McCarthy, Father Walter

1968, April 24

Date of Birth: 1904, December 11

Walter McCarthy was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on December 11, 1904. His early education was in St. Patrick’s Parochial School in Hartford. In 1918 he entered St. Thomas Preparatory Seminary in Hartford. In 1923 he began his major seminary work in St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, where he received his A.B. in 1925 and his M.A. in 1927. In 1928 he also earned an S.T.B. at St. Mary’s. He was ordained on May 25, 1929. After ordination he made his Solitude in Catonsville, Maryland in 1929-1930.

Father McCarthy returned to St. Mary’s Seminary in 1930 to teach first year Moral Theology. He moved to St. Mary’s Seminary, Roland Park, the next year to teach second year Moral. In 1933 he went to Rome, to the Angelicum, from which he received his S.T.L. in 1935. On his return to the United States, he was assigned to the Sulpician Seminary (now Theological College) at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. There he taught Moral Theology and Canon Law until 1940. In that year he came to St. Mary’s Seminary, Roland Park, to teach Moral Theology, Pastoral Theology, and Dogmatic Theology. In 1944 he was appointed Superior of St. Mary’s Seminary, Paca Street. In addition to being Rector of the Philosophy Department, he taught Ethics, Education, and Sociology.

Father McCarthy retired from seminary work in 1949 and returned to the Diocese of Hartford. When the Diocese of Bridgeport was created in 1953, he became a priest of the new diocese and served in several posts there. A year before his death he became pastor of St. Patrick’s Church in Bridgeport. He died of a coronary heart attack on April 24, 1968. 

Adapted from The Voice and from Father McCarthy’s “Personal Data” sheet.