Timothy Joseph Harrington

Timothy Joseph Harrington (December 19, 1918 – March 23, 1997) was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Worcester from 1983 to 1994.

Biography

Timothy Harrington was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester in 1941. He studied at the Grand Seminary of Montreal in Canada before returning to Massachusetts, where he earned a Master of Social Work degree from Boston College. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Thomas Michael O'Leary on January 19, 1946. He then served as a curate at St. Bernard's Church in Worcester until 1951, when he became chaplain at Nazareth Home for Boys in Leicester and began work with Catholic Charities. He was director of the House of Our Lady of the Way (1957–1960) and director of Catholic Charities (1960–1968), and was named a papal chamberlain by Pope John XXIII in 1960.

On April 2, 1968, Harrington was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Worcester and Titular Bishop of Rusuca by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following July 2 from Bishop Bernard Joseph Flanagan, with Bishops John Joseph Wright and Christopher Joseph Weldon serving as co-consecrators. He became chief financial officer of the diocese in 1968, and was named chancellor in 1975. Harrington was appointed the third Bishop of Worcester by Pope John Paul II on September 1, 1983. His installation took place at the Cathedral of St. Paul on October 13, 1983.

Upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, Harrington submitted his letter of resignation to John Paul II in December 1993. His resignation was accepted on October 27, 1994, and Bishop Daniel Patrick Reilly was named as his successor. He later died at age 78.