Peter Muldoon

Muldoon served as chair of the National Catholic War Council during World War I and was a leader of the National Catholic Welfare Council during the 1920s.

Biography

Early life Peter Muldoon was born on October 10, 1863, in Columbia, California, to Irish immigrants John and Catherine (Coughlin) Muldoon. He was the oldest child in a family of five children. Muldoon attended public schools in Stockton, California, then in 1877 entered St. Mary's College in St. Mary, Kentucky, where his uncle, the Reverend John Coughlin, was a faculty member. In 1881, Muldoon enrolled at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. When John Coughlin was transferred to the Archdiocese of Chicago, Muldoon applied to be incardinated there. He spent the next 13 years as pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Chicago.

As auxiliary bishop, Muldoon became very interested in the welfare of working people. He would visit the Union Stock Yards, the meat packing district in Chicago. and speak with workers there. He became a strong proponent of labor unions. He worked for the establishment of recreational facilities for soldiers in bases throughout the country. He also assisted and coordinated with Protestant and secular agencies that were helping soldiers. The organization was considered a great success. The paper, which begun with the sentence "The only safeguard of peace is social justice and a contented people" contained series of proposed social reforms that were quite advanced for the time. These reforms included child labor laws and public housing for the poor.

However, some American bishops felt that the NCWC was infringing on their control of their dioceses. They complained about it to Pope Pius XI in March 1922, who then revoked the NCWC approbation. Muldoon and Bishop Joseph Schrembs were among the NCWC's most vigorous defenders. After the American hierarchy sent a delegation headed by Shrembs to Rome, the Vatican agreed to restore the approbation providing, among other things, that the organization be renamed the National Catholic Welfare Conference.

Death Peter Muldoon died in Rockford on October 8, 1927, after a long illness.