John Carberry

John Joseph Cardinal Carberry (July 31, 1904 – June 17, 1998) was an American Catholic prelate who served as archbishop of St. Louis in Missouri from 1968 to 1979. He was created a cardinal in 1969. He served as bishop of Lafayette In Indiana from 1957 to 1965 and bishop of Columbus in Ohio from 1965 to 1968.

During his term as an archbishop, Carberry was a strong advocate for ecumenicism and racial equality.

John Joseph Carberry was born in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest of ten children of James Joseph and Mary Elizabeth (née O'Keefe) Carberry. His father worked as a clerk at Kings County Court. He received his early education at the parochial school of St. Boniface Parish in Brooklyn. In 1919, at age 15, he enrolled at Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Queens. He excelled in both baseball and the violin at the college.

From 1924 to 1930, Carberry studied for the priesthood in Rome, where he resided at the Pontifical North American College. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree (1929) and a Doctor of Theology degree (1930) from the Pontifical Urbaniana University.

On June 28, 1929, Carberry was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Brooklyn by Cardinal Francesco Selvaggiani in Rome. Following his return to New York, Carberry was assigned as a curate at St. Peter's Parish in Glen Cove, where he remained for one year. He continued his studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he received a Doctor of Canon Law degree in 1934. Carberry then served as a curate at St. Patrick's Parish in Huntington, New York, for one year.

From 1935 to 1940, Carberry was on loan to the Diocese of Trenton in New Jersey, serving as secretary to Bishop Moses E. Kiley and assistant chancellor of the diocese. He also taught at Trenton Cathedral High School in Trenton, New Jersey, from 1939 to 1940. Returning to New York, Carberry taught at St. Dominic High School in Oyster Bay, New York, before serving as professor of canon law at Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York, from 1941 to 1945.

Carberry was an officialis of the Diocese of Brooklyn from 1945 to 1956, serving as chief judge of the diocesan court. He also served as diocesan director for radio and television, becoming known as the "radio priest." The Vatican elevated Carberry to the rank of papal chamberlain in 1948 and domestic prelate in 1954. From 1955 to 1956, Carberry served as president of the Canon Law Society of America.

On May 3, 1956, Carberry was appointed coadjutor bishop of Lafayette in Indiana and titular bishop of Elis by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on July 25, 1956, from Bishop Raymond Kearney, with Bishops George W. Ahr and John Benjamin Grellinger serving as co-consecrators, at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church In Brooklyn Carberry selected as his episcopal motto: Maria, Regina Mater (Latin: "Mary, Queen and Mother"). His installation took place at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Lafayette, Indiana, on August 22, 1956 .