The First Bishop of the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois, Monsignor Martin Dewey McNamara was born in Chicago, Illinois, to John Lawrence McNamara and Mary Hogan. Educated at St. Bride's School, Cathedral College in Chicago, St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, and the Catholic University of America, he was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal George Mundelein on December 23, 1922 at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. He became a professor at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago in 1925 and was a chaplain at St. Vincent's Infant Hospital in Chicago from 1932 to 1937. He was made pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Wilmette in 1937 and named a Domestic Prelate in 1946.
On December 17, 1948, Msgr. McNamara was appointed the first Bishop of the newly-erected Diocese of Joliet by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on March 7, 1949, from Cardinal Samuel Stritch assisted by Bishops John Joseph Boylan and Albert Rudolph Zuroweste.
Installed the following March 24 at the old cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet, when Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Bishop McNamara, along with bishops throughout the world, went to Rome. However, no sooner had he arrived he became ill and needed to return home, never to return to the Council. Bishop McNamara died at the age of 68 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, during heart surgery on May 23, 1966. Archbishop John P. Cody of Chicago celebrated the funeral Mass at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus on May 27. He lies interred at Resurrection Cemetery in Romeoville.
On December 17, 1948, Msgr. McNamara was appointed the first Bishop of the newly-erected Diocese of Joliet by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on March 7, 1949, from Cardinal Samuel Stritch assisted by Bishops John Joseph Boylan and Albert Rudolph Zuroweste.
Installed the following March 24 at the old cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet, when Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Bishop McNamara, along with bishops throughout the world, went to Rome. However, no sooner had he arrived he became ill and needed to return home, never to return to the Council. Bishop McNamara died at the age of 68 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, during heart surgery on May 23, 1966. Archbishop John P. Cody of Chicago celebrated the funeral Mass at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus on May 27. He lies interred at Resurrection Cemetery in Romeoville.
The First Bishop of the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois, Monsignor Martin Dewey McNamara was born in Chicago, Illinois, to John Lawrence McNamara and Mary Hogan. Educated at St. Bride's School, Cathedral College in Chicago, St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, and the Catholic University of America, he was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal George Mundelein on December 23, 1922 at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. He became a professor at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago in 1925 and was a chaplain at St. Vincent's Infant Hospital in Chicago from 1932 to 1937. He was made pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Wilmette in 1937 and named a Domestic Prelate in 1946.
On December 17, 1948, Msgr. McNamara was appointed the first Bishop of the newly-erected Diocese of Joliet by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on March 7, 1949, from Cardinal Samuel Stritch assisted by Bishops John Joseph Boylan and Albert Rudolph Zuroweste.
Installed the following March 24 at the old cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet, when Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Bishop McNamara, along with bishops throughout the world, went to Rome. However, no sooner had he arrived he became ill and needed to return home, never to return to the Council. Bishop McNamara died at the age of 68 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, during heart surgery on May 23, 1966. Archbishop John P. Cody of Chicago celebrated the funeral Mass at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus on May 27. He lies interred at Resurrection Cemetery in Romeoville.
On December 17, 1948, Msgr. McNamara was appointed the first Bishop of the newly-erected Diocese of Joliet by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on March 7, 1949, from Cardinal Samuel Stritch assisted by Bishops John Joseph Boylan and Albert Rudolph Zuroweste.
Installed the following March 24 at the old cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet, when Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Bishop McNamara, along with bishops throughout the world, went to Rome. However, no sooner had he arrived he became ill and needed to return home, never to return to the Council. Bishop McNamara died at the age of 68 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, during heart surgery on May 23, 1966. Archbishop John P. Cody of Chicago celebrated the funeral Mass at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus on May 27. He lies interred at Resurrection Cemetery in Romeoville.
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