John Gray (1817–1872) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

who served as the

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of the Western District of Scotland. Born in Buckie,

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

on 16 June 1817, he was the son of William Gray and Joanna Gray (née Scott). He entered the Scots College in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on 30 September 1838, and took the

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...

on 25 March 1839. He 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 ...

subdeacon Subdeacon (or sub-deacon) is a minor order or ministry for men in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed between the acolyte (or reader) and the deacon in the order of precedence. Subdeacons in ...

on 27 March 1841, a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

on 10 April 1841, and 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 particu ...

on 1 May 1841. He left the Scots College for the mission in Scotland on 17 April 1843. He was appointed the

Coadjutor The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

Vicar Apostolic of the Western District 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 ''Ipsus'' by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

on 6 May 1862, and

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

to the

Episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

at St Andrew's Cathedral, Glasgow on 19 October 1862. The principal consecrator was David Moriarty, Bishop of Ardfert and Aghadoe, and the principal co-consecrators were Bishop James Kyle and Bishop John Murdoch. On the death of Bishop John Murdoch on 15 December 1865, he automatically succeeded as the

of the Western District. The following year, James Lynch was appointed Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic to Bishop Gray on 31 August 1866. Bishop Gray resigned as Vicar Apostolic of the Western District on 4 March 1869. However, he was not succeeded by Bishop Lynch, who was relieved of his Scottish coadjutorship on 4 April 1869 and

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to the coadjutorship of Kildare and Leighlin in Ireland on 13 April 1869, and eventually succeeded as bishop of that diocese on 5 March 1888. Instead, Bishop Gray was succeeded by Archbishop

Charles Petre Eyre Charles Petre Eyre (1817–1902) was a Roman Catholic clergyman who was appointed the first Roman Catholic archbishop of Glasgow since the Scottish Reformation. He served as archbishop from 1878 to 1902. Family Born at Askham Bryan Hall, Askham ...

, who was appointed

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the Western District on 16 April 1869. Bishop Gray died on 14 January 1872, aged 54.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, John (bishop) 1817 births 1872 deaths Apostolic vicars of Scotland 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Scotland People from Moray Scottish Roman Catholic bishops