David_Frederick_Cunningham

David Frederick Cunningham

David Frederick Cunningham

American prelate

David Frederick Cunningham (December 3, 1900 – February 22, 1979) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Syracuse from 1970 to 1976.

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Biography

David Cunningham was born in Walkerville, Montana, to David and Mary Ann (Fitzgerald) Cunningham.[1] He was raised in Oswego, New York.[2] He attended St. Michael's College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, before returning to New York and studying at St. Bernard's Seminary in Rochester.[3] He was ordained to the priesthood on June 12, 1926.[4] He then served as a curate at St. Ambrose Church in Endicott, and was afterwards sent to further his studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from where he earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1930.[2] Between 1930 and 1950, he served as secretary to Bishops Daniel Joseph Curley, John A. Duffy, and Walter Andrew Foery.[1] He was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate in 1941.[2] He also served as an assistant at Loretto Rest Nursing Home and at St. John Church in Camden.[1] In 1946 he was named pastor of St. John the Baptist Church and vicar general of the Diocese of Syracuse.[1]

On April 5, 1950, Cunningham was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Syracuse and Titular Bishop of Lampsacus by Pope Pius XII.[4] He received his episcopal consecration on the following June 8 from Cardinal Francis Spellman, with Bishop Walter Foery and Archbishop Bryan Joseph McEntegart serving as co-consecrators.[4] He was the first priest from the Syracuse Diocese to become a bishop.[1] He attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965. He was named Coadjutor Bishop of Syracuse by Pope Paul VI on June 16, 1967.[4] He was appointed diocesan chancellor on September 1, 1969.[1] Following the resignation of Bishop Foery, Cunningham succeeded him as the sixth Bishop of Syracuse on August 4, 1970.[4]

After reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, he resigned as bishop on November 9, 1976.[4] He later died at his residence in Syracuse, aged 78.[2] He is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in DeWitt.[1]

References

  1. [1]
    "Most Rev. David Frederick Cunningham". Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse. Archived from the original on 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  2. [2]
    Campbell, Barabara (1979-02-23). "Most Rev. David F. Cunningham, Retired Bishop of Syracuse, Dies". The New York Times.
  3. [3]
    Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
  4. [4]
    "Bishop David Frederick Cunningham". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.[self-published source]
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