1629-13 Community Church • 01••07/1994 09:48 FROM ARCHD I D_ESE OF MIAMI TO 2330522 P.01
BARRY e/ Feb. 2 :, +964
Known simply as "Father Barry' to thousands of Greater
Miari.i residents and tourists who annually vacation at Miami Beach, Monsignor
Barry was a ir.er-:ber of the Barry fancily of County Clare, Ireland, whose name
has longi; been al no,iy mous with the history of the Church in Florida.
One of children born to Michael and Catherine Dixon
Barry at Inagb,l1 County Clare. tie was the brother of the late Bishop Patrick: Barry,
fifth Bishop of St. Augustine. Their sister, the late Mother Mary Gerald, C. P.
serve(' as Mother General of the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Mich. , and was
first president of Miami's Barry College. which she founded in i )4J with her two
lie. t ste. w4
5rother3, Another brother,,Father Joseph Barry !sa pablsh priest in Ireland and
ivionsinor is survived by numerous neicee and nephews in the priesthood and
Sisterhood.
After attending local schools at Inal;h, Monsignor Barry
studieu at Rockvw ell College in Tipperary and at St. Patrick Seminary, Carlow. He
was ordained to the priesthood in ! ')LJ at St. Mary Seminary, Baltimore, and took
•
aavancert studies at the Catholic University of America.'
When he received his first parochial aseigment from the
late Archbishop Michael J. Curley, fourth Bishop of St. Augustine, as assistant
pastor in the Cathedral pariah. St. Augustine there were less than 500 , UJO residents
in the entire state of Florida. The Qet Catholic population was small and dispersed
in tiny settlements sprinkled throughout the vast ptnelands of the state.
The Youn;,, Father Barry joined 11 other secular pioneer
.1 priests who with their Bishop and parishioners represented the ilahc Catholic Church
in Florida with sa:r_11 Danns of Jesuit and Benedictine Fathers who has established a
nur.,ner of :r.issions on the peninsula.
01X07 1994 09:48 FPOM ARCHDIOCESE OF MIAMI TO 2330522 P.02.
A few months later when he was transferred to the Immacula
Conception parish in Jacksonville, he brought the sacraments to Catholics in the vast
area west of Jac{sonville as far as the Appalachicola River by foot, horse-drawn
carriage. horseback, and railroad. Mapy times he stopped overnight at the homes of
the faithful along his route. Sometimes lodging for the night would be at a boarding
house or a :pare roori in an out-of-thoway hotel
In 1913 he was transferred to St. Peter parish. Deland, whit
covered the territory in Brevard and Volusia Counties. Between 1317 and i '3Z2 he was
first pastor of Cur Lady of the Angels and also Holy Rosary parish in Jacksonville.
Appointee pastor of St. Paul parish. Jacksonville, In 1922, he supervised the construe
tion of the parish and school there before being assigned on May 12, :'226 to Miami
Beach.
One of three pioneer priests assigned during the early ;')2O's
by Bishop Barry to estaolishe new parishes in the Greater Miami area, Monsignor
Barry celebrated i'viasaes and conducted school in reconditioned polo stables donated
by the late Carl G. Fisher, non-Catholic benefactor of St. Patrick parish and We-
ion; friendjof the Monsignor.
St. Patrick Church at Miami Beach was completed in 1 - Zg an,
dedicated by Bishop Barry in ; 92-i. St. Patrick School, completes in 192•) is staffed
by Adrian Dominican Sisters. The parish plant also includes a rectory, convent. school
cafeteria, youth center. Qyrnnasium. and parish club rooms. A Miami Beach landmark
since its completion in i 939, is the campanile which faces Alton Rd. at 37th St. Partly
a memorial to Carl Fisher. it contains a life-size statue of Christ the King and 32
chime Orli..
The Irish-born priest did not confine himself to parochial
work but participated in any activities which would promote the welfare of the Church,
the family, axw the community.
1
o. 07 1994 09 49 FPD1 ARCHDIOCESE OF Ni I AM I _
2330522 P.03
BARRY 3
Through his interest the Sisters of St. Francis of Allegany,
N. Y. arrived at yiiami Beach in 1 X27 to assume the operation of the Allison Hospital, '
founcc:. uy and na,liec for another local pioneer. It was formally purchased 4 the
rancizcans ie : Z • and renamed St. Francis Hospital.
For the convenience of Catholics residing and visiting in ti;_.
southern section of :41azni, the Church of St. Francis de Sales was erected by
Monai,;nor Barry in 14 J at Sixth St. ani Lenox Ave. larisissablikalixowseasialsrisswesi
ki
Two years later, Monsignor Barry supervised the construction o*
still another chapel, St. Joseph's located at .bth St. and Byron Ave. in Surfsiae. It haf
since :►eEn erectee as a separate pariah.
Recongnizing the need for a home-lite residence which would
provide acco;npnodations for the many young women who annually seek employment in
the Greater Miami area, Monsignor Barry guilt, in ;4Z, Florida's first Catholic re-
sicienec for young working wo-nen. Known as Casa Francesca and administered by the
Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is located at i i20 Sixth St. , Miami Beach. directly
opposites St. Francis de Miter, Chaps.
when Bishop Barry and'Mother Mary Gerald proposed
the building of a Catholic College for women in the Miami area. M_onsienor Barry
toured Dade County in search of an ideal location for the educational institution. Ground
for Bary Caltc ;e, na.:ed for Bishop Barry, was broken early in i .40. Located In
Shores at NE Second Avenue. and 112th St. . it is the only four-year Catholic
wor_ien's college south of Washiutton, D. C. and is staffed by Adrian Dominican Sisters.
Always a leading exponent of Catholic education. Monsignor
Barry koravianaeoa provided the fix et scholarship to the: college in June ! :40 and it has
been hip, practice to offer a scholarship each y::ar to qualified 3tudenta of St. Patric
i-ii4,h ae:iool. Nar..c d :Zir<. ctor of the first Catholic seminar at the i.;niversity of San
v _
.t
In ! ?49 he was awarded an honorary degree of LLD. from
Notrc Dame University, South Beale, Ind. , in recognition bf the Latin-American
5.rniaars which he oranizec and directed for the exchange of professors and stuaents
k
between North A_r erica and the Central and South American nations.
The first publisher of Florida's earliest
Catholic weekly
publication, Monsignor Barry was the first executive editor of
the "The
Florida Cathol
diocesan newspaper of the Diocese of St. Au••ustine which 4 C published its first edition
on Dec. �, :39 in Miami under his direction.
In
V::3 onsignor Barry was one of the first three priests
in'the State of Florida to be .lcvated to the rank of a domestic prelate with the title
of Riht Reverend Monsignor. He was further honored in :'3$3 when Pope Pius XII
bestowed upon hire the title Phothonotary Apostolic Ad Instar, the highest honor given
by the Church to vlonsibno;i.
The first priest in Florida to become a di¢nitary of this rant.,
he was entitles to celvrate at time the Pontifical Mass during which he was permitted
to wear a mitre. pectoral cross and a prelated's ring.
Monsignor Barry served as a diocesan=assacriaw consultor of
the Diocese of Miami, a post which he heli in the Diocese of St. Augustine until the
•Diocese of Miami was ,erected in t >5 ). While a priest of the Diocese of St. Augustine.
he also served as Vicar General having ween appointed to that position in 3'a.
TOTAL P.03