Roman Catholic Cardinal. The youngest son of a haulage contractor who died before his son's birth, William Godfrey received his education at Ushaw College in Durham and later in Rome at the Venerable English College and the Pontifical Gregorian University. Ordained priest there in October 1916, back in England he was soon named curate of St. Michael's on West Darby Road. Professor of classics at Ushaw College between 1918 and 1928, where he was known among his students as "Uncle Bill", in 1930 he was appointed rector of the Venerable English College in Rome. Named member of the Pontifical Commission for Malta in 1935 and of the pontifical delegation for the coronation of King George VI of England in May 1937, the following year he was assigned as apostolic visitor to the seminaries and ecclesiastical colleges of England, Wales and Malta. Appointed apostolic delegate to Great Britain, Gibraltar, Malta and Bermuda, Godfrey received his episcopal consecration with the titular archbishopric see of Cio on December 21, 1938, at the English College in Rome. Chargé d'affaires of the Holy See in Poland in 1943, he was transferred to the metropolitan see of Liverpool on November 10, 1953 and to the metropolitan see of Westminster on December 3, 1956. Pope John XXIII created him cardinal with the title of Ss. Nereo ed Achille in the consistory of December 15, 1958. A man who had sports and piano playing at heart, Cardinal Godfrey died of a heart attack at Westminster hospital just as the archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Michael Ramsey, was about to pay him a visit.
Roman Catholic Cardinal. The youngest son of a haulage contractor who died before his son's birth, William Godfrey received his education at Ushaw College in Durham and later in Rome at the Venerable English College and the Pontifical Gregorian University. Ordained priest there in October 1916, back in England he was soon named curate of St. Michael's on West Darby Road. Professor of classics at Ushaw College between 1918 and 1928, where he was known among his students as "Uncle Bill", in 1930 he was appointed rector of the Venerable English College in Rome. Named member of the Pontifical Commission for Malta in 1935 and of the pontifical delegation for the coronation of King George VI of England in May 1937, the following year he was assigned as apostolic visitor to the seminaries and ecclesiastical colleges of England, Wales and Malta. Appointed apostolic delegate to Great Britain, Gibraltar, Malta and Bermuda, Godfrey received his episcopal consecration with the titular archbishopric see of Cio on December 21, 1938, at the English College in Rome. Chargé d'affaires of the Holy See in Poland in 1943, he was transferred to the metropolitan see of Liverpool on November 10, 1953 and to the metropolitan see of Westminster on December 3, 1956. Pope John XXIII created him cardinal with the title of Ss. Nereo ed Achille in the consistory of December 15, 1958. A man who had sports and piano playing at heart, Cardinal Godfrey died of a heart attack at Westminster hospital just as the archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Michael Ramsey, was about to pay him a visit.
Bio by: Eman Bonnici
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