Marcos G. McGrath

Mark Gregory "Marcos Gregorio" McGrath, CSC (10 February 1924 – 4 August 2000), was an American-Panamanian Catholic prelate and priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross who served as the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Panamá and was a Council Father of the Second Vatican Council. He advocated for the return of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama and opposed the regime of Manuel Noriega.

Early life McGrath was born in Ancón, Panama, on 10 February 1924, to John Thomas McGrath of Trenton, New Jersey, and Louise Renauld of Cartago, Costa Rica. His father came to Panama in 1912 to work on the Panama Canal, eventually serving as the captain of a dredge boat. Louise and John had four sons—John, Robert, Eugene, and Mark—before an accident killed John in 1928.

McGrath attended various schools in both Latin America and the United States, before graduating from La Salle Military Academy in New York in 1939. He briefly studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile from 1939 to 1940 before enrolling at the University of Notre Dame from 1940 to 1942. During his time there, he encountered the thought of Catholic Action and the Young Christian Workers through the influence of Fr. Louis Putz CSC, who in turn had been influenced by Joseph Cardijn. He also became interested in current events in Latin America, attending international conferences regarding the region and speaking on the topic frequently after becoming a member of the Notre Dame Speaker's Bureau. Upon completion of these studies, he was ordained to the priesthood on 11 June 1949 in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Mary by Bishop José María Preciado y Nieva.

Priesthood His superiors sent him to the Theological Institute of Paris (1949–1950), and then to the Angelicum of Rome (1950–1953) for advanced studies in theology. In Rome he obtained his doctorate with a thesis qualified as magna cum laude entitled The First Vatican Council's Teaching on the Evolution of the Dogma.

Also at this time, McGrath, in his role as dean of the school of theology, noticed the lack of dialogue between the theological faculty and the other disciplines at the Catholic University, as well as a lack of training of the professors of theology. To remedy this, he created the Higher Institute for Religious Culture, Theological Weeks, and the journal Teologia y Vida. McGrath described his time as auxiliary as a "rebirth and rebaptism into our Panamanian situation".

Vatican II Father Soon after being consecrated a bishop, McGrath was named to the Committee on Doctrine, and travelled to Rome frequently for the duration of the council. He was a major contributor to Gaudium et spes, imbuing it with the thought of Joseph Cardijn in regards to the "see, judge, act" method as well as a theology of the signs of the time, and the dignity of the laity by virtue of their baptism. He was also the president of the Panama Truth Commission in 1990.

He also served as secretary-general and vice-president of the Episcopal Conference of Latin America, and gave important addresses at its second meeting in Medellín and its third meeting in Puebla. In addition, he was a member of the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with Non-Believers, the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, and a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

Death Due to complications from Parkinson's disease, McGrath submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul II in 1994. He died on 4 August 2000, in a retirement home in Panama City at the age of 76.