Biography
Archbishop Charles Heerey, C.S.Sp. · 29 November 1890 – 7 February 1967
Early Life and Vocation
Charles Heerey was born on 29 November 1890 in the village of Clonkeefy, County Cavan, in the diocese of Kilmore, Ireland. His parents, Patrick and Rose Anne Heerey, a fervent Catholic family, had him baptised the day after his birth at St. Mary's Church, Castlerahan, where he later received his First Holy Communion and served Mass as an altar server.
He attended Garry Ross National School and St. Mary's National School, and received his secondary education at Blackrock College, Dublin. He entered the novitiate of the Holy Ghost Fathers in November 1911, followed by senior seminary training from 1912 to 1921. He was ordained priest on 24 September 1921, commissioned for the mission in Nigeria on 29 June 1922, and sailed for Nigeria in November 1922.
Missionary in Calabar
On 23 December 1922, Fr. Charles Heerey took up his first assignment at the Sacred Heart Catholic Mission, Calabar. With Fr. Tom Ronayne he took charge of the Efik Christian community, trekking long distances through forests and hills and spending weeks among the rural people of the Ekoi district, administering the sacraments and supervising the education of children.
He was moved with compassion for the sick, especially lepers. Once he baptised an abandoned leper and catechumen who died shortly afterwards. That moment marked the beginning of his burning zeal to relieve the suffering of the sick through Catholic medical and healthcare services.
Rector at Igbariam
In December 1924 he was appointed Rector of St. Paul's Junior and Senior Seminary at Igbariam, founded barely six months earlier. He was rector and sole teacher, assisted by one senior seminarian, John Anyogu, and drew up the seminary's programme and timetable.
With the help of my seminarians I had hoped to make that town Christian, and so I was happy to spend the rest of my life teaching the science of sciences to future priests of Nigeria, and through them to bring God's message to the greatest possible number. Fr. Charles Heerey on his years at Igbariam
Bishop of Southern Nigeria
He was consecrated Coadjutor Bishop of the Vicariate of Southern Nigeria on 29 May 1927 and appointed Religious Superior of the Holy Ghost Fathers in the Vicariate. He travelled the vast territory by motorbike and canoe to confirm and to visit his confreres, and as Director of Education and a member of the Government Education Board he worked to secure Catholic interests in education.
Archbishop Charles Heerey is getting along very well. He will be an excellent chief Shepherd whenever it pleases God to call me away… He is a man of sterling spiritual value, that's everything. Bishop Joseph Shanahan to Fr. Edward Leen, 25 August 1928
He served as Bishop of the Vicariate of Southern Nigeria (1931–1934), of Onitsha-Owerri (1934–1948) and of Onitsha (1948–1950). On 17 June 1950 he became the first Archbishop of Onitsha and Metropolitan of Eastern Nigeria, serving until his death in 1967.
Shepherd of the Sick and the Poor
His pastoral charity was guided by Scripture, above all Luke 4:18, the feeding of the five thousand and the parable of the Good Samaritan. He established eight pilot hospitals with a network of clinics and maternities in remote areas. In his 1951 report to Rome he recorded 700 lepers cared for in government settlements and 733 under direct Catholic mission care; by 1956 he had established nine Catholic leper settlements, where he celebrated the Eucharist and confirmed lepers with his bare hands.
Builder of Catholic Education
When he became bishop in 1931 there were about 200 Catholic primary schools and no secondary school in his territory. In 1933 he opened Christ the King College, Onitsha, the first Catholic secondary school east of the Niger. By his death there were almost 3,000 Catholic primary schools and more than 90 secondary schools and teacher training colleges.
Death and Legacy
Archbishop Charles Heerey died after a brief illness on 7 February 1967 at St. Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, and was laid to rest in Holy Trinity Cathedral, Onitsha, on 9 February 1967. The Catholic newspaper of the day wrote that all Eastern Nigeria was plunged into mourning, for its people had lost their spiritual father and great Church leader.
Important Dates
- Born Clonkeefy, Co. Cavan, Ireland
- Professed religious Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans)
- Ordained priest All Hallows' College, Dublin
- Arrival in Nigeria Sacred Heart Mission, Calabar
- Rector and lecturer St. Paul's Seminary, Igbariam
- Episcopal consecration Holy Rosary Sisters' Chapel, Killeshandra, Co. Cavan
- Vicar Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Nigeria
- Founder Sisters of the Most Pure Heart of Mary (IHM), Ihiala
- Founder Brothers of St. Peter Claver, Uturu, Okigwe
- Assistant at the Pontifical Throne
- First Archbishop of Onitsha and Metropolitan of Eastern Nigeria
- Host to Cardinal Montini the future Pope Paul VI
- Second Vatican Council Member of the Senate of Bishops for the Council
- Died St. Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha
- Interment Holy Trinity Cathedral, Onitsha