Rev. Robert Cornell; served 2 terms in Congress; at 89

His death was announced by the abbey, where he lived.

Father Cornell served two terms in the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1979. In 1970, the Rev. Robert F. Drinan was elected to represent a Massachusetts congressional district.

Like Drinan, Father Cornell held liberal views on most issues and was particularly interested in welfare reform and benefits for veterans of the Vietnam War. Unlike Drinan, he was against spending government money on abortions.

In 1980, Drinan withdrew from a race for a sixth term after Pope John Paul II insisted that priests not serve in elective office. For the same reason, Father Cornell, who had lost his seat in the 1978 election, withdrew from his own 1980 campaign to win back the seat.

"It is my personal belief that serving in Congress is no more inconsistent with the priesthood than teaching government and history, as I have done for 35 years," Father Cornell said in announcing his withdrawal.

At the time of Drinan's death in 2007, the Catholic News Service reported that a third Catholic priest, the Rev. Gabriel Richard, was a nonvoting delegate from the Michigan territory from 1823 to 1825.

Robert John Cornell was born in Gladstone, Mich., and graduated with a degree in history and philosophy from St. Norbert College in De Pere in 1941. He received a master's degree in 1945 and a doctorate in 1957, both in history, from Catholic University in Washington. He was ordained a priest in 1944.

He taught at high schools and for many years at St. Norbert College, where he was also dean of students for five years. His writing included "The Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902" (1957), which focused on President Theodore Roosevelt's role in the strike.