Edward John O'Dea (November 23, 1856 – December 25, 1932) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He served as bishop of the

Diocese of Nesqually ''Formerly known as Diocese of Nesqually, 1850-1907.'' The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church (Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particularly the Roman Catho ...

in Washington State from 1896 until 1907. When the Vatican renamed the diocese as the Diocese of Seattle in 1907, O'Dea served as its bishop until his death in 1932. O'Dea was responsible for the construction of St. James Cathedral in Seattle, Washington.

Biography

Early life

Right Rev Edward J O'Dea, Bishop of the Diocese of Seattle, with a group at his Silver Jubilee, 1908 (CURTIS 271)

Edward O'Dea was born in the Dorchester neighborhood of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, to Edward and Ellen (née Kelly) O'Dea, both Irish immigrants. Edward O'Dea elder traveled west during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

in 1849. The family settled in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, in 1866. Edward O'Dea younger attended St. Ignatius College in San Francisco, California and graduated from St. Michael's College in Portland in 1876. He continued his studies at the Grand Seminary of Montréal in Montreal, Quebec.

Priesthood

O'Dea was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood by Archbishop

Édouard-Charles Fabre Édouard-Charles Fabre (February 28, 1827 – December 30, 1896) was Archbishop of Montreal in 1886 and of Sherbrooke and Saint-Hyacinthe in 1887. Fabre was the eldest of 11 children in an important Montreal business family. Despite the effor ...

on December 23, 1882. Following his return to Portland, he served as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Parish. He served as

private secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in t ...

to Archbishop William Gross until 1892, when he became

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of St. Patrick's Church in Portland.

Bishop of Nesqually

On June 13, 1896, O'Dea was appointed the third Bishop of Nesqually by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

. He received his episcopal

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on September 8, 1896, from Archbishop Gross, with Bishops

Jean-Nicolas Lemmens Jean-Nicolas Lemmens (also Joannes Nicolaas Lemmens or Joannes Nicolaus Lemmens) (3 June 1850, in Schimmert – 10 August 1897, in Cobán (Guatemala)) was a Dutch Catholic priest and Bishop of Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada. He was a strong sup ...

and Alphonse Glorieux serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

, at St. James Cathedral (now a proto-cathedral) in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. When he took office, O'Dea was confronted with financial difficulties, including a $25,000 debt for the construction of the cathedral in Vancouver.

Bishop of Seattle

The Vatican renamed the diocese as the Diocese of Seattle on September 11, 1907, and moved the seat of the diocese from Vancouver to Seattle's

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

. O'Dea dedicated St. James Cathedral later that year. He guided the diocese through

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...

sentiment engendered by Initiative 49, a

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

-sponsored initiative to make

parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...

s illegal. His final accomplishment was the establishment of

St. Edward Seminary Saint Edward Seminary (sometimes Saint Edward's Seminary) was an institution for developing Catholic priests in the US state of Washington (state), Washington. Dedicated to Edward the Confessor, Saint Edward the Confessor and located in Kenmore, Wa ...

in Kenmore, Washington, in 1930.

Death and legacy

O'Dea died on December 25, 1932, at age 76, two days after celebrating the 50th anniversary of his ordination. His final words were "God bless you all."

O'Dea High School O'Dea High School is a Catholic all boys high school founded in 1923 and is located in Seattle's First Hill neighborhood. The school is named after Edward John O'Dea who was bishop of Seattle when the school was built. O'Dea is a part of the Ar ...

in Seattle was named after O'Dea.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odea, Edward John 1856 births 1932 deaths Clergy from Boston American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States History of Seattle Roman Catholic bishops of Nesqually Roman Catholic bishops of Seattle