William Smith

William Bartley Smith (August 4, 1939 – January 24, 2009), was a Roman Catholic priest and professor of moral theology from the New York area in the United States of America. In addition to teaching at St Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, New York, Smith made many appearances on national media presenting a conservative Catholic viewpoint to contemporary events and questions. He also became a regular host on the Catholic television station EWTN and some of his many lectures and presentations were recorded for distribution to teach Catholic theology. Smith was hailed by conservative Catholics in America for his staunch orthodoxy following the Second Vatican Council.

Background Smith was born on August 4, 1939, and was raised in Yonkers, New York, with two older brothers. There was an active Catholic community in the town during that era and his family often had parish priests over for meals. Smith later recalled, "The home, the school, and the Church were all playing the same tune, resonating the same values, confirming and reconfirming the same direction." Smith and his brothers served as altar boys at St. Denis parish and were influenced by its clergy Joseph O'Connor and his younger associate priests (Quill & Marshall) working with him. The Smith brothers were among the altar boys that accompanied the associate priests on outings as a reward for being willing to serve at very early morning masses. Smith began to be interested in pursuing the priesthood by third grade.

Education Smith attended the Jesuit Xavier High School, where among other subjects he studied Greek and Latin and played sports. As graduation neared and Smith's desire to become a diocesan priest became known, the Jesuits tried to convince him to join their order instead. Smith declined, later recalling "oddly enough I kept saying I didn't want to be a teacher."

Ministry After receiving his degree, he became the professor of Moral Theology at St. Joseph's Seminary in 1971. As a result of the theological tumult in the Roman Catholic Church in America after Vatican II, Smith found many of the seminarians he was educating were unsure of the essentials of their faith. Soon after Smith became a professor, auxiliary bishop of New York Austin Vaughan (who had taught him dogma as a priest) became rector of the seminary and held the organization to a conservative view of Catholicism.

Smith was hailed for his dry wit, clarity, and staunch orthodoxy among Catholics in the United States. John Trigilio went so far as saying at his death that they had lost "an American version of Cardinal Ratzinger...[and] A modern day Aquinas when it came to moral theology." At his death, Catholics linked him with Richard John Neuhaus, who died two weeks earlier, saying, "The Archdiocese of New York has lost another giant."