Alphonse John Smith

Alphonse John Smith, (November 14, 1883 - December 16, 1935) was a 20th-century bishop in the Catholic Church in the United States. He served as Bishop of the Diocese of Nashville from 1923-35.

Biography

Born in Madison, Indiana, Smith was ordained a Catholic priest on April 18, 1908 for the Diocese of Indianapolis. On December 23, 1923 Pope Pius XI named him to be the sixth Bishop of Nashville. He was consecrated a bishop on March 25, 1924 in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Indianapolis by Bishop Joseph Chartrand. The co-consecrators were Bishops Emmanuel Boleslaus Ledvina of Corpus Christi and Samuel Stritch, of Toledo.^[1]

When Bishop Smith came to the diocese he found there were only a few native priests from the diocese itself and ten seminarians. He worked to change the situation and within two years the number of seminarians from Tennessee had grown to 60, and 26 priests were ordained for the diocese during his episcopate. The monastery of the Poor Clares was established in Memphis. Several new parishes and schools were also established.^[2] Bishop Smith served the diocese for eleven years until his death in 1935. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Nashville.^[3]

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