Charles Warren Currier
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| Bishop Charles Warren Currier | |
| Born | March 22, 1857 St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, USA |
|---|---|
| Died | September 23, 1918 Maryland, USA |
Bishop Charles Warren Currier (22 March 1857 in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, USA - 23 September 1918 in Maryland, USA) was the first Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Matanzas (1913-1914). His parents were Warren Green Currier (born in New York) and Deborah Heyliger of the Netherlands.
He studied at the College of Our Lady of the Assumption, Roermond, Limburg, Holland and at St. Alphonsus Seminary in Wittem, Limburg, Holland . He joined the missionary order of Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) in 1775 and was ordained a priest on November 24, 1880 in Amsterdam, Holland, by Bishop Henry Schaap (vicar apostolic of Dutch Guiana). In January 1881, he arrived in Surinam for his first missionary assignment where he remained until 1882 . In November 1891 he was allowed to leave the Redemptorists and then worked in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
On June 25, 1910 he was appointed Bishop of Zamboanga, Philippines by Pope Pius X but he declined. Because he had published articles on Cuban history, he was appointed on April 26, 1913 as the first Bishop of Matanzas and in Rome, on July 6, 1913 he was consecrated by Diomede Angelo Raffaele Gennaro Cardinal Falconio, O.F.M., and assisted by Mons. Domenico Cardinal Serafini, Titular Archbishop of Seleucia Pieria, and Mons. Donato Cardinal Sbarretti, Titular Archbishop of Efeso, Bishop Emeritus of Havana.
He arrived in Matanzas on November 3, 1913 and took position of the archdiocese the following day. He repaired and redecorated the Cathedral (church of San Carlos Borromeo) that was in poor conditions. Due to his poor health he resigned his position as Bishop of the Archdiocese of Matanzas on February 11, 1914 and was appointed Titular Bishop of Hetalonia on June 15, 1915.
Bishop Currier knew Greek and Hebrew and was fluent in Latin, English, Dutch, Spanish, French, German, and Italian.
Bishop Currier died on September 23, 1918 on a train traveling from Waldorf, Maryland to Baltimore to assist in the funeral of Cardinal John Murphy Farley, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York. His funeral took place in the Cathedral of Baltimore where he is also buried.
