James Aloysius Hickey

James Aloysius Hickey (October 11, 1920 – October 24, 2004) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Washington from 1980 to 2000, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1988. Hickey previously served as Bishop of Cleveland from 1974 to 1980.

Hickey presided over a significant expansion of social services for the poor and sick in the Washington region by the Archdiocese of Washington. He was also a strong critic of American foreign policy in Nicaragua and El Salvador, and an advocate for nuclear disarmament.

Biography

Early life James Hickey was born on October 11, 1920, in Midland, Michigan, to James and Agnes (née Ryan) Hickey; he had an older sister, Marie. James Hickey was a dentist who, during the Great Depression, treated patients who could not pay for their dental care. At age 13, James Hickey entered St. Joseph Minor Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He then attended The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Priesthood Hickey was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Saginaw by Bishop William Murphy on June 15, 1946. He received his episcopal consecration on April 14, 1967, from Archbishop John Dearden, with Bishops Woznicki and Stephen Leven serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of St. Mary.

Hickey served as chair of priestly formation within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from 1968 to 1969. Commenting on the visitation, Hickey said, "It wasn't easy, you know."

He was Grand Prior of the Middle Atlantic USA Lieutenancy of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre from 1993 to 2005.

Cardinal John Paul II created Hickey as cardinal priest of the Church of Santa Maria Madre del Redentore a Tor Bella Monaca in Rome during the consistory of June 28, 1988. At that point, Hickey was one of thirteen Americans in the College of Cardinals. That same year, Hickey was invited to lead a retreat for the pope and his household.

Within the USCCB, Hickey served as chairman of the Committee on Doctrine (1979 to 1981), of the Committee on Human Values (1984 to 1987), and of the Committee on the Pontifical North American College (1989 to 1991 and 1994 to 1997).

In conjunction with Mother Teresa, Hickey also founded a Washington convent of the Missionaries of Charity for the care of the homeless and terminally ill. His sentence was commuted by Glendening to life imprisonment in June 2000.

Contraception and abortion Hickey halted archdiocesan funding for a crisis pregnancy center in College Park, Maryland, after it declined to stop dispensing contraceptives. In 1981, Hickey told the US House Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs: "Our position is to oppose military aid and intervention from all outside powers." Hickey wrote:"Father Peterson's illness reminds us in a personal way of the terrible human tragedy of AIDS in our midst. His suffering challenges us to reach out with renewed conviction and compassion to those with AIDS and their families and friends."Peterson died in April 1987.

Labor While Archbishop of Washington, Hickey ordered all large scale building projects in the archdiocese to be union jobs.

LBGTQ ministries Hickey ordered New Ways Ministry, an unauthorized ministry for LGBTQ Catholics, to stop any operations on archdiocesan property in the early 1980s. He also forced Georgetown University to stop DignityUSA, a national LGBTQ ministry organization, from celebrating mass on campus in 1987.

Death Hickey died at the Jeanne Jugan Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington, D.C., at age 84.