John Francis Cronin

Who is John Francis Cronin?

Father John Francis Cronin, S.S. was a Catholic priest of the Society of St Sulpice, and a vocal opponent of Communism during the McCarthy era.

Cronin was born in Glens Falls, New York. He attended college at College of the Holy Cross and seminary at the Sulpician seminary of The Catholic University of America.

He taught economics at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland. He was also Assistant Director of the Department of Social Action for the National Catholic Welfare Conference. Toward the end of the Second World War, Cronin wrote a report for the bishops on the Communist Party of the United States. He had the assistance of FBI officials, who unofficially provided some of the background material for him. When Richard Nixon was elected to Congress in 1946, he sought out information on Communism, and he was introduced to Cronin by Rep. Charles J. Kersten.

Documented in a paper titled "The Problem Of American Communism In 1945" Cronin wrote, "In the State Department, the most influential Communist has been Alger Hiss.