Francis Ridgley Cotton O.P. (September 19, 1895—September 25, 1960) 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 the first bishop of the new Diocese of Owensboro in Kentucky from 1938 to 1960.

Biography

Early life

One of three children, Francis Cotton was born in Bardstown,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

to Charles and Mary (née Moore) Cotton. After attending St. Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Indiana, he enrolled in St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. Cotton then went in 1919 to Washington D.C. to enter the Sulpician Seminary at the Catholic University of America in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, finishing there in 1920.

Priesthood

Cotton 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 for the

Order of Friars Preachers The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

(Dominicans) by Archbishop John Timothy McNicholas on June 17, 1920. After his ordination, Cotton completed his graduate studies at the Pontifical Athenaeum ''S. Apollinare'' in Rome. Following his return to Kentucky, he served as a curate at St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral Parish in Bardstown, St. Cecilia Parish in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, and at St. Francis de Sales Parish in

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Miss ...

(1922-1926). Cotton was appointed assistant chancellor in 1926, then chancellor in 1931.

Bishop of Owensboro

On December 16, 1937, Cotton was appointed the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Owensboro by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on February 24, 1938, from Archbishop John A. Floersh, with Bishops Theodore H. Reverman and Moses E. Kiley serving as co-consecrators. After his consecration, Cotton embarked on visits to the parishes in the new diocese. He brought the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade, a national organization for helping the poor, to the diocese. In early 1940, Cotton began the collection of relief supplies for refugees from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in Europe. By 1942, the diocese had collected over $1 million in supplies for distribution in Europe and China. In February 1943, Cotton held a synod in the diocese to set its laws and constitution. Contemporary reports said that Cotton strictly enforced these rules in the diocese, but personally was a kind individual. Francis Cotton died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in Owensboro on September 25, 1965, at age 65.

References

Episcopal succession

1895 births 1960 deaths People from Bardstown, Kentucky People from Owensboro, Kentucky Roman Catholic Diocese of Owensboro St. Mary's Seminary and University alumni Catholic University of America alumni Religious leaders from Kentucky Catholics from Kentucky 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States {{LouisvilleMSA-stub