BishopAccountability.org
	John F. Donoghue, Top Administrator in Catholic Archdiocese of Washington in 1970s Washington Post November 15, 2011 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-f-donoghue-top-administrator-in-catholic-archdiocese-of-washington-in-1970s/2011/11/13/gIQA6kxhMN_story.html?sub=AR John F. Donoghue, 83, who was a top administrator in the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington in the 1970s and '80s before becoming bishop of Charlotte and later archbishop of Atlanta, died Nov. 11 at a friend's home in Atlanta. His death, from respiratory failure, was confirmed by the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta. Archbishop Donoghue held various posts in the Washington Archdiocese — chancellor, vicar general and secretary of support services — before Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of Charlotte in 1984. He was tapped to be Atlanta's fifth archbishop in 1993 and retired in 2004. Archbishop Donoghue described himself as an orthodox Catholic. In 1983, as chancellor of the Washington Archdiocese, he told The Washington Post that he "would prefer if Catholics marry Catholics." He also acknowledged that "we're living in a pluralistic society" and that interfaith marriage would become increasingly common. In 1989, some women protested when then-Bishop Donoghue issued a directive that only men could take part in the Holy Week foot-washing ceremony. Explaining his position, he noted that the tradition recalled Jesus's act of washing the feet of his disciples, who were all men. In 2004, Archbishop Donog­hue joined several other Catholic leaders who said the church should deny Communion to politicians who support abortion rights. In 2003, he did not allow a support group for victims of the church's sex abuse scandal to meet on church property. He said that the church had already established a support system and that he did not "want them to get into stuff with other groups that are pushing for the ordination of women and married clergy," according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archbishop Donoghue also spoke candidly about the allegations of sex abuse by priests, according to the Charlotte Observer. "Never before in our experience has the credibility of the priesthood itself been so shaken by the actions of some of our priests," he said in 1993. "Because we live under the shadow of their indiscretions, we are forced to take the witness stand of life and demonstrate by our lives and our actions that we indeed are men of integrity, men of God." John Francis Donoghue was born in Washington to Irish immigrant parents on Aug. 9, 1928. He attended St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore and was ordained as a priest in Washington in 1955. He studied canon law at Catholic University. Early in his career, he was an assistant pastor at St. Bernard of Clairvaux parish in Riverdale Park and Holy Face Church in Great Mills. As Charlotte bishop, he started ministries to African American, Korean and Vietnamese Catholics as that diocese grew by 25,000 people. At his retirement, Archbishop Donoghue said he was most proud of the surge in Catholic school construction under his watch in the Atlanta area.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.