An American in Rome: Father Joseph A. Hickey, O.S.A.

In the community cemetery located on the campus of Villanova University, where nearly 200 Augustinians are laid to rest, there is the grave of a friar who is unique among the others for the service he once rendered in the Order.

 Fr. Joseph A. Hickey, O.S.A., served as 89^th Prior General of the Augustinians, the first native born North American friar, in fact, to have held that office in more than 700 years. Father Hickey was a member of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova and was international leader of the Augustinians from 1947 until 1953. Despite the singular position he held during those years, there is little to distinguish his headstone from the many others or to identify the special responsibility he had among his brothers. While Fr. Hickey himself would not lament the lack of a label to set him apart – such was his character and demeanor – it is unfortunate that his historic role as Prior General is not noted.

Joseph Aloysius Hickey was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 30, 1883, the son of James Hickey and Margaret Dawson. He was baptized a month later in St. Gabriel Church in that city where he also attended the parish school. He was orphaned while still young – his mother having died just a few days before his 8^th birthday and his father some years after. The pastor of St. Gabriel at the time was Fr. Maurice Dorney, well-known as “King of the Yards” for his work in procuring employment for Irish immigrants at the Union Stock Yards, for serving as mediator between workers and management, and for his exceptional oratory skills. It was Fr. Dorney who took a special interest in young Joseph and recommended him in his eventual application to the Order. Joseph arrived at Villanova as a lay student in 1898 and toward the completion of his studies was received as a novice on March 17, 1902. On March 18 of the following year, he made simple profession of vows and was awarded the A.B. degree from Villanova that same year.

In September 1904 he was sent to Rome to pursue studies at the Collegio S. Monica and made his solemn profession as a member of the Order there on April 12, 1906. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Giuseppe Ceppetelli, Patriarch of Constantinople, on December 22, 1906 and celebrated his first Solemn Mass at the Roman Basilica of S. Agostino. He remained in Rome to complete work for his doctorate which he received in Canon Law from the Pontifical Athenaeum St. Apollinaris. In July 1908 he received the Order’s degree of Lector and the following month returned to the United States. His first assignment was to St. Rita High School in Chicago where he remained teaching for two years, and in 1910 was appointed rector of St. Rita Hall, the house of postulants at Villanova, and professor at the college. He continued on as a member of the teaching faculty for the next fifteen years. In 1911, the Order conferred on him the title of Bachelor and the following year he was appointed Regent of Studies for the province.

At the Province Mid-Chapter of 1912 Fr. Hickey was elected delegate to the next General Chapter which was scheduled to be held the following year in Rome. With the election of Fr. Nicholas Murphy, O.S.A. as prior provincial in 1914, Fr. Hickey was chosen a definitor and also appointed one of the provincial examiners for Holy Orders, for confessors and for postulants. At the provincial chapter of 1918, he was selected as provincial socius and secretary to the new provincial, Fr. Martin Geraghty, O.S.A., and retained these positions until 1925. In 1918 as well, he was instrumental in the initiative to introduce summer sessions at Villanova which over the next many years provided the opportunity for many religious sisters of various congregations to pursue studies and obtain academic degrees. He personally taught sociology during these sessions and frequently presided at summer school commencement exercises. In May 1919, Fr. Thomas Middleton, O.S.A. was authorized by the prior general to confer on Fr. Hickey the Order’s ring and cap, designating him a Doctor of Divinity.

In May 1912, ground had been broken, and three months later the cornerstone laid, for what was to be for many years the province’s house of formation on Villanova’s campus. This had been made possible through the generosity of Mr. Bernard Corr, for whom the building was named. In 1914, the professorium and novitiate which had occupied the fourth floor of the monastery building since its opening in 1901, were moved to the new building. The postulants who were housed in St. Rita Hall joined them as well. All of the students continued to take their meals in the monastery refectory each day until 1919 when a dining room and kitchen were installed in Corr’s basement. Two years later, in 1921, Corr Hall became a distinct community separate from that of the Villanova monastery, with Fr. Hickey appointed its first prior. He exercised this office until January 1925 when he was named President of the college.

Though his years at Villanova as professor and administrator, as well as his profound appreciation and personal satisfaction of study prepared him well for the new responsibility that was presented to him as President, his exercise of that role was to be cut short by another that was soon given to him. At the General Chapter of the Order held in September 1925, Father Hickey was elected Assistant General to Fr. Eustasio Esteban who was called to lead the Order as Prior General. Fr. Hickey accepted this new charge in which he was confirmed several times in subsequent chapters and served as well for a number of years as rector of the Collegio S. Monica. Except for the war years, he would live in Rome until 1953. For a time, he also taught at the Lateran University and was a consultor for the Congregation of the Sacraments.

During the period from 1940 until 1947, though still engaged as Assistant General, the conflict on European soil made it necessary for Fr. Hickey to reside in the United States. He continued to perform his duties remotely in assistance to the prior general but was also now available to perform many services in his home province. He participated in local celebrations, resumed teaching and collaborated on projects with the office of the Apostolic Delegate. For a period, he traveled to Washington, D.C. two days a week from Villanova to teach in the Graduate School of Canon Law at The Catholic University, he published articles in his field of expertise, lectured in schools and celebrated Masses for special events and presided at provincial chapters. In 1942, he was celebrant of the Mass of dedication for St. Monica Seminary in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and participated in the 100^th anniversary of Villanova College’s foundation. He was invited to preach at the jubilee celebrations of fellow Augustinians and to celebrate the Solemn Requiem Masses of others. In 1944 he served as Apostolic Visitator for the Society of the Fathers of Mercy and did likewise for a community of religious sisters which took him on an extensive visit to the West and Southwest at the request of Archbishop Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate at the time, who was greatly indebted to him for this and other services which he had provided. Several years later, the archbishop traveled to Villanova to attend a testimonial dinner given to him on the eve of his departure for Rome.

The war’s end made it possible once again for a degree of normalcy to return to the affairs of the Order, principal among these the celebration of a General Chapter, the first to be held since 1936. Fr. Hickey departed in mid-March to take his place at that gathering of friars in Rome, and on April 26 was himself elected to the office of Prior General. Much of the program of his term of office for the next six years was devoted to the work of restoration in its various dimensions as well as expansion into new areas. These included the founding of the Province of Australia, the unification of several circumscriptions in Italy; new construction in Germany, visitations of provinces in Europe and North America, new foundations in Scotland and England, in France, Japan and the Belgian Congo among others, and the establishment of a separate residence for the curia as well as the promotion of studies especially for international student friars present in Rome. His great personal interest and concern in this last initiative prompted him to go so far as to write to pastors in the United States seeking financial assistance for the Collegio S. Monica.

At the conclusion of his term, Fr. Hickey returned home in September 1953 and took up residence once again at his much-loved Villanova, where he simply and comfortably took his place among his confreres. Occasionally, he was called upon to officiate at province events, such as the funeral of his friend, the province’s prior provincial, Fr. Joseph Dougherty, O.S.A., who died suddenly in September 1954, and the dedication of the chapel at Malvern Preparatory School later that year. In February 1955, he returned to Rome to bless the newly completed curia building which he had been so instrumental in making possible and personally financing through a bequest that had been left to him. Unfortunately, the trip left him feeling poorly both on his arrival in Rome and after his return to Villanova.

In declining health following this last Roman voyage, he was admitted to Bryn Mawr Hospital on July 8, 1955 and passed away early the following morning of congestive heart failure at the age of 72. On Wednesday, July 13, his Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated at Villanova by Fr. John Sheehan, O.S.A., a former prior provincial, with Fr. Henry Caffrey, O.S.A. as preacher. Present among the many mourners, including a great number of religious sisters, friars and officials, were Bishops Leech of Harrisburg, Yamaguchi of Nagasaki and Perricone of New York.

Fr. Joseph Hickey served the Province, the Order and the Church in an exemplary way in his 52 years of Augustinian religious life and 49 years of priestly ministry. His name has a permanent place now in the pages of our history as the first native United States citizen to be chosen as leader of the Order. May his spirit continue to live through the example of his dedication, sincerity, and humble service.

Michael Di Gregorio, O.S.A.
September 24, 2025