Francis Patrick Kenrick (December 3, 1796 or 1797 – July 8, 1863) was an

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-born

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

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who served as the third

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of the

Diocese of Philadelphia The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It covers the City and County of Philadelphia as well as ...

(1842–1851) and the sixth

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of the

Archdiocese of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore ( la, link=no, Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis) is the premier (or first) see of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore and nine of Mar ...

(1851–1863).

Biography

Early life and education

Francis Kenrick was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

to Thomas and Jane (née Eustace) Kenrick. His younger brother,

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

, would later become the first Archbishop of St. Louis. His uncle was the

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 ...

o
St. Nicholas of Myra Church
in Dublin, and took an active role in his education. At the age of eighteen, he was selected to study at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he became a distinguished student. He 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 by Archbishop Candido Maria Frattini on April 7, 1821.

Ordination and ministry

Shortly after his ordination, Kenrick accepted an invitation from Bishop

Benedict Joseph Flaget Benedict Joseph Flaget (November 7, 1763 – February 11, 1850) was a French-born Catholic bishop in the United States. He served as the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bardstown between 1808 and 1839. When the see was transferred to Loui ...

, S.S., to join the

Diocese of Bardstown The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bardstown was a Catholic diocese in the United States established in Bardstown, Kentucky on April 8, 1808, along with the Diocese of Boston, Diocese of New York, and Diocese of Philadelphia, comprising the former t ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He then held the

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

theology 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 ...

at St. Thomas Seminary for nine years, in addition to teaching

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and history at St. Joseph's College. Apart from his academic duties, he also engaged in

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

work; he facilitated several conversions and publicly debated with

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

ministers. He earned a reputation as an eloquent preacher and effective apologist, and was a recognized theologian and

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

scholar. Kenrick was later made

private secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in t ...

to Flaget, whom he accompanied to the First Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1829 as his personal theologian. He also served as an assistant secretary of the Council.

Bishop of Philadelphia

On February 25, 1830, Kenrick was appointed

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and

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 ''Arath'' by

Pope Pius VIII Pope Pius VIII ( it, Pio VIII; born Francesco Saverio Maria Felice Castiglioni; 20 November 1761 – 30 November 1830), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 31 March 1829 to his death in November 1830. Pius VIII's ...

. 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 the following June 6 from Flaget, with Bishops

Henry Conwell Henry Conwell ( – April 22, 1842) was an Irish-born Catholic bishop in the United States. He became a priest in 1776 and served in that capacity in Ireland for more than four decades. After the Pope declined to appoint him Archbishop of Arm ...

and

John Baptist Mary David John Baptist Mary David, S.S. (french: Jean-Baptiste-Marie David), (June 4, 1761 – July 12, 1841) was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Bardstown in Kentucky from 183 ...

, S.S., 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 Bardstown. Kenrick assumed full administrative powers from the aged Bishop Conwell, whose tenure had been plagued by a public feud with a schismatic priest named William Hogan. Immediately upon his arrival, he also became engaged in the long-running dispute between episcopal authority and the lay

trustees Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

of St. Mary's Church. The trustees eventually conceded their struggle for power after Kenrick placed St. Mary's Cathedral under

interdict In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...

. He also placed all church property in the name of the bishop instead of those of the trustees. In 1832, Kenrick founded St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, which was originally located at his personal residence. That same year an outbreak of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

took place in Philadelphia. The Committee of the Almshouse, later known as Philadelphia General Hospital, asked Bishop Kenrick if he could request additional help from the

Sisters of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...

to serve as nurses. Father Michael Hurley, pastor of St. Augustine's Church turned it into a makeshift hospital under the supervision of Dr. Oliver H. Taylor. Kenrick led the local Catholic clergy and sisters in ministering to the sick; his efforts were publicly recognized by Mayor John Swift. Kenrick successfully petitioned the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

to separate

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into a new diocese, and the Diocese of Pittsburgh was established in 1836; Kenrick was initially considered for the new diocese as well as for coadjutor bishop of

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, but withdrew his candidacy. Kenrick succeeded Conwell as the third Bishop of Philadelphia upon the latter's death on April 22, 1842. As Bishop, Kenrick expressed public concern over the fact that Catholics in Philadelphia were forced to participate in Protestant religious instruction in the public schools. This dispute led to 1844 riots, a series of riots resulting from increasing

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...

sentiment at the growing population of

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...

immigrants. Although most of the patients cared for by the Sisters at St. Augustine were listed as non-Catholic, the church was burned to the ground during the riots. Throughout the violence, Kenrick encouraged Catholics "to follow peace and have charity." He closed all Catholic churches and ordered the suspension of all Masses until the riots were brought to a halt by military force. Following the riots, Kenrick ended his advocacy for changes in the religious instruction of public schools and initiated the creation of a Parochial school system designed for Catholic students and run by the Church. Influenced by the work of his contemporary, an English priest named

John Lingard John Lingard (5 February 1771 – 17 July 1851) was an English Roman Catholic priest and historian, the author of ''The History of England, From the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of Henry VIII'', an eight-volume work published i ...

, Kenrick published his own translation of the four

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

s in 1849; he eventually translated the entire Bible, as a new revision of the Douay-Rheims Bible. Between 1830 and 1850, the number of churches in the diocese grew from 22 to 92; priests from 35 to 101; charitable institutions from two to six; and the Catholic population from 35,000 to 170,000. He also began construction on the

Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, head church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is located at 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, on the east side of Logan Square in Philadelphia. It was built between ...

and oversaw the rebuilding of St. Michael and St. Augustine following the 1844 riots.

Archbishop of Baltimore

Following the death of Archbishop

Samuel Eccleston Samuel Eccleston, P.S.S. (June 27, 1801 – April 22, 1851) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the fifth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland from 1834 until his death in 1851. Biography Earl ...

, S.S., Kenrick was named the sixth Archbishop of Baltimore,

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, by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

on August 19, 1851. His installation took place on the following October 9. He presided over the

First Plenary Council of Baltimore The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three national meetings of Catholic bishops in the United States in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland. During the early history of the History of Roman Catholicism in the United States, Roman Cath ...

in 1852. As Archbishop of Baltimore, Kenrick expanded the Parochial School System beyond Philadelphia and help to make Catholic instruction the norm for Catholic children in America. Under his tenure, parochial schools were free for all students, and were supported directly by the parishes. In 1854, he was invited by Pius IX to attend the

promulgation Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law ...

of the dogma of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

in Rome. In 1858, the

Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

, with the approval of Pius IX, conferred a "prerogative of place" on the Archbishop of Baltimore over all archbishops and bishops in the United States, regardless of seniority in promotion or ordination.

Death and legacy

In his later years, Archbishop Kenrick struggled to reduce tensions between Catholics and the Protestant majority. While several anti-Catholic Riots took place in the US during the 1850s, none took place in Kenrick's archdiocese except the

Know-Nothing Riots of 1856 The Know-Nothing Riots of 1856 occurred in Baltimore between September and November of that year. The Know-Nothing Party gained traction in Baltimore as native-born residents disliked the growing immigrant population. Local street gangs became di ...

. Kenrick was greatly troubled by the outbreak of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. He died aged 66 on July 8, 1863, shortly after reading of the massive slaughter that had taken place in nearby

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to th ...

. (The entire state was part of his ecclesiastical province at the time.) Kenrick will be remembered primarily for his contribution to the development of the US Parochial School System. His best known literary works include the following: * A new translation of th
''Douay Bible''
with a commentary;
''Theologia Moralis''
(3 Vols) (1860);
''The Primacy of the Apostolic See, Vindicated''
(1848);
''A Treatise on Baptism''
(1852);
''Theologia dogmatica. Secundis curis auctoris''
(1858);
''A Vindication of the Catholic Church, in a Series of Letters Addressed to the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hopkins''
(1855).

Notes

Parts of Francis Kenrick's Bible Translation
*Marschall, John P.,''Francis Patrick Kenrick, 1851-1863: The Baltimore Years'' (Ph.D. diss., Catholic University of America, 1965) *Spalding, Thomas W. ''The Premier See: A History of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, 1789-1989.'' Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989

References

External links

Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School

Kenrick's Bible Editions

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenrick, Francis 1796 births 1863 deaths 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Christian clergy from Dublin (city) Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) 19th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent Roman Catholic bishops of Philadelphia Roman Catholic archbishops of Baltimore Translators of the Bible into English Burials at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary 19th-century translators

Biography

Early life and education

Ordination and ministry

Bishop of Philadelphia

Archbishop of Baltimore

Death and legacy

See also

Notes

References

External links