| The Most Reverend Francis Patrick Kenrick |
|
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Baltimore | |
| See | Baltimore |
| Enthroned | 9 October 1851 |
| Reign ended | 8 July 1863 |
| Predecessor | Samuel Eccleston |
| Successor | Martin John Spalding |
| Other posts | Bishop of Philadelphia (1842-51) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 7 April 1821 |
| Consecration | 10 June 1931 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 December 1796 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 8 July 1863 (aged 66) Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic Church |
Francis Patrick Kenrick (3 December 1796 – 8 July 1863) was an Irish-born clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the third Bishop of Philadelphia (1842–1851) and the sixth Archbishop of Baltimore (1851–1863).
Contents |
Francis Kenrick was born in Dublin to Thomas and Jane (née Eustace) Kenrick.[1] His younger brother, Peter Richard Kenrick, would later become the first Archbishop of St. Louis.[2] His uncle was the pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Church in Dublin, and took an active role in his education.[2] [3] At the age of eighteen, he was selected to study at the Urban College of Propaganda in Rome, where he became a distinguished student.[3] He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Candido Maria Frattini on 7 April 1821.[4]
Shortly after his ordination, Kenrick accepted an invitation from Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget, P.S.S., to join the Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky, in the United States.[1] He then held the chair of theology at St. Thomas Seminary for nine years, in addition to teaching Greek and history at St. Joseph's College.[2] Apart from his academic duties, he also engaged in missionary work; he facilitated several conversions and publicly debated with Protestant ministers.[3] He earned a reputation as an eloquent preacher and effective apologist, and was a recognized theologian and scripture scholar.[1]
He was later made private secretary to Bishop Flaget, whom he accompanied to the First Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1829 as his personal theologian.[1] He also served as an assistant secretary of the Council.[3]
On 25 February 1830, Kenrick was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Titular Bishop of Arath by Pope Pius VIII.[4] He received his episcopal consecration on the following 6 June from Bishop Flaget, with Bishops Henry Conwell and John Baptist Mary David, P.S.S., serving as co-consecrators, in Bardstown.[4] Kenrick assumed full administrative powers from the aged Bishop Conwell, whose tenure had been plagued by a public feud with a schismatic priest named William Hogan.[2] Immediately upon his arrival, he also became engaged in the long-running dispute between episcopal authority and the lay trustees of St. Mary's Church.[3] The trustees eventually conceded their struggle for power after Kenrick placed St. Mary's under interdict.[3] He also placed all church property in the name of the bishop instead of those of the trustees.[2]
In 1832, Kenrick founded St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, which was originally located at his personal residence.[3] That same year an outbreak of cholera took place in Philadelphia, and Kenrick led the local Catholic clergy and nuns in administering to the sick; his efforts were publicly recognized by Mayor John Swift.[2] He successfully petitioned the Holy See to separate Western Pennsylvania into a new diocese, and the Diocese of Pittsburgh was established in 1836; Kenrick was initially considered for the new diocese as well as for Coadjutor Bishop of New York, but withdrew his candidacy.[3]
Kenrick succeeded Conwell as the third Bishop of Philadelphia upon the latter's death on 22 April 1842.[4] His tenure was particularly marked by the 1844 Philadelphia Nativist Riots, a series of riots resulting from increasing anti-Catholic sentiment at the growing population of Irish Catholic immigrants.[2] Throughout the violence, Kenrick encouraged Catholics "to follow peace and have charity."[3] He also closed all Catholic churches and ordered the suspension of all Masses until the riots were brought to a halt by military force.[2] Between 1830 to 1850, the number of churches in the diocese grew from 22 to 92; priests from 35 to 101; charitable institutions from two to six; and the Catholic population from 35,000 to 170,000.[1] He also began construction on the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.[3]
Influenced by the work of his contemporary, an English priest named John Lingard, Kenrick published his own translation of the four Gospels in 1849; he eventually translated the entire Bible, as a new revision of the Douay-Rheims Bible.[2]
Following the death of Archbishop Samuel Eccleston, Kenrick was named the sixth Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, by Pope Pius IX on 19 August 1851.[4] His installation took place on the following 9 October.[4] He presided over the First Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1852.[1] In 1854, he was invited by Pius IX to attend the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in Rome.[2] In 1858, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, with the approval of Pius IX, conferred a "prerogative of place" on the Archbishop of Baltimore over all archbishops and bishops in the United States, regardless of seniority in promotion or ordination.[3]
Kenrick was greatly troubled by the outbreak of the Civil War, which is believed to have contributed to his sudden death at age 66.[2] [3]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry Conwell |
Bishop of Philadelphia 1842–1851 |
Succeeded by John Nepomucene Neumann |
| Preceded by Samuel Eccleston |
Archbishop of Baltimore 1851–1863 |
Succeeded by Martin John Spalding |