Richard Phelan

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Bishop Richard Phelan D.D. (1828 – 1904) was the 4th Roman Catholic Bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Born January 1 in Sralee, near Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, Ireland, he was educated by private tutors, and at St Kieran's College, Kilkenny. In 1850 as a seminarian he volunteered to accompany Bishop Michael O'Connor to the United States, and entered St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland. He was ordained priest in Pittsburgh on May 4, 1854,

In 1868 he became pastor of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Allegheny City (which, since 1907, is a part of the city of Pittsburgh). He built a new church at a cost of more than $150,000, and also completed the schools that his predecessor, had begun. During the absence of Bishop John Tuigg in 1881 he was appointed administrator of the dioceses of Pittsburgh and Allegheny, and he was subsequently made vicar-general. In 1885 he was nominated coadjutor to the two sees, with right of succession, and on 2 August was consecrated bishop of Cebeyra in partibus by Archbishop Patrick John Ryan. He ultimately succeeded Bishop Tuigg on December 7, 1889.

Phelan died October 20, 1904 and is buried in St. Mary Cemetery in the city's Lawrenceville neighborhood.

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[edit] References

Glenn, Francis A. (1993). Shepherds of the Faith 1843-1993: A Brief History of the Bishops of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh: Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. ISBN none.