John Aloysius Marshall

The Most Reverend John Aloysius Marshall
Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts
Church	Roman Catholic Church
See	Springfield in Massachusetts
In office	February 18, 1992 – July 3, 1994
Predecessor	Joseph Francis Maguire
Successor	Thomas Ludger Dupré
Orders
Ordination	December 19, 1953
Consecration	January 25, 1972
Personal details
Born	April 24, 1928 Worcester, Massachusetts
Died	July 3, 1994 (aged 66) Springfield, Massachusetts
Previous post	Bishop of Burlington (1972-1991)

John Aloysius Marshall (April 24, 1928 – July 3, 1994) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Burlington, Vermont (1972–1992) and Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts (1992–1994).

Biography

John Marshall was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, to John A. and Katherine T. (née Redican) Marshall.^[1] After attending St. John's High School and Holy Cross College, he studied at the Collège de Montréal in Quebec and at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.^[1] While in Rome, Marshall was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Martin John O'Connor on December 19, 1953.^[2] After a period of pastoral work, he completed his graduate studies at Assumption College in his native Worcester (1961–1968) and at the Pontifical North American College in Rome (1969–1971).^[1]

On December 14, 1971, Marshall was appointed the seventh Bishop of Burlington, Vermont, by Pope Paul VI.^[2] He received his episcopal consecration on January 25, 1972, from Bishop Robert Francis Joyce, with Bishop Bernard Joseph Flanagan and James Aloysius Hickey serving as co-consecrators.^[2] His tenure in Burlington was marked by a decline in both vocations and church attendance, but still founded Our Lady of the Mountains Parish at Sherburne in 1979.^[3] He completed the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in 1977, after an arsonist had destroyed the original cathedral in 1972.^[4] From 1984 to 1990, he headed an apostolic visitation into the doctrinal orthodoxy of American seminaries.^[5] Records show that he transferred a priest from a Montpelier parish to another in Milton after charges of sexual abuse surfaced against the priest.^[6]

Marshall was named the sixth Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts, on February 18, 1992.^[2] Although he established the Diocesan Misconduct Commission in response to sexual abuse among the clergy,^[7] he accepted Rev. Edward Paquette despite the repeated allegations of child molestation against him.^[8] Marshall even said that he was "determined to take the risk of leaving [Paquette] in his present assignment" despite "the demands of...irate parents that 'something be done about this.'"^[9]

He died at age 66.

References

1. "Most Reverend John Aloysius Marshall, Seventh Bishop of Burlington". Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.
2. "Bishop John Aloysius Marshall". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
3. "A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE BURLINGTON". Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington.
4. "The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception". The Sacred Congregation of Rites. November 29, 2008.
5. Briggs, Kenneth A. (September 23, 1981). "Vatican will Investigate U.S. Seminaries with Aid of Bishops". New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
6. O'Connor, Kevin (July 1, 2007). "Records Show Vt. Church Knew of Child Sex Abuse". Rutland Herald.
7. Cullen, Kevin (March 23, 2002). "Priest cites cost for speaking out". The Boston Globe.
8. Hemingway, Sam (May 6, 2008). "New Revelations in Priest-Abuse Case". The Burlington Free Press.
9. "Off the Record". Catholic Culture. September 2, 2008.