Pius XII named McGucken as
coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento on October 26, 1955. St. Andrew's parish gave McGucken a farewell celebration at the
Pasadena Civic Auditorium, with performances by singer
Dennis Day, several choirs, and a US Army
color guard.[4]
When Bishop
Robert Armstrong died on January 14, 1957, McGucken automatically succeeded him. In his five years as bishop, he authorized, built or approved for development nine parishes, three high schools, 33 new church buildings and one minor seminary.[5]
Archbishop of San Francisco
On February 19, 1962, McGucken was appointed
Archbishop of San Francisco; he was installed on April 3, 1962.
In 1962 the
existing St. Mary's Cathedral, built in 1891, was destroyed by fire. McGucken gathered his consultants to begin the process of planning and constructing a new Cathedral of St. Mary. Architectural critic
Allan Temko advocated a bold, new cathedral that would reflect San Francisco's status as a major international urban center. McGucken added two internationally known architects to his team, Italian-born
Pietro Belluschi from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was placed in charge of designs, and
Pier Luigi Nervi, an engineer from Rome, who took over structural concerns. The strikingly modern design which was presented was met with high praise and has been called the "first cathedral truly of our time and in harmony with the liturgical reforms of the Council."[6]
In 1966, McGucken publicly voiced his support for the efforts of
Cesar Chávez to organize farmworkers in California's vineyards. McGucken's stand led one vineyard spokesman to warn that "the Church leaders had better start looking for other financial means to carry out their radical theories."[7]
Retirement and legacy
On February 16, 1977, Pope Paul VI accepted McGucken's resignation as Archbishop of San Francisco. Thomas McGucken died on October 6, 1983. He is buried in the Archbishops' Crypt at
Holy Cross Cemetery in
Colma, California.
In 1994, Terence McAteer made public an accusation that he was raped in 1967 by Rev. Austin Peter Keegan, a priest in the archdiocese, when he was ten years old. McAteer had reported the rape in 1976 to Reverend Vincent Ring, who informed McGucken. Three years later, Keegan sexually assaulted another boy.[8]
Father
Eugene Boyle was a priest directly under McGucken's authority in San Francisco during McGucken's tenure as Archbishop. While not antagonistic to Boyle (in fact the two always remained respectful of each other), Boyle and McGucken did clash over a number of issues. Boyle was an explicitly progressive priest during the 1960s and 1970s, spurred on by the developments of the
Second Vatican Council. Boyle campaigned on behalf of San Francisco's African American community as well as engaging with the
American Civil Rights Movement. He also supported the
United Farm Workers and The
Black Panther Party.
McGurken did not oppose the right of priests such as Boyle to support
social justice movements. However, when Boyle was involved in a number of controversies and conservative sections of the Californian public pushed back against him , McGucken tried to err on the side of caution and sided against Boyle. The back and forth between Boyle and McGucken would dominate much of McGucken's term as archbishop.
Burns, Jeffrey M. "Postconciliar Church as Unfamiliar Sky: The Episcopal Styles of Cardinal James F. McIntyre and Archbishop Joseph T. McGucken." US Catholic Historian 17.4 (1999): 64-82
online.
Weber, Francis J. Archbishop Joseph T McGucken (1902-1983): A Personal Memoir (Mission Hills: Archival Center, 1996).