With the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI last week, attention
is turning to the conclave in March. I thought this would be a
good time to recall the first American eligible to participate
in a conclave: John Cardinal McCloskey, the first American
cardinal. Born on March 10, 1810 to Irish immigrants in
Brooklyn, New York when he was seventeen he had a life altering
accident. Driving a team of oxen pulling a wagon full of heavy
logs, the wagon overturned and buried John beneath the logs for
several hours. For the next few days he drifted in and out of
consciousness and was blind. He recovered his sight, but his
health was permanently damaged by the accident. Out of his
travail he decided to become a priest. He was ordained a priest
of the diocese of New York in 1834. He wanted to minister to the
victims of a cholera epidemic, but his bishop, recognizing rare
ability in the young priest, ordered him to Rome where he
studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the
University of the Sapienza. Upon his retu