T.W. Campbell, The Priests of the Diocese of Armidale: A Necrology, Braddon ACT, 2005:
McCabe, Michael (Fr Benedict Mary) (OSFC)

Born in Ireland, date and place of birth unknown. Place of education unknown. He entered the Capuchins on 6 September 1868 and was professed on 19 September 1869, taking the name Benedict Mary. Date and place of ordination unknown. He came to the Armidale diocese from England in 1881 and was appointed to the cathedral staff. He was in Armidale at the time the Ursuline Sisters arrived in the city, and was involved in helping them settle. In September 1883 he was sent to Casino to commence a mission station, following the division of the Richmond parish into two. On departure from Armidale he presented a statue of St Joseph to the cathedral. On the establishment of the Grafton (later Lismore) diocese in 1887 he returned to the Armidale diocese, and was appointed to Narrabri. In 1888 he was transferred to Tamworth, and in June 1888 to Emmaville. He retired from Emmaville in August 1889, told the people at the opening of a new school in the town for the Sisters of Mercy in November 1889 that he hoped to take a trip to Ireland, but departed and went to the United States. He died in the USA after serving as Chaplain General, with the rank of Major, on the staff of the Commander in Chief at the Headquarters Irish American Military Union of the US. Date and place of death unknown. Place of burial unknown.
It was during his stay at Casino that the seeds were sown for what would become a bone of contention which would involve Cardinal Moran, Bishop Elzear Torreggiani and Bishop J J Doyle. On 6 June 1884 Torreggiani wrote to McCabe authorizing him to build a convent and school rooms and to collect throughout the diocese, as he realised that the local people would not be able to raise sufficient funds on their own. He also built a residence which Torreggiani blessed on 4 June 1884. Over the next two years he continued to build but in difficult circumstances, his relationship with the Parish Building Committee being stormy. Writing from Quirindi on 31 October 1896 Torreggiani stated that 'There was a committee established but McCabe dissolved it. Yet McCabe would claim in his own defence: "I acted with Charles McCarthy, Secretary." He was also frustrated with the builder and the time that it was taking for the work to progress. To speed up matters he sometimes paid for expenses out of his own pocket and it was when, after his departure from Australia to take up residence in the United States, he wanted to claim this money back that the 'McCabe Case' broke out. While living in America in 1889, unwell and under financial pressure, he sought to recover the money which he regarded had been a loan not a donation. After appealing unsuccessfully to both Torreggiani, who said it was not his concern now that Grafton was a separate diocese, and to Bishop Doyle of Grafton, who said he had not contracted the debt, McCabe appealed to Cardinal Moran to referee the dispute. During the debate Doyle complained that McCabe had not kept proper records. However, a detailed record of all financial dealings, written in McCabe's own hand has been discovered in the Sydney Archdiocesan Archives among his correspondence with Cardinal Moran. The amount McCabe claimed is exactly in accord with this financial record. There is no evidence that Doyle ever saw this document and so would have thought it did not exist. There is a letter from Mr Hindmarch, Manager of the AJS Bank, which states that McCabe often made out cheques from his private account to the Presbytery Fund. Although in October 1896 he put the matter in the hands of a Sydney solicitor, he eventually did not proceed with his claim.
(Sources: Colbourne, FJ 13 Aug 1881 p 15, 22 Sep 1883 p 18, 3 Nov 1883 p 18, 5 Jan 1884 p 10, 28 May 1887 p 17, 30 Jun 1888 p 9, 30 Nov 1889 p 15, MDHC A-Z Mc11).

(Reproduced by permission of Tom Campbell.)