John Patrick Carroll (February 22, 1864 – November 4, 1925) was an American prelate of the

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 bishop of the

Diocese of Helena The Diocese of Helena ( la, Dioecesis Helenensis) is the Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in western Montana with its cathedral located in Helena. The diocese was created from the year-old Apostolic Vicariat ...

in Montana from 1904 until his death in 1925.

Biography

Early life

Carroll was born on February 22, 1864 in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Il ...

, to Martin and Catherine (née O'Farrell) Carroll, both Irish natives. He received his early education at the parochial school of St. Raphael's Cathedral. Carroll then entered St. Joseph's College at age 13, graduating in 1883. He studied for the priesthood at the Grand Seminary of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, where he earned his

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

degree.

Priesthood

While in Montreal, Carroll was ordained a priest for the

Archdiocese of Dubuque The Archdiocese of Dubuque ( la, Archidiœcesis Dubuquensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the northeastern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. It includes all the Iowa counti ...

on July 7, 1889 by Archbishop

Édouard-Charles Fabre Édouard-Charles Fabre (February 28, 1827 – December 30, 1896) was Archbishop of Montreal in 1886 and of Sherbrooke and Saint-Hyacinthe in 1887. Fabre was the eldest of 11 children in an important Montreal business family. Despite the effor ...

. Upon his return to Dubuque, he performed his first

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

at St. Raphael's Cathedral on July 11, 1889. He was appointed to the faculty of his alma mater, St. Joseph's College, assuming the role of professor of philosophy on September 12, 1889. On September 12, 1894, Carroll was promoted to president of St. Joseph's, a position he held for the next decade.

Bishop of Helena

On September 12, 1904, Carroll was appointed the second bishop of the Diocese of Helena by

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on December 21, 1904, from Archbishop John Keane, with Bishops

Richard Scannell Richard Scannell (May 12, 1845 – January 8, 1916) was an Ireland, Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina, Diocese of Concordia in Kansas (1887–1891) and as bishop of the Ro ...

and

Charles O'Reilly Charles O'Reilly (died 1800) was an Irish people, Irish Catholic Church, Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Kilmore from 1798 to 1800. He was appointed the Coadjutor Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kilmore, Kilmore and Ti ...

serving as co-consecrators, at St. Raphael's Cathedral. He was installed on January 31, 1905.. In 1904, the Diocese of Helena contained 53 priests, 65 churches, and nine parochial schools to serve 50,000 Catholics. By the time of Carroll's death 21 years later, there were 104 priests, 101 churches, 24 parochial schools, and a Catholic population of 64,000. During his tenure, he laid the cornerstone for the new Cathedral of Saint Helena in 1908 and established

Mount St. Charles College Carroll College is a private Catholic college in Helena, Montana. The college has 21 buildings on a 63-acre campus, has over 35 academic majors, participates in 15 NAIA athletic sports, and is home to All Saints Chapel. The college motto, in La ...

the following year. Carroll was a vocal opponent of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, which he believed made "no allowance for the development of man's talents, intellectual gifts, his spirit of economy or his ability...Should this policy be pursued it would mean the ruin of a nation." He also condemned alcohol as "the most prolific source of poverty and misery" and successfully lobbied the Helena City Council to require bars to close by midnight. The son of Irish immigrants, he supported the

Irish Home Rule movement The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the e ...

and served as national chaplain of the

Ancient Order of Hibernians The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New ...

Death and legacy

While traveling for his '' ad limina'' visit to Rome, Carroll died from a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

on November 4, 1925, while in

Fribourg , neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne , twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France) , website = www.ville-fribourg.ch , Location of , Location of () () o ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. His body was shipped back to the United States and buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Helena. The diocesan college,

Carroll College Carroll College is a private Catholic college in Helena, Montana. The college has 21 buildings on a 63-acre campus, has over 35 academic majors, participates in 15 NAIA athletic sports, and is home to All Saints Chapel. The college motto, in L ...

, is named for Carroll.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, John Patrick 1864 births 1925 deaths People from Dubuque, Iowa Roman Catholic bishops of Helena American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque Religious leaders from Iowa Catholics from Iowa