John A. Duffy

John Aloysius Duffy (October 29, 1884 – September 27, 1944) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Syracuse in New York from 1933 to 1937, and as bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo in New York from 1937 until his death in 1944.

Biography

Early life John Duffy was born on October 29, 1884, in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Patrick Joseph and Anna Marie (née Smith) Duffy. As a young man, he worked as a boilermaker in Elizabeth, New Jersey and Bayonne, New Jersey.

Priesthood

Duffy was ordained to the priesthood in Rome by Cardinal Pietro Respighi for the Diocese of Newark on June 13, 1908.

After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned as assistant pastor at the Our Lady of Grace Parish in Hoboken, New Jersey. He also taught literature and languages at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, and was an instructor in church history at the archdiocesan seminary. He was the diocese's apostolic administrator, running the archdiocese between the death of Archbishop John O'Connor and the appointment of Bishop Thomas Walsh. He also served as pastor of St. Joseph's Parish in Jersey City.

Bishop of Buffalo Pius XI named Duffy as the seventh bishop of Buffalo on January 9, 1937. He was installed on April 14, 1937. In 1939 and 1940. he served as secretary of the National Catholic Welfare Council.

During his tenure in Buffalo, Duffy established the diocesan Fund for the Faith for those left destitute because of the Great Depression of the 1930s. He erected parishes in the sparsely settled areas of the diocese, and organized the Catholic Youth Organization, the Bishop's Committee for Christian Home and Family, a chapter of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, and Newman Clubs in local colleges and universities.

Death John Duffy died in Buffalo on September 27, 1944, at age 59. He was buried next to his parents in Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City.