Domestic Prelate with the title of Monsignor, and July 16, 1901, he was nominated as Titular Bishop of Samos, and was consecrated Bishop by Cardinal Gibbons, in the Baltimore Cathedral, November 24, 1901. March 27, 1903, he was transferred by the Pope to the Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles, California, with residence at Los Angeles.
While a resident of Worcester, Father Conaty was a member of the school board, 1874-88; trustee of the Public Library for twelve years; president of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America, 1888-89; president of the Catholic Summer School of America, 1893-97, and he was prominent in moral, social, temperance and educational reform movements. He organized and presided over the Annual Conferences of Colleges and Schools, with the purpose of unifying the educational system of the Catholic church. He was a member of the Committee of Fifty for the study of social and economic problems, and is a member of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union, of the California club. Sunset club. University club, Newman club and Southwest Archaeological Institute. He has been identified with no political party, but has always exercised the privilege of the franchise. He has always been a voluminous reader with special taste for literature and history. His most helpful reading has been Catholic theology, the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Fathers of the Church, the Lives of the Saints. In his college days he found recreation in cricket, baseball, and athletics generally, and later in life in walking. He entered the priesthood because he was led to believe that God called him, and he made it his aim to do all the good he could, in gratitude to God for God's gifts to him. He attributes the relative strength of the influences that led to his own success, first to home and to deep-seated family affection; second to college influence, a desire to stand well for degrees and add honor to alma mater; third to the character of clergymen he knew whose strong individuality made him aim to be always honorably straightforward, hating deceit and trimming, hence his motto, "To battle for the truth." He said in 1904: "I have had remarkable success in all my undertakings, never having failed in any important matter. The secret of it: An attempt to strive for rugged honesty and faithfulness; manliness of character; loyal friendship and kindness. Sound ideals in our American life will be strengthened, and true success attained through loyalty to principles of right con-
