Daniel Mannix

For the American author, seeDaniel P. Mannix.

The Most Reverend Daniel Patrick Mannix
Archbishop of Melbourne
Statue of Mannix outsideSt Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
Diocese	Melbourne
Installed	6 May 1917
Term ended	6 November 1963
Predecessor	Thomas Carr
Successor	Justin Simonds
Other post(s)	Bishop of the Armed Services(1917–1963)
Orders
Ordination	9 June 1890
Consecration	6 October 1912
Personal details
Born	(1864-03-04)4 March 1864 Charleville,Cork,Ireland
Died	6 November 1963(1963-11-06)(aged 99) Melbourne,Victoria, Australia
Buried	St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne
Nationality	Irish
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Occupation	Cleric
Alma mater	St Patrick's College, Maynooth

Styles of Daniel Mannix
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Grace
Religious style	Archbishop

Mannix throwing out the first ball at Polo Grounds on 1 August 1920

Daniel Patrick Mannix(4 March 1864 – 6 November 1963) was an Irish-bornCatholic bishop.Mannix was theArchbishop of Melbournefor 46 years and one of the most influential public figures in 20th-century Australia.

Early life and education

Born nearCharlevilleinCounty Cork,Ireland,Mannix was the son of a tenant farmer, Timothy Mannix, and his wife Ellen (née Cagney). He was educated atCongregation of Christian Brothersschools and atSt Patrick's College, Maynoothseminary, where he was ordained as apriest.

Mannix was president ofSt Patrick's College, Maynooth,the Irish national seminary, from 13 October 1903 to 10 August 1912 when he was succeeded by the Rt Reverend John F. Hogan. During his presidency, he welcomed bothEdward VIIin 1903 andGeorge Vin 1911 with loyal displays, which attracted criticism by supporters of theIrish Home Rule movement.Mannix was also involved in the controversy surrounding the dismissal of FatherMichael O'Hickeyas Professor of Irish after O'Hickey publicly attacked those members of the senate of theNational University of Irelandwho opposed making Irish a compulsory subject for matriculation and insinuated that the senators (who included several bishops) had sinned grievously by so doing and resembled those MPs who were bribed to pass theAct of Union.

Ecclesiastical career

On 1 July 1912, Mannix was consecratedtitular BishopofPharsaliaandcoadjutor bishoptoArchbishop Carrof Melbourne at Maynooth College Chapel. Mannix was not consulted about his appointment.Melbourne was one of the large centres of Irish emigration, where the Roman Catholic Church was almost entirely Irish. In Australia at this time, the Irish Catholics were commonly treated with disdain by the English and Scottish majority (who were mostly Anglicans and Presbyterians respectively) and also as potentially disloyal. Mannix was regarded with suspicion from the start and his militant advocacy on behalf of a separate Roman Catholic school system, in defiance of the general acceptance of a secular school system, made him immediately a figure of controversy.

In 1914 Australia enteredWorld War Ion the side of theUnited Kingdomand when Mannix denounced the war as "just a sordidtrade war",he was widely denounced as a traitor.When theAustralian Labor Partygovernment ofBilly Hughestried to introduceconscriptionfor the war, Mannix campaigned against it and it was defeated. He spoke out more frequently about the1917referendum, which was also defeated. This campaign included a speech before a huge crowd of perhaps 100,000 at the Richmond Racecourse, which was provided byJohn Wren.The extent to which Mannix influenced the outcome of the vote has been debated widely. When the Labor Party split over conscription, Mannix supported the Catholic-dominated anti-conscription faction,led byFrank Tudor(although Tudor was not a Catholic). Among the Catholic politicians whose careers he encouraged wereJames Scullin,Frank Brennan,Joseph Lyonsand, later,Arthur Calwell.In 1917, when Carr died, Mannix became Archbishop of Melbourne.

Views

Mannix opposed theEaster Risingin 1916 and always condemned the use of force by Irish nationalists.He also counselled Australians of Irish Catholic extraction to stay out of Irish politics.He became, however, increasingly radicalised and in October 1920 led an Irish republican funeral cortège through the streets of London following the death of the hunger strikerTerence MacSwiney,the Lord Mayor of Cork City in Mannix's native county. He was involved in the production of the filmIreland Will Be Free.

In 1920, Mannix travelled from Melbourne to San Francisco and then by train he journeyed to New York in order to take passage on theWhite Star Lineship theRMS Balticto Ireland. Arallyreported to be made up of 15,000 New York Irish was organised on 31 July at theWhite Star Linedocks at Pier 60,Chelsea Pierson the West side of New York. This show of support was to send off Mannix, who had been so outspoken on the English rule in Ireland, and successfully led anti-conscription campaigns during World War I. The rally ensured thatDavid Lloyd Georgewould allow Mannix passage to Ireland.However shortly before theRMS Balticwas due to arrive in Cork Harbour, it was stopped and boarded by British military, who arrested Mannix and transferred him directly to England.

RMS Baltic,until 1905 the largest ship in the world, from which Archbishop Mannix was arrested and removed to prevent him landing in Ireland

By the end of the war, Mannix was the recognised leader of the Irish community in Australia, idolised by Catholics but detested by others, including those in power federally and in Victoria. He had spoken against theTreaty of Versailles,saying it would lead to a greater war than the one just ended.For many years he was ostracised and not invited to the official functions his position would have entitled him to attend.Mannix formed the Irish Relief Fund, which provided financial support for the families of those shot or imprisoned by the British. When he left Australia in 1920, to visit Rome and the United States, the British government refused him permission to visit Ireland or British cities with large Irish populations, which resulted in an extended stay inPenzance.There was also a serious, though unsuccessful, move to prevent him from returning to Australia.

Mannix supported trade unionism but opposed militancy and strikes. In the 1920s he became outspoken in opposition to theIndustrial Workers of the Worldand theCommunist Party of Australia.On all matters of personal and sexual morality, he was a traditionalist and an upholder of the authority of the Church.

In Melbourne, Mannix was the leader of the city's largest ethnic minority as well as a religious leader. From his palatial house, "Raheen",inKew, Melbourne,he would daily walk to and from St Patrick's Cathedral, personally greeting any of his flock that he encountered. On official engagements, he was chauffeured about in a large limousine. In 1920 he led an enormousSt Patrick's Dayparade with a guard of honour made up of Irish Australian winners of theVictoria Cross.

After theIrish Free Statewas created in 1922, Mannix became less politically controversial and animosity to him gradually faded for the most part. From the 1930s he came to see Communism as the main threat to the church and he became increasingly identified with political conservatism. He was a strong supporter ofJoseph Lyons,who left the Labor Party in 1931 and led the conservativeUnited Australia Partyin government from 1932 until 1939, although he continued to support Catholics in the Labor Party such asArthur Calwell.

Mannix's best-known protégé in his later years wasB. A. Santamaria,a young Italian-Australian lawyer, whom Mannix appointed head of the national secretariat ofCatholic Actionin 1937. After 1941, Mannix authorised Santamaria to form the Catholic Social Studies Movement, known simply as "The Movement", to organise in the unions and defeat the Communists. "The Movement" was so successful in its efforts that by 1949 it had taken control of the Victorian branch of the Labor Party.Another associate wasWilliam Hackett SJ,a Jesuit priest from Ireland, who had been involved in the Irish Republic's struggle for independence from Britain before being posted to Australia.

In 1951 theLiberalgovernment ofRobert Menziesheld areferendumto give the government the constitutional power to ban theCommunist Party.Mannix surprised many of his supporters by opposing this, on the grounds that the bill was totalitarianism, which in his view was worse than communism: his may have been a decisive influence in the referendum's narrow defeat. This alliance with the Labor leader,H. V. Evatt,was short-lived.

The Labor Partysplit again in 1954over attitudes to Communism and theCold War.Santamaria's supporters were expelled and formed theDemocratic Labor Party(DLP). Mannix covertly supported the DLP and allowed many priests and religious to work openly for it. This involvement in politics was opposed by CardinalSir Norman Gilroy,Archbishop of Sydney, who worked with the CatholicPremier of New South Wales,Joseph Cahill,to hold together the Labor Party in that state,and also by theVaticanwhich, in 1957, ruled that the Movement should not interfere in politics.Rome appointed ArchbishopJustin Simondsas coadjutor to Mannix – Simonds was widely seen as Rome's man in Melbourne.

In the late 1940s and 1950s, Mannix spoke against theWhite Australia policy,which was in effect at the time. He described the policy as "crude" and said that Australia had much to learn from other races. In his opposition to the policy, Mannix stated in 1949 that "there is no colour bar in Australia".

He continued his friendship with long-time Irish leader,Éamon de Valera,with the two men continuing their correspondence when Mannix was aged 98 years.

In 1960 Calwell became Labor leader and sought Mannix's support to bring about a reconciliation between Labor and the DLP, essential if the Menzies government was to be defeated. Some figures in the DLP supported this idea, but Mannix supported Santamaria in his resistance to such suggestions. The negotiations fell through and Menzies was re-elected in 1961. Mannix and Calwell became permanently estranged.

By the 1960s the distinct identity of the Irish community in Melbourne was fading, and Irish Catholics were increasingly outnumbered by Italian, Croatian, Polish, Maltese and other postwar immigrant Catholic communities. Mannix, who turned 90 in 1954, remained active and in full authority, but he was no longer a central figure in the city's politics. He died suddenly on 7 November 1963, aged 99, while the archdiocese was preparing to celebrate his 100th birthday. He was buried in the crypt of St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne.

Legacy

Mannix's legacy to the Roman Catholic Church in Australia is substantial. Over fifty years during hisepiscopacy,the number of archdiocesan parishioners increased from 150,000 to 600,000; churches from 160 to 300; students in Catholic primary schools from 21,792 to 73,695; secondary pupils from 3,126 to 28,395; priests increased by 237, brothers by 181, nuns by 736; 10 new male and 14 female orders were introduced; 10 seminaries and 7 new hospitals, 3 orphanages, homes for delinquents, the blind and deaf, hostels for girls, and a range of other church facilities.

In recognition of his influence across both church and state, the Catholic Church commissioned a statue of Mannix (pictured above) which is located in the forecourt of St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, facingParliament House.The bronze and marble sculpture was unveiled by theGovernor of Victoria,SirJames Gobbo,in March 1999.The statue replaced an existing one ofDaniel O'Connell.

A number of facilities are named in his honour, others were established by Mannix, as listed below:

Established by Mannix

• Corpus Christi College,Australia's oldest surviving seminary, was founded by Mannix on Christmas Day, 1922. Mannix had envisaged a national seminary along the lines ofMaynooth,but had to abandon plans to reform St Patrick's Seminary,Manly, New South Wales,when the Holy See ruled in favour of regional seminaries for Australia.
• Tarrawarra Abbey, Yarra Glen,was founded in 1954 under Mannix's episcopacy with archdiocesan assistance.

Named in honour of Mannix

• Newman Collegeand theAustralian Catholic Students Associationeach hold annual public lectures in his name.
• Mannix Collegeis a residential college atMonash University.
• Nazareth House Camberwell was established in 1929, after Mannix was taken in by the Sisters of Nazareth in Hammersmith, London, when refused entry into Ireland in 1920. A guest room is named in his honour.
• Mannix was a key supporter of the foundation ofSt Kevin's College, Melbournein 1918 and was a guest speaker at its opening Mass of that year. In honour of his influence, a tutor group at the college's Year 9 campus, Waterford, is named 'Mannix'.
• InPower Without Glory,Frank Hardypresented a loose caricature of Mannix in the character of Archbishop Malone. Malone was played byMichael Patein the book's 1976 miniseries dramatisation.
• Year 9 Mannix campus at theSalesian College, Chadstone.
• Mannix Library,Catholic Theological College, Melbourne
• Mannix House atNazareth College.Mannix House is represented by the colour green from his Irish connections
• Mannix House and Mannix Building atXavier Collegein Kew, Melbourne.
• Dr Mannix Gaelic Athletic Sportsfield is named after him. It is the home sports field for the Charleville Hurling and Football clubs and is one of the premier hurling and football venues in North Cork.
• The Daniel Mannix Building in the Australian Catholic University's Melbourne campus houses the university's college of health science.
• Mazenod College, Mulgrave, Victoria, has homerooms named after Mannix.
• Dr Mannix Road, Dr Mannix Drive and Dr Mannix Avenue inSalthill,Galway,are named for him.
• Mannix House atLoyola College, Melbourne,with the colour of yellow.

Further reading

• Brennan, Niall (1964).Dr. Mannix.Adelaide: Rigby.
• Bryan, Cyril (1918).Archbishop Mannix: Champion of Australian Democracy.Melbourne: The Advocate Press.
• Brady, E. J. (1934).Doctor Mannix, Archbishop of Melbourne.Melbourne: Library of National Biography (Dominion Series).
• Ebsworth, Rev. Walter A (1977).Archbishop Mannix.Armadale, Victoria: H. H. Stephenson.ISBN0959636501.
• Franklin, James(2015).The Real Archbishop Mannix: From the Sources.Ballarat: Connor Court.ISBN9781925138344.
• Gilchrist, Michael (1982).Daniel Mannix, Priest & Patriot.Blackburn, Victoria: Dove Communications.ISBN085924217X.
• Griffin, James (1986). "Daniel Mannix and the cult of personality". In Oliver MacDonough; W. F. Mandle (eds.).Ireland and Irish-Australia: studies in cultural and political history.London: Croom Helm. pp. 95–118.
• Griffin, James (2013). James Ormonde (ed.).Daniel Mannix: Beyond the Myths.Mulgrave VIC, Australia: Garratt.ISBN9781921946233.
• Kiernan, Colm(1984).Daniel Mannix and Ireland.Dublin: Gill and Macmillan.ISBN0717113779.
• Mannix, Patrick (2013).The Belligerent Prelate: An alliance between Archbishop Mannix and Éamon de Valera.Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.ISBN9781443834995.
• Murphy, Frank (1948).Daniel Mannix: Archbishop of Melbourne(first ed.). Melbourne: The Advocate Press.
• Niall, Brenda(2015).Mannix.Melbourne: Text.ISBN9781922182111.
• Noone, Val(2014).Daniel Mannix: His Legacy.Melbourne: Melbourne Diocesan Historical Commission.ISBN9780646596983.
• Santamaria, B. A.(1984).Daniel Mannix: the quality of leadership.Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.ISBN052284247X.

External links

• Article in the MelbourneAgefrom 7 November 1963 announcing his death
• Mannix: Australian-Irish network page
• Photo of demonstration at Chelsea Pier, New York as Archbishop Mannix sailed onS.S. Baltic,31 July 1920. National Library of Australia.
• Video 'The real Archbishop Mannix'.