Richard Vincent Whelan (January 28, 1809 – July 7, 1874) was an American

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 'pref ...

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 the

Diocese of Richmond The Diocese of Richmond ( la, Diœcesis Richmondiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its current territory encompasses all of central and southern Virginia, Hampton Roads, ...

in Virginia (1841–1850) and as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling in West Virginia (1850–1874).

Biography

Early life

Richard Whelan was born on January 28, 1809, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. At age ten, he was enrolled at

Mount St. Mary's College Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles (known as Mount St. Mary's College until January 2015) is a private, Catholic university primarily for women, in Los Angeles, California. Women make up ninety percent of the student body. It was found ...

in Emmitsburg, Maryland where he studied the

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. Following his graduation with the highest honors in 1826, Whelan completed his

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

studies at the

Seminary of Saint-Sulpice Jean-Jacques Olier, S.S. (20 September 1608 – 2 April 1657) was a French Catholic priest and the founder of the Sulpicians. He also helped to establish the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal, which organized the settlement of a new town ...

in Paris, France.

Priesthood

Whelan 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 ...

to the priesthood for the Diocese of Richmond by Bishop Jean-François-Étienne Borderies in

Versailles, France Versailles () is a commune in the department of the Yvelines, Île-de-France, renowned worldwide for the Château de Versailles and the gardens of Versailles, designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Located in the western suburbs of the French c ...

, on May 1, 1831.Returning to Maryland, Whelan became a faculty member and business manager at Mount St. Mary's, and also served as pastor of a parish in

Harper's Ferry 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 ...

, then in Virginia. His pastoral responsibilities included missions at Martinsburg, Winchester and

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, all in Virginia at that time These communities, separated by long distances, contained many families who could not access Catholic institutions of any kind.

Bishop of Richmond

On December 19, 1840, Whelan was appointed the second bishop of the Diocese Richmond by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

. He received his

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

on March 21, 1841, from Archbishop

Samuel Eccleston Samuel Eccleston, P.S.S. (June 27, 1801 – April 22, 1851) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the fifth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland from 1834 until his death in 1851. Biography Earl ...

, with Bishops

Benedict Fenwick Benedict Joseph Fenwick (September 3, 1782 – August 11, 1846) was an American Catholic prelate, Jesuit, and educator who served as the Bishop of Boston from 1825 until his death in 1846. In 1843, he founded the College of the Holy Cross i ...

and John Hughes serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

, at Baltimore. Since the departure of Bishop

Patrick Kelly Patrick or Paddy Kelly may refer to: Politicians * Patrick Kelly (Irish politician) (1875–1934), Irish soldier, farmer and politician, Teachta Dála (TD) for Clare 1927–1932 * Patrick Kelly (Canadian politician) (1846–1916), Prince Edward I ...

in 1822, the Diocese of Richmond had been vacant. During that period, Richmond had become a stronghold of the

Know-Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

political party, known for its anti-Catholic bigoty and violence. The diocese only had six priests. Soon after his arrival in Richmond, Whelan appealed to the Societies for the Propagation of the Faith in Paris,

Lyon, France Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

, and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in the Austrian Empire to recruit priests for the diocese. He also established a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

college outside Richmond, where he resided and taught classes whenever he was in town. Wheland also established several

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

, missions and

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

Bishop of Wheeling

In 1848, Whelan petitioned Pope Pius IX to divide the Diocese of Richmond into two dioceses, with the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

serving as the boundary. The pope erected the new Diocese of Wheeling on the western slope of the Alleghenies on July 19, 1850, and appointed Whelan on July 23, 1850, as its first bishop. Pope Pius named John McGill as the new bishop of Richmond. The new Diocese of Wheeling had only two or four Catholic churches and two or six Catholic priests. It consisted of several distinct valleys, with many immigrants but limited funds and access to social services. Whelan became known for his resourcefulness, even performing carpentry and stonework himself. He also had to deal with anti-Catholicism or Know-Nothings in the diocese. When a

papal nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

was scheduled to visit in Wheeling in 1853, Whelan was worried about his security. When the nuncio arrived, Whelan ringed the cathedral with supporters to protect him. In 1861, the

State of 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 are s ...

seceded from the United States to join the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

at the start of 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 ...

. However, public sentiment in the Wheeling area opposed secession. A group established the

Restored Government of Virginia The Restored (or Reorganized) Government of Virginia was the Unionist government of Virginia during the American Civil War (1861–1865) in opposition to the government which had approved Virginia's seceding from the United States and joini ...

in Wheeling and elected lawyer

Francis H. Pierpont Francis Harrison Pierpont (January 25, 1814March 24, 1899), called the "Father of West Virginia," was an American lawyer and politician who achieved prominence during the American Civil War. During the conflict's first two years, Pierpont served ...

as its provisional governor. Whelan believed the Restored Government was illegitimate and refused to take a loyalty oath to it. In response, the Wheeling government wanted to arrest him. However, U.S. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

refused to allow it. Secretary of War

Edwin M. Stanton Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's management helped organize ...

sent a letter to the Restored Government on May 21, 1862, saying:

"The President being informed that you intend or threaten to arrest Bishop Whelan, the Catholic Bishop of your city, he directs that you take no action against the Bishop without the President's order."The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Washington, DC, 1898, Series II, Vol. 3, pg. 560
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No actions were taken against Whelan during the course of the war. The Diocese of Wheeling became part of the new

State of West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

in 1863. Whelan invited several religious congregations to send followers to the diocese to provide needed social services. By the time he died, the diocese had 48 churches, 29 priests, three religious congregations of women, six schools for girls, a school for boys, an orphanage, and a hospital. From 1869 to 1870, Whelan attended the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

in Rome, where he opposed

papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope when he speaks ''ex cathedra'' is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "initially given to the aposto ...

because he thought such a declaration would be untimely.

Death and legacy

Whelan fell ill in 1874 and was brought to St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore for treatment. Richard Whelan died in Baltimore on June 7, 1874, at age 65. A residence hall at

Wheeling Jesuit University Wheeling University (WU, formerly Wheeling Jesuit University) is a private Roman Catholic university in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was founded as Wheeling College in 1954 by the Society of Jesus (also known as the Jesuits) and was a Jesuit inst ...

in Wheeling is named after him.

Other sources

Tricia Pyne, ''Faith in the Mountains: A History of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston'' (2000)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelan, Richard Vincent 1809 births 1874 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Richmond Roman Catholic bishops of Wheeling–Charleston 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Mount St. Mary's University alumni Religious leaders from Baltimore Seminary of Saint-Sulpice (France) alumni