Gerard Louis Frey (May 10, 1914 – August 16, 2007) 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 'pre ...

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

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 c ...

of the Diocese of Savannah in Georgia (1967–1972) and the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana (1972–1989).

Biography

Early life and education

One of nine children, Gerard Frey was born on May 10, 1914, in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, to Andrew Francis and Marie Theresa (née DeRose) Frey. Two of his brothers also entered the priesthood. After attending St. Vincent de Paul School, Frey studied at St. Joseph College Seminary in Saint Benedict, Louisiana, from 1928 to 1932. He then entered

Notre Dame Seminary Notre Dame Seminary is a Catholic seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. It operates under the auspices of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It serves the other six Catholic dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of New Orleans, six additional dioces ...

in New Orleans, where he 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 s ...

studies.

Ordination and ministry

Frey 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 Joseph Rummel for the

Archdiocese of New Orleans The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans ( la, Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, french: Archidiocèse de la Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Arquidiócesis de Nueva Orleans) is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church spanning Jefferso ...

on April 2, 1938. He then served as a curate at Holy Rosary Parish in Taft, Louisiana, until 1946, when he became director of the archdiocesan

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) is a catechesis program of the Catholic Church, normally for children. It is also the name of an association that traditionally organises Catholic catechesis, which was established in Rome in 1562. Rel ...

. While serving as director, he resided at St. Leo the Great Church in New Orleans. Frey was named a

papal chamberlain A Papal Gentleman, also called a Gentleman of His Holiness, is a lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. Papal gentlemen serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica in ceremonial positions, such as escorting d ...

by Pope Pius XII in 1949, and was appointed

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. Frances Cabrini Parish at New Orleans in 1952. He was named a domestic prelate by the Vatican in 1954. Frey attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

in Rome from 1962 to 1965 as a pastoral representative. He was later made pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish in Houma, Louisiana.

Bishop of Savannah

On May 31, 1967, Frey was appointed the eleventh bishop of the Diocese of Savannah by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on August 8, 1967, from Archbishop

Philip Hannan Philip Matthew Hannan (May 20, 1913 – September 29, 2011) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington from 1956 to 1965 and as the eleventh archbishop of the Archdi ...

, with Bishops Charles Greco and Robert Tracy serving 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 ...

: ''Serviam'' (

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 will serve"). During his tenure, Frey launched the Social Apostolate, a social service agency designed "to put people in the pews in touch with the poor." He also encouraged every church in the diocese to establish a parish council.

Bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana

On November 7, 1972, Frey was appointed the third bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana by Paul VI. During his tenure, he initiated reorganization plans that increased and expanded participation by clergy,

religious Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

, and laity in diocesan affairs. He also named the first woman to serve as chancellor of a Catholic diocese in the United States. In 1987, he opened a diocesan synod. Frey was the bishop of Lafayette when the diocese and the Catholic Church faced the first wave of civil suits seeking compensation and treatment for abused children. In a legal deposition, Frey admitted to confronting

Gilbert Gauthe Gilbert Gauthe is an American former Catholic priest who served in the Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana from 1972 to 1983. In 1984, Gauthe became the first Catholic priest in the United States to face a widely publicized criminal trial for child ...

, a diocesan priest, about sexual abuse accusations in 1974. According to Frey, Gauthe admitted being guilty of "imprudent touches" with a boy and promised that it was an isolated instance that would not recur. In 1975, Frey appointed Gauthe as chaplain of the diocesan Boy Scouts troop. Gauthe later confessed to sexually abusing 37 children, though he pleaded not guilty to criminal charges by reason of insanity. Gauthe was ultimately criminally convicted in the first sex-abuse case against the Catholic Church.

Retirement and death

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

accepted Frey's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette on May 13, 1989. He was succeeded by his coadjutor bishop, Harry Flynn. Frey retired to a family compound in

Bay St. Louis Bay St. Louis is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Mississippi, in the United States. Located on the Gulf Coast on the west side of the Bay of St. Louis, it is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As o ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, which was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. His brother Jerome drove to Bay St. Louis to rescue Frey, returning him to Louisiana. Frey spent the remainder of his life first at Consolata Nursing Home in

New Iberia, Louisiana New Iberia (french: La Nouvelle-Ibérie; es, Nueva Iberia) is the largest city in and parish seat of Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, and forms part of the La ...

, and later in a private home in Lafayette provided by the diocese. Gerard Frey died after a lengthy illness on August 16, 2007, at age 93. He is buried in the crypt of the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist in Lafayette.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of LafayetteRoman Catholic Diocese of Savannah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frey, Gerard Louis 1914 births 2007 deaths People from New Orleans Notre Dame Seminary alumni Participants in the Second Vatican Council Roman Catholic bishops of Savannah, Georgia Catholics from Louisiana 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States