Pope Benedict XV created him Cardinal-Priest of "Santi Nereo e Achilleo" in the consistory of March 7, 1921, thus making him Philadelphia's first Archbishop to be made a cardinal. Dougherty's voyage to Rome to attend the papal conclave of 1922 was delayed by weather, and he arrived after Pope Pius XI had already been elected. He raised nearly $100,000 to support the Irish in their war for independence.