| Birth: | Mar. 2, 1914 | | Death: | Jun. 26, 1983 | 
Former President of the Pontifical Council for the Family and Cardinal Priest of the Title of Santa Maria in Vallicella, Cardinal James Robert Knox was born in Bayswater, within the
Archdiocese of Perth, Australia, on March 2, 1914, as the second of the three children of John Knox and Emily Walsh, both of Irish Origin.
After studying at the Seminary of New Norcia, Australia and later at the Pontifical Urbanian Athenaeum De Propaganda Fide of Rome, Knox was ordained to the Priesthood at 27 years of age by Cardinal Pietro Fumasoni Biondi, on December 22, 1941. Successively, he served as Chaplain and Vice - Rector of the named Pontifical Urbanian Athenaeum De Propaganda Fide between 1941 and 1949, and Staff Member of the Secretariat of State of the Vatican City. Member of the Central Committee for the Holy Year of 1950, and Staff Member of the Vatican Radio, he was named as Secretary to the Apostolic Delegate in Japan and Privy Chamberlain of His Holiness with the Personal Title of Monsignor on July 22, 1950.
At the early age of 49, Msgr. Knox was elected Archbishop of the Titular See of Melitene and appointed Apostolic Delegate in British Africa, with residence in Mombasa. He received his Episcopal Consecration in Rome, on November 8, 1953, from Cardinal Celso Costantini, assisted by Msgr. Filippo Bernardini, Archbishop of the Titular See of Antiochia di Pisidia and Apostolic Nuncio in Switzerland, and by Msgr. Antonio Samorč, Titular Archbishop of the See of Tirnovo, Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, and Future Cardinal.
Assigned as Internuncio in India and Apostolic Delegate in Burma and Ceylon on February 14, 1957, the Archbishop attended the Second Vatican Council, and served as Co - Organizer of the Papal Visit to India held between December 2 and 4, 1964. Transferred to the Metropolitan See of Melbourne on April 13, 1967, following the retirement of Archbishop Justin Daniel Simonds (1890 - 1967), he organized the 40th International Eucharistic Congress held in Melbourne between February 18 to 25, 1973.
Pope Paul VI created Archbishop Knox a Cardinal Priest in the Consistory of March 5, 1973, with the Title of Santa Maria in Vallicella, and appointed him Prefect of the SS. CC. for Sacraments and for Divine Worship on January 25, 1974. Resigning the Pastoral Government of the Archdiocese on July 1, 1974, he was succeeded by Archbishop Thomas Francis Little (1925 - 2008).
Named Prefect of the new Sacred Congregation for Sacraments and Divine Worship on August 1, 1975, he served as Papal Legate to the 41st International Eucharistic Congress held in Philadelphia, United States between August 1 to 8, 1976, and participated in the Conclaves of 1978, which elected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II as Vicars of Rome.
Special Papal Envoy to the National Eucharistic Congress of Kampala, Uganda, and to the celebrations commemorating the First Centennial of the Establishment of the Catholic Church in Uganda, in February 1979, Knox was furthermore appointed as President of the Pontifical Council for the Family on August 4, 1981, and served as Special Papal Envoy to the National Eucharistic Congress of Nigeria in November 1982.
During his 29 years of Episcopate, Cardinal Knox consecrated 22 Presbyters as Bishops, including Dom Eberhard Hermann Spiess OSB. (1902 - 1990), Former Territorial Abbot of Peramiho, Tanzania, and Titular Bishop of Cemerinianus; Cardinal Adam Kozlowiecki SJ., (1911 - 2007), Former Archbishop of Lusaka, Zambia; The Servant Of God, Cardinal Maurice Michael Otunga (1923 - 2003), Former Archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya; the named Msgr. Little of Melbourne; Cardinal Lawrence Trevor Picachy SJ. (1916 - 1992), Former Archbishop of Calcutta, India; and Archbishop Antonio Magnoni (1919 - 2007), Former Apostolic Pro - Nuncio to the Arab Republic on Egypt. He also co - Consecrated Cardinal Edward Bede Clancy, Former Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Sydney.
Cardinal Knox collapsed during a meeting in the Vatican in mid-May 1983, and was in a coma for the last two weeks of his life due to complications from a cerebral occlusion. He died in Rome, during the night of June 26, 1983, aged 69, and was buried with his Pallium in the Archbishopric Crypt of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Melbourne, Australia, on the following July 6, after the celebration of two Solemn Funeral Masses.
The first took place on June 30, in the Patriarchal Vatican Basilica, presided by Pope John Paul II, in which participated twenty two Cardinals and eight Australian Bishops, who were in Rome for the Ad Limina Visit. Present were numerous officers and priests from the Roman Curia, among the officers of the Pontifical Council for the Family, headed by Francisco José Cox Huneeus, of the Fathers of Schönstatt, Former Bishop of Chillán, Secretary of that Council.
The other Requiem Mass was celebrated in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Patrick, Melbourne, presided by Archbishop Thomas Francis Little of Melbourne and concelebrated by some thirty prelates from Australia and New Zealand. Among the concelebrants were Cardinal James Darcy Freeman, Former Archbishop of Sydney; Luigi Barbarito, Archbishop of the Titular See of Fiorentino, and Apostolic Nuncio in Australia; Cardinal Thomas Stafford Williams, Archbishop of Wellington; and Cardinal Edward Bede Clancy, Archbishop of Sidney. The homily was delivered by the late Archbishop Frank Little.
| | | Burial:
Saint Patrick's Metropolitan Cathedral
Melbourne
Victoria, Australia
Plot: Archbishopric Crypt. |
Created by: Eman Bonnici
Record added: Jan 15, 2009
Find A Grave Memorial# 32935689 |
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It Was You, O God, Who Made Your Servant Cardinal Knox, A Successor Of The Apostles By Raising Him To The Episcopal Order. May He Also Be Associated With Them Forever. We Ask This Through Our Lord, Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.
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Eman Bonnici
Added: Jul. 20, 2011 |
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