Michael Francis Fallon

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Michael Francis Fallon OMI (born May 17, 1867 in Kingston , Ontario , † February 22, 1931 in London , Ontario) was a Canadian Roman Catholic clergyman and bishop of London (Ontario) .

Life

Michael Fallon was the eldest of the seven sons of Irish immigrants Dominic Fallon and Bridget Egan. He attended the Christian School Brothers School in Kingston, then, until 1883, the Kingston Collegiate Institute. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts cum laude from the University of Ottawa in 1889, he entered the Ottawa seminary to study philosophy and in 1892 the novitiate of the Oblates of the Immaculate Virgin Mary , which he completed first in Aachen and then in Rome. There he studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University , received his doctorate in theology and was ordained a priest on July 29, 1894 in Rome .

After returning to Canada, he taught English literature at the University of Ottawa and in 1896, at the age of 29, became its vice-rector. He also coached the university's very successful (i.e. undefeated during his time) rugby team. In 1898 he took over the parish of St. Joseph near the university building. In 1901 appointed pastor of the Holy Angels Church in Buffalo, New York, he left Ottawa and in 1904 became the first provincial of the newly created American province of his order.

On December 18, 1909, he was called to be Bishop of London, Ontario. He was ordained bishop on April 25, 1910 by his predecessor Fergus Patrick McEvay , now Archbishop of Toronto , in St. Peter's Cathedral in London; Co- consecrators were David Joseph Scollard , Bishop of Sault Sainte Marie , and William Andrew Macdonell , Bishop of Alexandria, Ontario .

Bishop Fallon, although Canadian of Irish descent, was a staunch supporter of the British Empire. In 1910 he predicted an imminent war with Germany or Japan in a few years' time and thus caused quite a stir. At the same time he began a successful campaign to abolish the Glorious Revolutionary and anti-Catholic oath against transubstantiation as part of the official oath of the British kings, which has not been taken since the coronation of King George V in June 1911. In the Canadian school dispute over bilingual schools, Fallon was one of the leading advocates of Regulation 17 to abolish French as the language of instruction, but also advocated keeping it in purely French-speaking areas.

Michael Fallon died after serving 21 years in the episcopate. The Requiem in the cathedral was given by the Apostolic Delegate in Canada, Archbishop Andrea Cassulo . He was buried in the crypt of St. Peter Seminary in London, Ontario.

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predecessor Office successor
Fergus Patrick McEvay Bishop of London (Ontario)
1909–1931 		John Thomas Kidd
personal data
SURNAME Fallon, Michael Francis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian Roman Catholic clergyman and Bishop of London (Ontario)
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1867
PLACE OF BIRTH Kingston , Ontario
DATE OF DEATH February 22, 1931
Place of death London , Ontario