Leonard James Olivier, (October 12, 1923 – November 19, 2014) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

Catholic 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 ...

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 ...

. He was born in

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu ...

Biography

Priesthood

In 1951 he was ordained a priest for the

Society of the Divine Word The Society of the Divine Word ( la, Societas Verbi Divini), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic Church, Catholic clerical religious congregation ...

in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. From 1952 through 1973 he served as Assistant Dean and Dean of Seminarians and rector of the Religious Community. From 1974 through 1982 he was Secretary of Studies for all USA Divine Word Seminaries and Rector of the Religious Community of

Divine Word Seminary The Divine Word Seminary Tagaytay (DWST) is a Roman Catholic mission seminary located in Tagaytay, Cavite, Philippines. Established in 1933, the seminary is owned and administered by the Society of the Divine Word (Latin: ''Societas Verbi Divini'' ...

(in

Epworth, Iowa Epworth is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Dubuque, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,023 at the 2020 census, up from 1,428 in 2000. History Epworth was platted in 1855. It was named from ...

). St. Anthony's in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

was his first pastorate. In the last two years of that assignment, he also served as part-time

Vicar 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 ...

for Black Catholics in the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana. He became full-time Vicar in 1986.

Episcopacy

Two years later, on November 7, 1988, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the

Archdiocese of Washington The Archdiocese of Washington is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the District of Columbia and the counties of Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, P ...

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 ...

. Consecrated bishop on December 20, 1988, he served as Regional Bishop of Northeast, Southeast and East Northwest Deaneries of the District of Columbia, and Deaneries of North and Middle Prince George's Counties and, since 1995, the Deaneries of Northeast and Southeast of the District of Columbia, of Lower Prince George County, and Counties of Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary's. He served as the Convener of the African American Catholic Bishops Subcommittee on Youth, the Ad Hoc Steering Committee for the National Strategy on Vocations, and the Task Force Group for American Adaptations to the Order of Christian Marriage, and the Liturgy Committee of USCC/NCCB. He was a member of NCCB Committee on Bishops Life and Ministry, board member of Covenant House Washington, member of the Inter-Faith Conference, member of Maryland Catholic Conference, board member of the

National Black Catholic Congress The National Black Catholic Congress (NBCC) is a Black Catholic advocacy group and quinquennial conference in the United States. It is a spiritual successor to Daniel Rudd's Colored Catholic Congress movement of the late 19th and early 20th centur ...

, member of

National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus The National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC) is an organization of African-American clergy, religious, and seminarians within the Catholic Church. History The group was founded in April 1968, shortly after the assassination of Martin Luthe ...

, and Episcopal Moderator of the Pan African Roman Catholic Clergy Conference.Biodata for Bishop Leonard Olivier
, National Black Catholic Congress official website; accessed November 20, 2014. On November 19, 2014, Bishop Olivier died.

Personal life

He was a Fourth Degree Knight of St. Peter Claver, Knight of St. John and

Knight 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. ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivier, Leonard 1923 births 2014 deaths People from Lake Charles, Louisiana 20th-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops African-American Roman Catholic bishops Divine Word Missionaries Order Place of death missing 21st-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops Louisiana Creole people Catholics from Louisiana 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American Catholic consecrated religious