John Francis Whealon

John Francis Whealon (January 15, 1921 – August 2, 1991) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford in Connecticut from 1968 to 1991.

Whealon previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland in Ohio from 1961 to 1966 and as bishop of the Diocese of Erie in Pennsylvania from 1966 to 1968.

Biography

Early life John Whealon was born in Barberton, Ohio, to John Joseph and Mary Christina (née Zanders) Whealon. He received his early education at St. Augustine School in Barberton from 1927 to 1934, and attended St. Charles College in Catonsville, Maryland, from 1934 to 1940. He briefly served as a curate at St. Peter Parish in Akron, Ohio, then entered the University of Ottawa, where he earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree.

Bishop of Erie Following the resignation of Archbishop John Mark Gannon, Whealon was named the sixth bishop of Erie by Pope Paul VI on December 9, 1966. Whealon also founded the radio station WJMJ in Hartford. He was active on ecumenical issues, and was chair of the Committee on Ecumenism of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and head of ChrisConn, the Christian conference of Connecticut. In 2017 another man sued the archdiocese for negligence, claiming that Daniel McSheffery, an archdiocesan priest at St. George Parish in Guilford, Connecticut, sexually abused him over 250 times, starting at age nine. The plaintiff claimed that Whealon knew that McSheffery was a danger to children.

Viewpoints

Abortion Whealon left the Democratic Party in 1988 because of his opposition to abortion rights for women, declaring in his column in the weekly Catholic Transcript that he was "unable in conscience to remain a registered Democrat" because of the party's support of legal and government-financed abortions. In 1974, he said that Catholic healthcare professionals who participated in abortions faced excommunication. Whealon resigned from a local television station's program advisory committee because the station refused to cancel an episode of the comedy series Maude that dealt with abortion.

Birth Control Whealon described a State of Connecticut-sponsored advertising campaign that encouraged sexually active adults to use condoms to prevents HIV/AIDS as "a commendable effort but a serious mistake to present condoms as the answer to the threat."

War Whealon supported the participation of the United States in Vietnam War and defended the maintenance of nuclear weapons.