Edward O'Rourke, full name Eduard Alexander Ladislaus Graf O'Rourke (; ; 26 October 1876 – 27 June 1943) was a Russian-born Roman Catholic priest,

bishop of Riga The Archbishopric of Riga (, ) was a Catholic diocese and civil government in Medieval Livonia, subject to the Holy See. It was established in 1186 and ended in 1561. History The diocese was established in 1186 as the Bishopric of Livonia ...

and the first head of the bishopric of the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...

(Gdańsk).

Early life

O'Rourke was born on 26 October 1876 in Basin,

Minsk Governorate Minsk Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Minsk. It was created from the land acquired in the partitions of Poland and existed from 1793 until 1921. Its territory covered th ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(modern-day

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

) into an aristocratic family of Irish ancestry, which included many high officers in the Russian military. The most prominent was Joseph Cornelius O'Rourke. They held imperial titles of the Russian Empire and of the German

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

but also petitioned to retain the Irish count title as well, which was granted by the Tsar in 1848. His father was Michael Graf O'Rourke and his mother Baltic-German Angelika von Bochwitz. He received a broad European education and learnt a number of languages. After graduating in 1898 from the

Jesuit School in Chyrów The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

, then in Galicia, Austria-Hungary (present-day

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), he went to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

to study. In 1903, he graduated from the Trade and Mechanics Faculty of the University of Riga. In 1903, he moved to Freiburg, Switzerland, where he continued his studies at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

, faculty of law. The following year O'Rourke moved to the theological faculty at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. On 27 October 1908, he was ordained priest in

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, now in Lithuania. He became a professor of ecclesiastical history, German and French at the

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Between 1912 and 1915, he was parish priest of the multilingual congregation of St. Stanislaus in St. Petersburg.Profile
kirchenlexikon.de. Accessed 28 April 2025. (in German) After the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

in Russia, the church decided to re-establish the diocese of Minsk; O'Rourke was appointed as its administrator and the interim head of the Catholic Church in Russia. He met

Achille Ratti Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

for the first time, the Apostolic Visitor for the Baltic Countries and later Pope

Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

. Due to the proposed independence of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, in 1918 the diocese of Riga was established. O'Rourke was appointed

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy 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 and administration of di ...

on the recommendation of Ratti on 29 September 1918. O'Rourke's position in Riga was problematic as German forces occupied the city in Sept 1917. By the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the ecclesiastical organisation was largely destroyed, and only a few priests remained. O'Rourke did not speak Latvian but tried to encourage Latvian priests. He resigned after a new government in Latvia was appointed and there was a popular movement calling for an ethnic Latvian bishop. He was released from Riga in April 1920 and named

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 Canea He was appointed Apostolic Delegate for the Baltic States. In November 1921 he was also appointed the Pontifical Delegate for Russian refugees in Danzig and

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

, and in 1928 for Catholic Russians in Germany.

Free City of Danzig

The

was split from Germany in 1920. On 24 April 1922, Achille Ratti, then Pope

, nominated O'Rourke to the post of an Apostolic Administrator of the Free City of Danzig, and, on 21 December 1922, as the titular bishop of

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; ), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north s ...

. After the creation of the Diocese of Danzig on December 30, 1925, O'Rourke was appointed as the first Bishop of Danzig. He initially established good relations with the authorities (who granted him citizenship on 12 June 1926) and the mostly Protestant population. After the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

took over the area in 1933, he came into conflict with them over their policies.Stefan Samerski: Das Bistum Danzig in Lebensbildern
/ref> He hosted a synod from 10 to 12 December 1935, but growing pressure from the Nazi-majority senate made him resign as bishop of Danzig after he had tried to appoint four additional Polish parish priests. On 13 June 1938, he was appointed Titular bishop of

Sophene Sophene ( or , ; ) was a province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia, located in the south-west of the kingdom, and of the Roman Empire. The region lies in what is now southeastern Turkey. History The region that was to become Sophene was part ...

. He adopted Polish citizenship in December 1938 and was made Cathedral Canon in

Gniezno Gniezno (; ; ) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The city is the administrative seat of Gniezno County (''powiat'') ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. When the Germans attacked Poland in September 1939, O'Rourke was on a journey to

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. He traveled via

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he applied for a Visa to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

.Samerski, Ein aussichtsloses Unternehmen
/ref> After going to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, O'Rourke tried to return to his Diocese in Poznań, but his visa application was rejected by the Germans. O'Rourke died in Rome on 27 June 1943. His successor as Bishop of Danzig (and later

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

) was Carl Maria Splett. In 1972, O'Rourke's ashes were moved from Campo Verano to his former bishopric, now in Poland; they were buried in a crypt in the Oliwa Cathedral.

Ancestry and relations

* John O'Rourke (1728–1786) * Cornelius O'Rourke * Lieutenant General Joseph Cornelius O'Rourke (1772–1849) * Count Moritz O'Rourke * Count Nicholas O'Rourke

References

Literature

*Stefan Samerski: Die Katholische Kirche in der Freien Stadt Danzig 1920–1933. Köln u.a. 1991 *Stefan Samerski (Hrsg.): Das Bistum Danzig in Lebensbildern. Ordinarien, Weihbischöfe, Generalvikare, apostolische Visitatoren 1922/25 bis 2000. (= Religions- und Kulturgeschichte in Ostmittel- und Südosteuropa 3). Münster/Hamburg/London 2003. *“Documents and Materials for the History of the O'Rourke Family” by Eduard Graf O'Rourke (O'Rourke had travelled to Ireland in the 1920s to research his Irish ancestry)

External links

*
Religious LifeDas Bistum Danzig, Stefan Samerski, Page 39 Eduard Graf O'Rourke w. portrait
of Freie Stadt Danzig: citizenship of Bishop O'Rourke form 12 June 1926 {{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Edward 1876 births 1943 deaths Bishops of Riga 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland People from the Russian Empire of Irish descent Polish people of Irish descent Latvian people of Irish descent Belarusian people of Irish descent Polish people of German descent Clergy from Minsk University of Latvia alumni University of Fribourg alumni University of Innsbruck alumni Apostolic nuncios to Estonia Apostolic nuncios to Latvia Apostolic nuncios to Lithuania People from the Free City of Danzig Russian emigrants to Germany Russian emigrants to Poland Polish people of World War II Russian expatriates in Switzerland 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Latvia Edward, O'Rourke