Nicholas Chrysostom Matz (April 6, 1850 – August 9, 1917) was a French-born

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 'pre ...

of the

Roman 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 Denver from 1889 until his death in 1917.

Biography

Nicholas Matz was born in Munster,

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

, to Antoine and Marie-Anne Boul Matz. He began his classical course at the

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and de ...

Fénétrange Fénétrange (; , Lorraine Franconian: ''Finschtinge'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Geography Fénétrange is located near the border between the Moselle department and the Alsace bossue. The rive ...

in 1865. In 1868 he and his family came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, where they settled at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He then studied for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary's of the West Seminary. He accepted an invitation from Bishop Joseph Projectus Machebeuf in 1869 to join the newly erected Apostolic Vicariate of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. After his arrival in Colorado, Matz 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 ...

a priest by Bishop Machebeuf on May 31, 1874. He then served as a curate at the cathedral of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

until 1877, when 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 ...

o
Our Lady of Lourdes Church
in Georgetown. He there erected a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

, parochial school, and a hospital, which he placed under the care of the

Sisters of St. Joseph The Sisters of St. Joseph, also known as the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, abbreviated CSJ or SSJ, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in 1650. This congregation, named for S ...

. He was transferred t
St. Anne's Church
at Denver in 1885. On August 16, 1887, Matz was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Denver 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 ...

of ''Telmissus'' by

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 ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 28 from Archbishop

Jean-Baptiste Salpointe Jean-Baptiste Salpointe (February 22, 1825 – July 15, 1898) was the first Bishop of Arizona and the second Archbishop of Santa Fe. Early life and education Salpointe was born in Saint-Maurice-près-Pionsat, Puy-de-Dôme, to Jean and Jeanne ( ...

. Upon the death of Bishop Machebeuf, Matz succeeded him as the second Bishop of Denver on July 10, 1889. During his 28-year-long tenure, he made Catholic education his top priority, establishing dozens of parochial schools and demanding that Catholic parents send their children to Catholic schools under pain of

mortal sin A mortal sin ( la, peccatum mortale), in Catholic theology, is a gravely sinful act which can lead to damnation if a person does not repent of the sin before death. A sin is considered to be "mortal" when its quality is such that it leads t ...

. In 1905 he founded St. Thomas Seminary, which was staffed by the

Vincentians Vincentian can refer to: *A citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *A person from Saint Vincent (island), the largest island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *A member of one of the orders or societies in the Vincentian Family, both Roman ...

. He broke ground for the new Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in 1902, later dedicating it in 1912. He also established thirty-four new parishes, a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

, and a diocesan

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

. However, he met opposition from many priests and his ambitious building projects drove the diocese into a large amount of debt. He was a strong opponent of

labor unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (su ...

, especially the

Western Federation of Miners The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a trade union, labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mining#Human Rights, mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and ...

. Following a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

and a series of strokes, Matz delegated the administration of the diocese to his

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' ...

and requested his own coadjutor bishop. He later died at St. Anthony's Hospital, aged 67.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matz, Nicholas Chrysostom 1850 births 1917 deaths People from Moselle (department) French emigrants to the United States The Athenaeum of Ohio alumni French Roman Catholic bishops in North America Roman Catholic bishops of Denver 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States People from Georgetown, Colorado