Francis Patrick Keough

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Francis Patrick Keough was the fourth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, and eleventh Archbishop of Baltimore.

Born in New Britain, Connecticut, on December 30, 1890, was the second and youngest son of Irish immigrants. His father, Patrick, died when Francis was five years old.^[1] Francis and an older brother were raised by their mother Margaret Keough.

Francis attended St. Mary's parochial school in New Britain, and began his studies for the priesthood at St. Thomas' Seminary in Hartford. In 1911, he was sent to the Grand Seminary of Saint Sulpice at Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. His studies were interrupted by World War I but he finished his theological studies at St. Bernard's Seminary, Rochester, New York and was ordained a priest of what was then the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hartford on June 10, 1916.^[1]

As a priest, Keough at St. Rose Parish in Meriden, Connecticut, and later became the private secretary of Bishop of Hartford, John Joseph Nilan.

On May 22, 1934 Keough was consecrated as the fourth bishop of Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island. He was consecrated by the Apostolic Delegate, Amleto Giovanni, later Cardinal Cicognani. The co-consecrators were Archbishop John Gregory Murray of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Bishop James Edwin Cassidy of Fall River, Massachusetts.^[2] Over the course of his fourteen years in Providence, the Roman Catholic population increased from 325,000 to 425,000, and the number of clergy grew by fifty percent.^[1]

On November 29, 1947, six months after the death of Archbishop Michael Joseph Curley, Francis Keough was named the eleventh archbishop of Baltimore, America's premier see. He was formally installed in the Basilica of the Assumption on February 24, 1948.^[1]

During his tenure, Baltimore constructed the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen^[1]. The Cathedral was completed in 1959, and Keough was buried there following his death in 1961.

Preceded by William A. Hickey	Bishop of Providence 1934 – 1947	Succeeded by Russell J. McVinney
Preceded by Michael Joseph Curley	Archbishop of Baltimore 1948 – 1961	Succeeded by Lawrence Cardinal Shehan