John Joseph Kain (May 31, 1841 – October 13, 1903) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling in West Virginia from 1875 to 1893 and as archbishop of the

Archdiocese of Saint Louis The Archdiocese of St. Louis ( la, Archidiœcesis Sancti Ludovici) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the City of St. Louis and the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Perry ...

from 1896 to 1903. Kain was the first native-born American to be appointed archbishop of St. Louis.

Biography

Early life

Kain was born in Martinsburg in what was then Virginia on May 31, 1841, to Jeremiah and Ellen Kain. After graduating from St. Charles College in Catonsville, Maryland, in 1862, he enrolled at St. Mary's College in Baltimore, Maryland. Kain was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop

Martin John Spalding Martin John Spalding (May 23, 1810 – February 7, 1872) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Louisville (1850–1864) and Archbishop of Baltimore (1864–1872). He advocated aid for freed slaves follow ...

on July 7, 1866, for the Diocese of Wheeling. After his ordination, Kain was stationed in

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...

, where he served parishioners in eight West Virginia counties and four

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

counties. During his time there, he restored churches in Harper's Ferry and Martinsburg, and rebuilt churches in

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

and

Berkeley Springs, West Virginia Berkeley Springs is a town in, and the county seat of, Morgan County, West Virginia, United States, in the state's Eastern Panhandle. "Berkeley Springs" is also commonly used to refer to the area in and around the Town of Bath. In 1776, the Virg ...

that had been destroyed during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

.“Archbishop's Body Will Lie in State.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 10 Oct. 1903, p.5.Riordan, Michael J. The Catholic Church in the United States of America. III, The Catholic Editing Company, 1914. Kain's sister, Mary Josephine Kain, served as a

Catholic sister A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pra ...

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

. Another sister, Margaret Kain, worked as his housekeeper for most of his career.

Bishop of Wheeling

Pope Pius IX appointed Kain as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling on February 12, 1875. He was consecrated at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Wheeling by Archbishop James Bayley on May 23, 1875. During this period, Kain had about 36 priests under his jurisdiction who were ministering to approximately 20,000 Catholics.

Coadjutor Archbishop and Archbishop of St. Louis

In May, 1893,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

appointed Kain as

coadjutor archbishop 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 ...

to assist Archbishop Peter Kenrick of the archdiocese of Saint Louis, and created a titular

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

the next month. When Kenrick died on June 8, 1895, Kain automatically succeeded him as Archbishop. John Kain died on October 13, 1903, in St. Agnes' Sanitarium in Baltimore after a long illness. He was 62 years old. He was interred in Calvary Cemetery in Saint Louis, Missouri.Kain is the namesake for

Rosati-Kain High School Rosati-Kain High School is an all-girls Catholic high school in St. Louis, Missouri. Rosati-Kain is accredited as a college preparatory school by the North Central Association, the Missouri Department of Education, and the Roman Catholic Archdioc ...

in St. Louis.Bosenbecker, Ray. So, Where'd You Go to High School? First ed., vol. 1, Virginia Publishing Company, 2004, page 140.

References

Sources

* ''Who Was Who in America, Vol. I:1897-1942''. Chicago:The A.N. Marquis Company, 1942.

External links

* * retrieved July 13, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kain, John Joseph 1841 births 1903 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Roman Catholic archbishops of St. Louis Roman Catholic bishops of Wheeling–Charleston Clergy from St. Louis People from Wheeling, West Virginia Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis St. Mary's Seminary and University alumni People from Catonsville, Maryland Burials at Calvary Cemetery (St. Louis) Catholics from Maryland Religious leaders from Martinsburg, West Virginia