Francis Bible Schulte, O.H.S. (December 23, 1926 – January 17, 2016) 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 'pre ...

of the

Roman 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 archbishop of the

Archdiocese of New Orleans The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans ( la, Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, french: Archidiocèse de la Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Arquidiócesis de Nueva Orleans) is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church spanning Jefferso ...

in Louisiana from 1989 to 2002. Schulte previously served as bishop of the

Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

in West Virginia from 1985 to 1989 and as an auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It covers the City and County of Philadelphia as well a ...

in Pennsylvania from 1981 to 1985.

Biography

Early life

Francis Schulte was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, the only child of John Schulte, a pharmacist, and his wife, Katherine (née Bible) Schulte. His parents had him baptized with both their surnames. As a child, his parents enrolled him at Norwood Academy for Boys in Philadelphia. Schulte then studied at St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia. Deciding to become a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

, with his mother's strong support, Schulte enrolled at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, Pennsylvania. He later studied at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, obtaining a Master of Political Science. Schulte then did more graduate studies at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

in England, and at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Priesthood

Schulte 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 ...

to the priesthood on May 10, 1952, for the

. After his ordination, Schulte was named by Archbishop John F. O'Hara to serve as a faculty member and department head of various Philadelphia-area parochial schools. Archbishop

John Krol John Joseph Krol (October 26, 1910 – March 3, 1996) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Philadelphia from 1961 to 1988, having previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland (195 ...

appointed Schulte as an assistant superintendent of the archdiocesan schools in 1960. He became superintendent of the schools in 1970. Schulte was raised to the rank of

papal chamberlain A Papal Gentleman, also called a Gentleman of His Holiness, is a lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. Papal gentlemen serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica in ceremonial positions, such as escorting d ...

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

, and was named

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. Margaret Parish in

Narberth, Pennsylvania Narberth is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is one of many neighborhoods on the historic Philadelphia Main Line. The population was 4,282 at the 2010 census. History Narberth is located on a parcel of land origin ...

, in 1980.

Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia

On June 27, 1981, Schulte was appointed an auxiliary bishop of his archdiocese and the

titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

Afufenia Afufenia (also called ''Afufeniensis'') was a Roman era city in the province of Byzacena. Its exact location is unknown, but it would have been situated in central Tunisia. Afufenia was also the seat of an ancient Catholic bishopric. and was me ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. He was consecrated on August 12, 1981, with Cardinal Krol as his principal

consecrator 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 ...

and Bishops John J. Graham and Martin N. Lohmuller serving as co-consecrators.

Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston

On June 4, 1985, Pope John Paul II named Schulte as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.

Archbishop of New Orleans

Pope John Paul II appointed Schulte as the twelfth archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans on December 6, 1988; he was installed on February 14, 1989. Population shifts in the archdiocese forced Schulte to close or merge several parishes. He also restructured the school system of the archdiocese. Schulte served as the chairman of the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic Conference (US ...

' Committee on Education, helping to write and research a document on the role local bishops and archbishops should play in Catholic universities within their jurisdictions. In 1992, he created the archdiocese's first formal process for dealing with complaints of

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

by priests or other church employees. In addition to Schulte's duties in the archdiocese, in 1992 he also took on the leadership of the

Order of the Holy Sepulchre The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani, links=yes, OESSH), also called Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under ...

for the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

, being named the

grand prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be lowe ...

of that region.

Retirement

Schulte retired as archbishop on January 3, 2002. After being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2005, his doctors suggested he move to Philadelphia for treatment as New Orleans was dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. After spending time in a nursing home in Philadelphia, Schulte died there on January 17, 2016, aged 89. His remains were interred in the crypt of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, King of France in New Orleans.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schulte, Francis B. 1926 births 2016 deaths Clergy from Philadelphia St. Joseph's Preparatory School alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Roman Catholic bishops of Wheeling–Charleston Roman Catholic archbishops of New Orleans 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Grand Priors of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania Burials at St. Louis Cathedral (New Orleans)