Moses E. Kiley

{{Infobox Christian leader

| honorific-prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend

| name = Moses Elias Kiley

| honorific-suffix =

| archbishop_of = Archbishop of Milwaukee

| image =

| caption =

| province =

| diocese =

| see = Archdiocese of Milwaukee

| enthroned = January 1, 1940

| ended = April 15, 1953

| predecessor = Samuel Stritch

| successor = Albert Gregory Meyer

| ordination = June 10, 1911

| consecration = March 17, 1934

| other_post = Bishop of Trenton (1934–1940)

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1876|11|13|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Margaree Centre, Nova Scotia, Canada

| death_date = {{death date and age|1953|4|15|1876|11|13|mf=y}}

| death_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US

| buried =

| nationality = Canadian

| religion = Roman Catholic Church

| residence =

| parents =

| alma_mater =

| signature =

| education = College of St. Laurent
St. Mary's Seminary
Pontificial University of St. Thomas
Pontifical Urban University

| motto = That I may be faithful

}}

Moses Elias Kiley (November 13, 1876 – April 15, 1953) was a Canadian-born American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Milwaukee from 1940 to 1953. He previously served as Bishop of Trenton (1934–1940).

Biography

= Early life =

Moses Kiley was born on November 13, 1876, in Margaree, on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, to John and Margaret (née McGarry) Kiley.{{cite book|last=Curtis|first=Georgina Pell|title=The American Catholic Who's Who|volume=XIV|year=1961|publisher=Walter Romig|location=Grosse Pointe, Michigan}} He received his early education at a grade school in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. When Kiley was 16, the family immigrated to the United States, moving to Somerville, Massachusetts.{{cite news|date=April 16, 1953|work=The New York Times|title=ARCHBISHOP KILEY OF MILWAUKEE, 76; Roman Catholic Prelate, Who Had Been Chicago Director of Charities, Is Dead}} He financed his higher education by working as an errand boy at a carriage shop in Somerville established by his older brothers. He also worked as a floorwalker at a department store in Boston and as a trolley motorman.{{cite book|last1=McNamara|first1=Robert Francis|title=The American College in Rome, 1855–1955|year=1956}}{{cite magazine|date=January 15, 1940|magazine=TIME Magazine|title=Religion: Stritch to Chicago|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772332,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014065046/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772332,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 14, 2010}}

In 1903, Kiley enrolled at the College of St. Laurent in Montreal, Quebec. After three years in Montreal, he began his studies for the priesthood at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1906. The following year, Kiley was sent to Rome, where he resided at the Pontifical North American College.{{cite news|date=February 13, 1934|work=The New York Times|title=Mgr. Kiley Holds Vatican Post}} While in Rome, he earned a doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in 1909, and a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Urban University in 1911.

= Priesthood =

File:North American College - Janiculum Hill.jpg

Kiley was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in Rome by Archbishop James Quigley on June 10, 1911.{{Cite web |title=Archbishop Moses Elias Kiley [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bkiley.html |access-date=2025-02-05 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}

Following his return to the United States, the archdiocese assigned Kiley as a curate at St. Agnes Parish in Chicago, Illinois, where he remained for five years. In 1916, he established the Mission of the Holy Cross for homeless men. That same year, he was named the first archdiocesan director of Catholic Charities, a post which he held until 1926. Kiley was elevated to the rank of monsignor in 1924.

Kiley returned to Rome in 1926 to serve as spiritual director of the Pontifical North American College.

= Bishop of Trenton =

On February 10, 1934, Kiley was appointed the fifth bishop of Trenton by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on March 17, 1934, from Cardinal Raffaele Rossi, with Cardinal Carlo Salotti and Archbishop Thomas Walsh serving as co-consecrators, at the Church of Santa Susanna in Rome. His most notable achievement in Trenton was refinancing $10,000,000 of church obligations.

= Archbishop of Milwaukee =

File:Milwaukee August 2022 093 (Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist).jpg

Following the transfer of Archbishop Samuel Stritch to the Archdiocese of Chicago, Kiley was appointed the sixth archbishop of Milwaukee by Pope Pius XII on January 1, 1940. Kiley was installed at the Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee on March 28, 1940.

During his tenure in Milwaukee, Kiley earned a reputation as a conservative leader and stern administrator.{{cite news|work=Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee|title=The Church of the Code: 1903–1945|url=http://www.archmil.org/aboutus/History/1903-1945.htm}} He oversaw an extensive renovation of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee, which had suffered major fire damage in 1935.{{cite news|work=Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee|title=Archbishop Moses Elias Kiley|url=http://www.archmil.org/Bishops/Former-Archbishops/Kiley.htm}}

Kiley rebuilt the St. Aemillian Orphanage in Milwaukee, also damaged by fire in the 1930s. Kiley also renovated St. Francis Seminary in St. Francis, Wisconsin, converted Pio Nono High School into a minor seminary, and created a Catholic Family Life Bureau in 1948.