James Edwin Cassidy


James Edwin Cassidy was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Fall River from 1934 until his death in 1951.

Biography

James Cassidy was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, to James and Mary Cassidy. His parents were both Irish immigrants; his father was from County Waterford and his mother from County Armagh. He attended St. Charles College in Ellicott City, Maryland, and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. He continued his studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood on September 8, 1898.
Cassidy served as professor of science at St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York, where he also served as treasurer for three years. He then served in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and later became chancellor of the Diocese of Fall River. From 1908 to 1913, he served as rector of St. Mary's Cathedral. He was named vicar general and a domestic prelate before becoming pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Fall River in 1913.
On March 21, 1930, Cassidy was appointed auxiliary bishop of Fall River and titular bishop of Ibora by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 27 from Archbishop Pietro Fumasoni Biondi, with Bishops Joseph John Rice and George Albert Guertin serving as co-consecrators, at St. Mary's Cathedral. As an auxiliary bishop, he continued to serve as pastor of St. Patrick's and vicar general. Cassidy was named coadjutor bishop of Fall River on July 13, 1934. Upon the death of Bishop Daniel Francis Feehan, he succeeded him as the third Bishop of Fall River on July 28 of that year.
During his 17-year tenure, Cassidy earned a reputation as a strong supporter of temperance and of the rights of workingmen. He also took an active interest in the needs of the elderly, founding several homes for the aged. In 1934, he called for the resignation of Will H. Hays as chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, accusing him of being "false to the trust imposed on him" and calling him "a co-betrayer of with the movie industry of the sacred rights of parents to protection of the morals of their children." In 1942, he declared that the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps was opposed by the teachings of the Church, and expressed his hope that no Catholic woman would join. He was the first American bishop to receive the crimson cross of the Order of Christ from the Portuguese government.
In 1945, he received Father James Louis Connolly as his coadjutor bishop. Five years later, Cassidy died at his residence in Fall River, at age 81.