Francis Martin Kelly (November 15, 1886 – June 24, 1950) was an American prelate 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 bishop of the

Diocese of Winona 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 Minnesota from 1928 to 1949.

Early life

Francis Kelly was born in

Houston, Minnesota Houston is a city in Houston County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 997 at the 2020 census. History The community was named after Sam Houston, first president of the Republic of Texas. In 1852, William McSpadden platted the or ...

, to

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and Ellen Kelly. His father sat in the

Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decennia ...

.Minnesota Legislators: Past & Present-James C. Kelly
/ref> After attending the

College of St. Thomas A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a University system, constituent part of one. A college may be a academic degree, degree-awarding Tertiary education, tertiary educational institution, a part of a coll ...

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, he earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from

the Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution ...

in Washington, D.C. (1909) and a

Doctor of Sacred Theology The Doctor of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Doctor, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Catholic Church, ...

degree from the Propaganda University in Rome (1913).

Priesthood

Kelly 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 for the Diocese of Winona 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 ...

in Montreal on November 1, 1912. He became secretary to Bishop

Patrick Richard Heffron Patrick Richard Heffron (June 1, 1856 – November 23, 1927) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the second Bishop of Winona from 1910 until his death in 1927. Early life and education Patrick Richard Heffron was born ...

in 1914, and taught philosophy at St. Mary's College and St. Teresa's College between 1915 and 1926. He was

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the diocese (1919–26) and vice-

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of St. Mary's College (1918–26).

Auxiliary Bishop and Bishop of Winona

On March 22, 1926, Kelly was appointed auxiliary bishop of Winona and

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 an ...

of Mylasa by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

. He was consecrated on June 9, 1926. On February 10, 1928, Pius XI appointed Kelly as bishop of the diocese. He retired on October 17, 1949. Francis Kelly died in Rochester, Minnesota, on June 24, 1950.

References

1886 births 1950 deaths People from Houston, Minnesota Roman Catholic bishops of Winona University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni Catholic University of America alumni 20th-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops {{US-RC-bishop-stub