| Right Rev. Louis Amadeus Rappe | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Cleveland | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| See | Cleveland |
| In Office | October 10, 1847—August 22, 1870 |
| Predecessor | none |
| Successor | Richard Gilmour |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | March 14, 1829 |
| Consecration | October 10, 1847 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 2, 1801 Audrehem, Pas-de-Calais, France |
| Died | August 9, 1877 (aged 76) St. Albans, Vermont, United States |
Louis Amadeus Rappe (February 22, 1801—August 9, 1877) was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Cleveland from 1847 to 1870.
The son of peasants, Louis Amadeus Rappe was born in Audrehem, Pas-de-Calais, to Eloi and Marie Antoinette (née Noël) Rappe.[1] He was one of ten children and labored in the fields until October 1820, when he entered the College of Boulogne (then under Benoit Haffreingue).[1] After graduating in 1826, Rappe entered the seminary of Arras and was later ordained to the priesthood by Bishop (later Cardinal) Hugues de la Tour d'Auvergne-Lauragais on March 14, 1829.[2] He then served as pastor of Wismes until 1834, when he became chaplain at the Ursuline convent in Boulogne.[1]
In 1839 he accepted an invitation from Bishop John Baptist Purcell to join the Diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio, finally arriving in the United States in October 1840.[1] He was then sent to Chillicothe to learn English from William Marshall Anderson.[3] Rappe was assigned in 1841 to minister to the Catholic laborers on the Miami and Erie Canal and the settlers along Maumee River; his unofficial parish limits extended from Toledo to the Indiana border and as far south as Allen County.[3] He advocated total temperance, once saying, "Drunkenness, and all debaucheries which attend it, degrade men, disgrace the faith, and precipitate many into endless fortunes";[1] and established a branch of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, also preparing a convent and school for them.[1] Having hitherto labored by himself, he eventually received Rev. Louis De Goesbriand as an assistant in 1846.[3]
On April 23, 1847, Rappe was appointed the first Bishop of the newly-erected Diocese of Cleveland by Pope Pius IX.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 10 from Bishop Purcell, with Bishop Richard Vincent Whelan serving as a co-consecrator, at Cincinnati.[2] Two days after his consecration, he published his first pastoral letter, in which he express his desire "to be regarded as your friend and father, rather than your superior."[1] At that time, the diocese contained 42 churches and 21 priests; the first and only Catholic church in Cleveland was St. Mary's on the Flats.[1] He soon established the city's first parochial school, which doubled as a chapel.[3]
Rappe purchased an episcopal residence in 1848, and also laid the cornerstone of the new St. John's Cathedral on October 22 of that year.[3] He founded a seminary at his residence that year as well. In 1849 he went to Europe to recruit clergy for the diocese, returning in 1850 with four priests, five seminarians, two Sisters of Charity and six Ursuline nuns.[1] Rappe founded an orphanage for girls in 1851 and one for boys in 1853, consecrated St. John's Cathedral on November 7, 1852 and, the want of a hospital felt severely due to the Civil War, established St. Vincent Charity Hospital in 1865.[3] He also introduced into the diocese the Grey Nuns, Good Shepherd Sisters, Little Sisters of the Poor, Franciscans, and Jesuits.[1] He attended the First Vatican Council from 1869 to 1870.
Rappe, however, eventually met strong opposition and resigned as Bishop on August 22, 1870.[2] He left the diocese with more than 100,000 Catholics, 107 priests, 160 churches, and 90 schools. He spent the next seven years at St. Albans, Vermont, attending to the missions in Vermont and Canada.[3] He was also offered another diocese, but declined.[1] The Bishop died at St. Albans at age 76.
| Preceded by none |
Bishop of Cleveland 1847–1870 |
Succeeded by Richard Gilmour |