Gilbert Ignatius Sheldon (born September 20, 1926) is 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 third bishop of the Diocese of Steubenville in Ohio between 1992 and 2002. Sheldon previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland in Ohio from 1976 to 1992.

Biography

Early life

Sheldon was born on September 20, 1926, in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, one of 12 children of Ignatius Peter and Stephania Josephine (née Olszewski) Solinski-Sheldon. He received his early education at the parochial school of St. Phillip Neri Parish, and then attended Cathedral Latin High School In Chardon, Ohio Sheldon studied at

John Carroll University John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3 ...

in University Heights, Ohio, before beginning his studies for the priesthood at

Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in Wickliffe, Ohio, is a Roman Catholic seminary that serves the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. It was established in 1848 by the first bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland, Louis Amadeus ...

in Wickliffe, Ohio. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Saint Mary. Sheldon also received a

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (abbreviated DMin or D.Min.) is a professional doctorate, often including a research component, that may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in some form of ministry. It is categorized as an advance ...

degree from the Ohio Consortium of Seminaries.

Priesthood

On February 28, 1953, Sheldon 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 ...

a priest for the Archdiocese of Cleveland by Archbishop Edward F. Hoban. After this ordination, between 1953 and 1964, Sheldon served as an associate pastor at St. Rose's Parish in Cleveland, St. Clare's Parish in

Lyndhurst, Ohio Lyndhurst is a small city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and an eastern suburb of Cleveland. The population was 14,050 at the 2020 census. A small part of Lyndhurst was originally part of Mayfield Township. History The land currently c ...

, and Saints Philip and James Parish in Cleveland. Sheldon served diocesan director of the

Society for the Propagation of the Faith The Society for the Propagation of the Faith (Latin: ''Propagandum Fidei'') is an international association coordinating assistance for Catholic missionary priests, brothers, and nuns in mission areas. The society was founded in Lyon, France, in ...

from 1964 to 1974. From 1974 to 1976, Sheldon served as

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 Sacred Heart Parish in

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of th ...

and episcopal vicar of Lorain Count, Ohio. He also served as chaplain at Magnificat High School In Rocky River, Ohio, and of the West Park

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

. Sheldon was a notary and prosynodal judge for the diocesan tribunal, instructor at St. John's College in Cleveland and member of the Board of Trustees for St. Mary's Seminary and for

Borromeo College ''For the former Borromeo College in the United States see Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology#Borromeo College'' The Almo Collegio Borromeo is a private university hall of residence (collegio) in Pavia, region of Lombardy, Italy. ...

in Wickliffe, Ohio.

Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland

On April 12, 1976,

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 ...

appointed Sheldon as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland and titular bishop of

Taparura Taparura was an ancient Berber, Punic and Roman city in the location of modern-day Sfax, Tunisia. It was a former Catholic diocese. The same ancient name was revived in the 1980s as a coastal urban development project on the location of former che ...

. He was consecrated on June 11 1976, by Bishop James A. Hickey, with then Archbishop

Joseph Bernardin Joseph Louis Bernardin (April 2, 1928 – November 14, 1996) was an American Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Cincinnati from 1972 until 1982, and as Archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death in 1996 from ...

and Bishop Clarence G. Issenmann serving as co-consecrators. As an auxiliary bishop, Sheldon was named vicar for marriage and family concerns (1976) and vicar of Summit County (1978). In 1979, he became vicar of the Southern Region of the diocese, including Summit,

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

, Wayne, and Ashland Counties. Sheldon was director of missions when the archdiocese sponsored a mission in El Salvador, then in the midst of an insurgency. On December 2, 1980, five members of the Salvadoran National Guard abducted, raped, and killed four American female missionaries in El Salvador. Two of the victims, Sister Dorothy Kazel and lay missionary

Jean Donovan Jean Marie Donovan (April 10, 1953 – December 2, 1980) was an American lay missionary who was beaten, raped, and murdered along with three fellow missionaries—Ita Ford, Maura Clarke and Dorothy Kazel—by members of the military of El Sal ...

, came from the Archdiocese of Cleveland. Sheldon faced public controversy in 1984 when he asserted authority over the Bread of Life Community, a religious group that was accused of cult-like practices. After an investigation, he chastised the group for unequal treatment of female members and for its doctrines; the group's official ecclesiastical authorization was withdrawn in 1985.

Bishop of Steubenville

On January 28, 1992, Sheldon was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Steubenville by

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 ...

. As bishop, he presided over the newest and most sparsely populated of Ohio's six Catholic dioceses.

Retirement and legacy

After reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, Sheldon sent his letter of resignation as bishop of Steubenville to John Paul II. His resignation was accepted by the pope on May 31, 2002. Sheldon was succeeded by Father Robert Conlon, a priest of the

Archdiocese of Cincinnati The Archdiocese of Cincinnati ( la, Archidiœcesis Cincinnatensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese that covers the southwest region of the U.S. state of Ohio, including the greater Cincinnati and Dayton metropolitan ...

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville Official Site

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Gilbert Ignatius 1926 births Living people John Carroll University alumni Religious leaders from Cleveland Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Roman Catholic bishops of Steubenville American people of Polish descent 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States