Cooke, Terence James (1921-1983), archbishop of New York, was appointed a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. Cooke, at 48, was the youngest American ever to become a cardinal.
Cooke was born in New York City on March 1, 1921, and raised there. He was ordained in 1945 after graduating from St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York. Cooke earned a master’s degree in social work at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and taught at Fordham University in New York City. He became archbishop of New York in 1968 and guided the archdiocese during the transition years after Vatican Council II ended in 1965 (see Vatican Council II). Cooke died on Oct. 6, 1983.
