Edward Mooney - Early Life and Ministry

Early Life and Ministry

Edward Mooney was born in Mount Savage, Maryland as the seventh child of Thomas and Sarah (née Heneghan) Mooney. At age 5, he moved with his family to Youngstown, Ohio, where his father worked at a tube mill. Following his father's death in the 1890s, his mother opened a small bakery to support the family, with Edward and his siblings delivering the baked goods to her customers. He attended St. Charles College in Ellicott City and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore before being sent to Rome in 1905 to study at the Pontifical North American College. He was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Pietro Respighi on April 10, 1909.

Upon his return to the United States, Mooney taught dogmatic theology at St. Mary's Seminary in Cleveland until 1916. He was the founding principal of the Cathedral Latin School in Cleveland from 1916 to 1922, and pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Youngstown from 1922 to 1923. Returning to Rome, he then became spiritual director of the North American College in 1923. Albert Meyer, a student at the North American College and future cardinal, once said, " was revered and greatly beloved...he left an indelible mark on all the students, inspiring them with his great learning and his solid spiritual guidance." He was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on June 3, 1925.