He attended the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965. The Archbishop was a "strict disciplinarian",[3] and was also known as the "Iron Duke".[4] He was opposed to Sunday picnics, dances, alcohol, and Marxism, and once said of bathing beauty contests, "It lowers the dignity and esteem due to women to parade them and measure them ... like cattle."[4] However, Duke was dedicated to vocations, establishing parishes and parochial schools.
On October 30, 1953, he received the degree of Doctor of Laws, (honoris causa) from the University of British Columbia.[5]
On October 1, 1968, he received the Freedom of the City Award from the Vancouver City Council.[6]
He retired as Vancouver's archbishop on March 11, 1964, after thirty-two years of service. Upon his retirement, Duke was appointed Titular Archbishop of Seleucia in Isauria.[7][8] He died seven years later, on August 31, 1971, at the age of 91.
