Vincent Stanislaus Waters (August 15, 1904—December 3, 1974) 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 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 ...

of the

Diocese of Raleigh The Diocese of Raleigh is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church that covers the eastern half of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan A ...

in North Carolina from 1945 until his death in 1974.

Biography

Early life and education

Vincent Waters was born on August 15, 1904, in Roanoke,

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 ar ...

, to Michael Bernard and Mary Frances (née Crowley) Waters. He attended

Belmont Abbey College Belmont Abbey College is a private, Catholic liberal arts college in Belmont, North Carolina. It was founded in 1876 by the Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey. The school is affiliated with the Catholic Church and the Order of Saint Benedict. I ...

in Belmont, North Carolina from 1920 to 1925, and then entered St. Charles College in Ellicott City, Maryland (1925-1926) and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland (1926-1928). Waters furthered his studies at the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Pri ...

in Rome.

Ordination and ministry

Waters 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 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 Rome by Cardinal Francesco Selvaggiani on December 8, 1931. Following his return to Virginia in 1932, Waters served as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at Holy Cross Parish in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

, until 1936, when he was transferred to Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond, Virginia. Waters served as

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the diocese from 1936 to 1943, and director of the diocesan Mission Fathers from 1943 to 1945.

Bishop of Raleigh

On March 15, 1945, Waters was appointed the third bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

. He received his episcopal

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on May 15, 1945, from Bishop Peter Ireton, with Bishops

Gerald O'Hara Gerald Patrick Aloysius O'Hara (May 4, 1895 – July 16, 1963) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (1929-1935), as bishop of the Roman Catholi ...

and

Emmet M. Walsh Emmet Michael Walsh (March 6, 1892 – March 16, 1968) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Charleston in South Carolina (1927–1949) and as bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown in Ohio (1 ...

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, ...

. In 1953, a year before ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

'' decision by the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

, Waters ordered the

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

of all Catholic churches and schools in the diocese. He described

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

as a product of "darkness," and declared that "the time has come for it to end." He also said,

"I am not unmindful, as a Southerner, of the force of this virus of prejudice among some persons in the South, as well as in the North. I know, however, that there is a cure for this virus, and that is our faith."

Bishop Michael Begley said of Waters,

" ismissionary zeal and his concern for God's people cannot be measured. He was a leader in many fields, one of which was civil rights, as he fought for the civil rights of the black people in integrating schools, churches and all Catholic institutions."

Waters attended all four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

in Rome between 1962 and 1965. Waters was later accused by some of the diocesan clergy of holding on to idle church property worth millions of dollars while some

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 ...

were in debt. He also denied requests for the creation of a priests' senate, and had his resignation requested by around twenty percent of the clergy. In 1972, Waters expelled five Sisters of Providence nuns from the diocese for not wearing their

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, ...

s while teaching. Vincent Waters died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at his residence in Raleigh on December 3, 1974, at age 70. He is buried in the cemetery of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in

Newton Grove, North Carolina Newton Grove, chartered in 1879, is a town in Sampson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 569 as of the 2010 census. History The town of Newton Grove was first incorporated in 1879 as the New Town at the Grove, because of the ...

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, North CarolinaRoman Catholic Diocese of Richmond

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Vincent Stanislaus 1904 births 1974 deaths Belmont Abbey College alumni St. Mary's Seminary and University alumni People from Roanoke, Virginia Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh Roman Catholic bishops in North Carolina Participants in the Second Vatican Council History of racial segregation in the United States 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Religious leaders from Virginia Catholics from Virginia African-American Roman Catholicism