John Francis O'Hern (June 4, 1874 – May 22, 1933) 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

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who served as bishop of the Diocese of Rochester from 1929 until his death in 1933.

Biography

Early life

One of ten children, John O'Hern was born in Olean,

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, to Patrick and Ellen (née Casey) O'Hern. Three of his brothers also entered the priesthood, and another served in the field staff of General

John J. Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Wes ...

during

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. After graduating from Olean High School, John O'Hern attended St. Andrew's Preparatory Seminary and St. Bernard's Seminary in Rochester. In 1897, O'Hern was sent to Rome to study at the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Pri ...

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, later earning a

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degree from the College of Propaganda.

Priesthood

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 ...

a priest in Rome for the Diocese of Rochester by Cardinal Pietro Respighi in Rome on February 17, 1901. Upon his return to Rochester, he was named

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 Immaculate Conception Parish and later at St. Patrick's Cathedral Parish, where 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 ...

in 1908. O'Hern became pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Rochester in 1921, and

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the diocese in 1922.

Bishop of Rochester

On January 4, 1929, O'Hern was appointed the third bishop of the Diocese of Rochester by

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. He received his

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on March 9, 1929, from Cardinal Patrick Hayes, with Archbishop Edward Hanna and Bishop Thomas O'Reilly 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, ...

. During his tenure, he worked toward establishing ecumenical ties with non-Catholics and promoting numerous associations of the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

. He supported the Community Chest and

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, and provided

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

s for Catholics attending secular colleges in the diocese. John O'Hern died in Rochester on May 22, 1933, at age 58.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohern, John Francis 1874 births 1933 deaths People from Olean, New York 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Catholics from New York (state)