Edward Denis (also Dionysius) Kelly (December 30, 1860 – March 26, 1926) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 the first auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Detroit in Michigan from 1911 to 1919, and then as the third bishop of the

Diocese of Grand Rapids The Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids ( la, Dioecesis Grandcataractensis) is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in western Michigan, in the United States. It comprises 80 parishes in 11 counties in West Michigan. It is a suffragan see to ...

in Michigan from 1919 until his death in 1926.

Biography

Early life

Edward Kelly was born on December 30, 1860, in

Hartford, Michigan Hartford is a city in Van Buren County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,688 at the 2010 census. The city is located within Hartford Township, but is politically independent. Geography According to the United States Census Bur ...

, to Thomas and Mary (née Hannon) Kelly. He attended Assumption College in Windsor, Ontario, Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and St. Charles College in Catonsville, Maryland. Kelly finished his formation for the priesthood at St. Joseph's Seminary in Troy, New York.

Priesthood

Kelly 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 Detroit in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

on June 16, 1886 by Bishop Caspar Borgess. After his ordination, Kelly was appointed as assistant pastor at St. Philip's Parish in

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, Michigan, Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle C ...

. In late 1887, he also joined the faculty of St. Francis Seminary in

Monroe, Michigan Monroe is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Monroe had a population of 20,462 in the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomo ...

; he was named as vice rector two years later. Also in 1889, he was moved to pastoral positions first at St. John's Parish in Monroe and then to St. Joseph's Parish in

Dexter, Michigan Dexter is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,067 at the 2010 census. Dexter Township is located to the northwest and does not border the city, and the two are administered autonomously. The townshi ...

. Kelly was named as an examiner for the diocese in 1891, a post he would hold until 1919. He was also named pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While there, he constructed a larger church between 1896 and 1899, using the architectural firm

Spier & Rohns Spier, Rohns & Gehrke was a noted Detroit, Michigan architectural firm operated by Frederick H. Spier and William C. Rohns, best remembered for designs of churches and railroad stations. These were frequently executed in the Richardson Romanesque s ...

Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit

On December 9, 1910,

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

appointed Kelly as the first auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Detroit and as

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 an ...

of ''Cestrus''. 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 January 26 1910, from 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 ...

, with Bishops Henry Richter and Camillus Maes serving as co-consecrators. Kelly was a major contributor to the founding of

Theta Phi Alpha Theta Phi Alpha (), commonly known as Theta Phi, is a women's fraternity founded at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor on August 30, 1912. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage Theta Phi Alpha is one of 26 nation ...

, a national women's

sorority Fraternities and sororities are social organizations at colleges and universities in North America. Generally, membership in a fraternity or sorority is obtained as an undergraduate student, but continues thereafter for life. Some accept gradua ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in Ann Arbor. He also supported the Foley Guild, the Catholic student association at the university. He allowed the guild to have social events at St. Thomas Parish in Ann Arbor, although he banned

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

dancing at parties there in 1914. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Kelly served on the Michigan Library War Council, an organization that provided reading material to American soldiers from that state. In 1918, he was appointed superintendent of the diocesan schools. In 1920, Kelly and the other bishops in Michigan defeated a proposed amendment by nativist groups to the Michigan State Constitution that would have required all children between ages five and 16 to attend public schools.

Bishop of Grand Rapids

On January 16, 1919,

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 ...

named Kelly as the third bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids; he was installed on May 20, 1919. Edward Kelly died on March 26, 1926, at the episcopal residence in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

, from a

hemorrhage Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vag ...

embolism An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule ( fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas (gas embolism), amniotic fluid (amniot ...

. He was age 65.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Edward D. People from Hartford, Michigan 1926 deaths 1860 births St. Charles College alumni Roman Catholic bishops of Grand Rapids 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Theta Phi Alpha