William Theodore Mulloy

The oldest of five children, William Mulloy was born in Ardoch, North Dakota, to William James and Margaret Ann (née Doyle) Mulloy.[1] He attended St. Boniface College in Winnipeg, Canada, before returning to the United States and studying at St. Paul Seminary and St. Thomas College in St. Paul, Minnesota.[2] He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop James O'Reilly on June 7, 1916.[3]

Returning to North Dakota, Mulloy then served as a curate at St. Michael Church in Grand Forks until 1920, when he became pastor of St. Boniface Church in Wimbledon.[2] He was pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Cando from (1921-1925) and of St. Alphonsus Church in Langdon and dean of the Langdon Deanery (1925-1933).[2] From 1933 to 1938, he served as pastor of his home parish of St. John the Evangelist Church in Grafton and dean of the Grafton Deanery.[2] He became president of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference in 1935, and rector of St. Mary's Cathedral in 1938.[1] He also served as superintendent of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Fargo and editor of the diocesan newspaper.[1] He was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate in 1941.[2]

On November 18, 1944, Mulloy was appointed the sixth Bishop of Covington, Kentucky, by Pope Pius XII.[3] He received his episcopal consecration on January 10, 1945, from Bishop Aloisius Joseph Muench, with Bishops Vincent James Ryan and Peter William Bartholome serving as co-consecrators, at St. Mary's Cathedral.[3] In addition to rural issues, Mulloy was also dedicated to civil rights. Speaking to the Catholic Committee of the South in 1951, he declared that "racial justice is a moral question" and that Catholic leaders in the Southern United States "cannot remain silent," even at the expense of being labeled with "the opprobrious accusation of being 'anti-Southern.'"[4]

After fifteen years as bishop, Mulloy died in Covington at age 66. He is buried at St. Mary Cemetery in Fort Mitchell.[1]