William Theodore Mulloy
William Theodore Mulloy was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Covington from 1945 until his death in 1959.Biography
The oldest of five children, William Mulloy was born in Ardoch, North Dakota, to William James and Margaret Ann Mulloy. He attended St. Boniface College in Winnipeg, Canada, before returning to the United States and studying at St. Paul Seminary and St. Thomas College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop James O'Reilly on June 7, 1916.
Returning to North Dakota, Mulloy then served as a curate at in Grand Forks until 1920, when he became pastor of in Wimbledon. He was pastor of in Cando from and of in Langdon and dean of the Langdon Deanery. From 1933 to 1938, he served as pastor of his home parish of in Grafton and dean of the Grafton Deanery. He became president of the in 1935, and rector of in 1938. He also served as superintendent of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Fargo and editor of the diocesan newspaper. He was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate in 1941.
On November 18, 1944, Mulloy was appointed the sixth Bishop of Covington, Kentucky, by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on January 10, 1945 from Bishop Aloisius Joseph Muench, with Bishops Vincent James Ryan and Peter William Bartholome serving as co-consecrators, at St. Mary's Cathedral. In addition to rural issues, Mulloy was also dedicated to civil rights. Speaking to the Catholic Committee of the South in 1951, he declared that "racial justice is a moral question" and that Catholic leaders in the Southern United States "cannot remain silent," even at the expense of being labeled with "the opprobrious accusation of being 'anti-Southern.'"
After fifteen years as bishop, Mulloy died in Covington at age 66. He is buried at St. Mary Cemetery in Fort Mitchell.
