The Rev. Dr. Harry C. Cronin, C.S.C., died on April 7, 2022, at the age of 86. An author, playwright, and Director of Berkeley's Holy Cross Center, Father Cronin worked in Berkeley from 1998 to 2000, where he taught at the Graduate Theological Union.
Born in Denver in 1935, Father Cronin graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy. In 1962, he earned a Master of Arts in Theology from Holy Cross College in Washington, D.C., and he was ordained a Holy Cross priest of that same year. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Theatre Arts from the University of Minnesota in 1968.
In 1998, Father Cronin began teaching classes in religious drama and film at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. In 2001, he became the Director of Holy Cross Center in Berkeley, until moving into Holy Cross House, Notre Dame, Indiana, in 2020.
Father Cronin directed multiple plays over his career, and he is most well-known for his playwriting. "Memoirs of Jesus," his one-person play, was the recipient of two Los Angeles Drama-Logue awards. His one-person play, "My Will and My Life," won a Best of Fringe Award at the San Francisco Fringe Festival in 2019.
Memorial contributions in Father Cronin’s honor can be made in support of the mission and ministries of the Congregation of Holy Cross, online at www.donate.holycrossusa.org.