William Thomas Russell (October 20, 1863 – March 18, 1927) 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 bishop of the

Diocese of Charleston The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston is an ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Roman Catholic Church in the Southern United States that comprises the entire state of South Carolina. Currently, the diocese consists of 96 parishes an ...

in South Carolina from 1917 until his death in 1927.

Biography

Early life and education

William Russell was born 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 ...

, to William and Rose Russell. He received his early education at the parochial school of St. Patrick's Parish in Baltimore. At age 14, he entered St. Charles College in Ellicott City, Maryland. Five years later, due to poor health, he returned to Baltimore to convalesce while attending Loyola College. After he recovered, Russell re-entered St. Charles, remaining there for four more years. He was then sent to Rome to study at the Pontifical North American College. However, bad health forced Russell again to return to Baltimore, where he continued his theological studies at St. Mary's Seminary.

Priesthood

On June 21, 1889, Russell 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 ...

to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Cardinal

James Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as ninth ...

. After his ordination, Russell was assigned as

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 ...

of St. James Parish in

Hyattsville, Maryland Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and also a close, urban suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 21,187 at the 2020 United States Census. History Before Europeans reached the area, the upper ...

. In addition to his pastoral duties, he studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., earning a Licentiate of Sacred Theology. He remained at St. James until 1894, when he became private secretary to Cardinal Gibbons and curate at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Baltimore In 1908, Russell was named pastor of St. Patrick's Parish in Washington, D.C. He there earned a reputation as an eminent preacher. In 1909, he inaugurated the Pan-American Mass, an annual liturgical celebration held at St. Patrick's on

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

. Before being discontinued in 1914, the mass was attended by President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

and representatives of 21 nations in the Americas. Russell was raised to the rank of domestic prelate by Pope Pius X in 1911, and named an honorary member of the Veterans of the Spanish War for his service as chaplain at Camp Chickamauga during the

Spanish-American War Spanish Americans ( es, españoles estadounidenses, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in th ...

. He published ''Maryland, the Land of Sanctuary'' in 1907, and authored the article on the Archdiocese of Baltimore in the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

''.

Bishop of Charleston

On December 7, 1916, Russell was appointed the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Charleston by

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on March 15, 1917, from Cardinal

at Cathedral of the Assumption. Bishops John Monaghan and Owen Corrigan served as co-consecrators. He selected as his episcopal

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

: ''Alias Oves Habeo'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: "I Have Other Sheep"). In addition to his episcopal duties, Russell served on the executive committee of the

National Catholic War Council The National Catholic Welfare Council (NCWC) was the annual meeting of the American Catholic hierarchy and its standing secretariat; it was established in 1919 as the successor to the emergency organization, the National Catholic War Council. It co ...

, and was head of the press department of the

National Catholic Welfare Council The National Catholic Welfare Council (NCWC) was the annual meeting of the American Catholic hierarchy and its standing secretariat; it was established in 1919 as the successor to the emergency organization, the National Catholic War Council. It co ...

. William Russell died on March 18, 1927, at age 63. His relative, John Russell, later served as bishop of Charleston.

Death

William Russell died on March 18, 1927, in Charleston.

References