block from Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
, until his death. While there, he had one last opportunity to make a contribution to Catholic thought: in 1927, during Al Smith
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
's campaign for president, the Atlantic Monthly published a letter by Charles Marshall
Charles Marshall
Charles Marshall may refer to:* Charles Marshall , Confederate army officer during the American Civil War* Charles Marshall , British physician and mystic...
, a Protestant lawyer, which questioned whether a Catholic could serve as a loyal president who would put the nation and the Constitution before his allegiance to the Pope, a common thread in American anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism
Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...
. Smith was given a chance to reply: his article, which was ghost-written by Duffy, was a classic statement of the intellectual ideas behind American Catholic patriotism. It hinted at notions of religious freedom and freedom of conscience which would not be spelled out by the Church itself until the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
's Declaration on Religious Freedom in the 1960s.
Death
Duffy died on June 27, 1932, in New York City.Beloved Chaplain of Fighting 69th Dies. New York, June 27 - The spirit of Father Francis Patrick Duffy, beloved chaplain of the 'Fighting Sixty-Ninth' of the wartime Rainbow Division, has rejoined the thousands of men who died on the battlefields of France where he served them. The present colonel of his old regiment was at the bedside until near the end. Others through the nation and especially in New York, home of the old Sixty-Ninth, known in war days as the 165th Infantry, mourned the chaplain who died at the age of 62. Father Duffy will have a military burial. The old Sixty-Ninth will attend the services of America's wars, msgr. John P. Chidwick, chaplain of the Battleship Maine when it was blown up in Havana Harbor, will preach the funeral sermon. Death came to Father Duffy early yesterday after an illness of three months from an intestinal infection. Hundreds of friends of all faiths had flooded the mails with letters of concern and hope for his recovery. The Irish chaplain of an Irish regiment won fame and decorations from his own and the French governments for his devotion to his men under fire during the World War. His death led General Douglas MacArthur, chief of staff in Washington and war-time commander of the Rainbow (42nd) Division, to reveal he had recommended the priest for command of the 165th Regiment at one time when the division was in the midst of an offensive.
Legacy
Father Duffy is commemorated by Duffy SquareDuffy Square
Duffy Square is the northern triangle of Times Square in Manhattan, New York City. It is located between 45th and 47th Streets, Broadway and Seventh Avenue and is well known for the TKTS reduced-price theater tickets booth located there....
, which is located in the northern triangle of Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
between 45th and 47th
47th Street (Manhattan)
47th Street is an east-west running street between First Avenue and the West Side Highway in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Traffic runs one way along the street, from east to west, starting at the United Nations Headquarters....
Streets in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. A momument, which is located in front of the steps of the TKTS booth
TKTS
The TKTS ticket booths in New York and London sell Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, music and dance events and West End theatre tickets, respectively, at discounts of 25–50% off the face value.-New York:...
, portrays Duffy standing in front of a Celtic cross
Celtic cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...
.
In popular culture
- In the 1940s movie The Fighting 69th, Father Duffy is portrayed by Pat O'BrienPat O'Brien (actor)Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...
.
See also
- Archdiocese for the Military Services #Chaplains in World War I
External links
- "History" at Holy Cross Church website