Thomas Ambrose Tschoepe (; December 17, 1915 – January 24, 2009) was an American prelate 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 the second bishop of the

Diocese of San Angelo The Diocese of San Angelo ( la, Dioecesis Angeliana, es, Diócesis de San Angelo) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church covering 29 counties throughout Central and West Texas. It was founded on October 16, ...

in Texas from 1966 to 1969 and as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Dallas in Texas from 1969 to 1990.

Biography

Thomas Tschoepe was born on December 17, 1915, in

Pilot Point, Texas Pilot Point is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States. Its population was 3,856 at the 2010 census, increasing to 4,381 at the 2020 census. Geography Pilot Point is located at (33.396350, –96.958719). According to the United States Cens ...

. He 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 Archbishop John Timothy McNicholas for the Diocese of Dallas on May 30, 1943.

Bishop of San Angelo

On January 12, 1966, Tschoepe was appointed bishop of the Diocese of San Angelo by Pope Paul VI. Tschoepe was consecrated by Bishop

Thomas Kiely Gorman Thomas Kiely Gorman (August 30, 1892 – August 16, 1980) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Reno in Nevada from 1931 to 1952 and as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of ...

on March 9, 1966.

Bishop of Dallas

On August 227, 1969, Tschoepe was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Dallas by Pope Paul VI. He was installed on October 29, 1969. During Tschoepe's administration, 21 counties in East Texas were split off into the new Diocese of Tyler, reducing the Dallas Diocese to 9 counties and a little over 7,000 square miles. As bishop, Tschoepe attended a presentation at Holy Trinity Seminary (Dallas) by

Paul Shanley Paul Richard Shanley (January 25, 1931 – October 28, 2020) was an American Roman Catholic priest who became the center of a massive sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts. Beginning in 1967, the archdiocese covered ...

, who spoke of the positive effects of sexual relations between adult males and teenagers. Tschoepe made no objection to this presentation...but He did not condone it either.

Retirement and legacy

Tschoepe retired on July 14, 1990, and was succeeded by Bishop Charles Grahmann. During the early part of his retirement, Tschoepe lived and served at St. Joseph's Parish in

Waxahachie, Texas Waxahachie ( ) is the seat of government of Ellis County, Texas, United States. Its population was 41,140 in 2020. Etymology Some sources state that the name means "cow" or "buffalo" in an unspecified Native American language. One possible ...

. In his later years he lived at the St. Joseph Retirement Center in south Dallas. In 1995, it was revealed during a civil lawsuit that Tschoepe had repeatedly ignored reports about a diocesan priest, Rudy Kos, participating in sleepovers and inappropriate physical conduct with young boys during the 1980's. In 1991, a therapist who evaluated Kos termed him a classic textbook

pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

. After an appeal, the diocese agreed in 1998 to pay $23.4 to eight victims of Kos. That same year, he was sentenced to life in prison for sexually molesting several boys. Thomas Tschoepe died on January 24, 2009, at age 93.

References

External links

Bishop Thomas Ambrose Tschoepe profile
Catholic-Hierarchy.org; accessed May 18, 2018. 1915 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States People from Pilot Point, Texas Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of San Antonio Roman Catholic bishops of Dallas {{US-RC-bishop-stub