Most Reverend Peter Richard Kenrick |
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Archbishop of St. Louis | |
Church | Catholic Church |
Appointed | July 20, 1847 |
Term ended | May 21, 1895 |
Predecessor | Joseph Rosati, C.M. |
Successor | John Joseph Kain |
Other posts |
Titular Bishop of Draso (1841-1843) Coadjutor bishop of St. Louis (1841-1843) Bishop of St. Louis (1843-1847) Titular Archbishop of Marcianopolis (1895-1896) |
Orders | |
Ordination | March 6, 1832 by Daniel Murray |
Consecration | November 30, 1841 by Joseph Rosati, C.M. |
Personal details | |
Born |
Dublin, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
September 17, 1806
Died | March 4, 1896 St. Louis, Missouri, US |
(aged 89)
Buried | Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis |
Ordination history of Peter Richard Kenrick | |
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Episcopal consecration
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Principal consecrator | Joseph Rosati, C.M. |
Date of consecration | November 30, 1841 |
Bishops consecrated by Peter Richard Kenrick as principal consecrator
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James Oliver Van de Velde, S.J. | September 16, 1827 |
John McGill | July 23, 1850 |
John Baptiste Miège, S.J. | March 25, 1851 |
Anthony O'Regan | July 25, 1854 |
James Duggan | May 3, 1857 |
Clement Smyth, O.C.S.O. | May 9, 1857 |
James O'Gorman, O.C.S.O. | May 8, 1859 |
James Whelan, O.P. | May 8, 1859 |
Thomas Langdon Grace, O.P. | July 24, 1859 |
Patrick Feehan | November 12, 1865 |
John Hennessy | September 30, 1866 |
Joseph Melcher | July 12, 1868 |
John Joseph Hogan | September 13, 1868 |
Patrick John Ryan | April 14, 1872 |
Thomas Bonacum | November 30, 1887 |
Thomas Bonacum | November 30, 1887 |
John Joseph Hennessy | November 30, 1888 |
Peter Richard Kenrick (August 17, 1806 – March 4, 1896) was Bishop of St. Louis, Missouri, and the first Catholic archbishop west of the Mississippi River.
He was born and educated in Dublin, and Maynooth College, Ireland and ordained to the priesthood in 1832 by Archbishop Murray of Dublin. Prior to entering the seminary he worked with and befriended James Clarence Mangan the poet. The year following his ordination he travelled with his brother, Francis Kenrick, who eventually became the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia and later the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.
In his early years as a priest in Philadelphia, Father Kenrick wrote several works relating to Catholic theology and church history. One of his works, 'Validity of Anglican Ordinations examined', published in 1841, was not challenged for over a century. He held a number of posts in the Philadelphia church, until he was appointed coadjutor bishop of St. Louis, Missouri in 1841. At the time, the diocese included the entire area of the Louisiana Purchase, except for Iowa, Louisiana, and Minnesota. In 1847, when the diocese became an archdiocese, he became the first archbishop of the newly created archdiocese. The city itself would grow almost thirtyfold over the term of his residency.
During his tenure in St. Louis, he visited many parts of the state of Missouri and actively encouraged the development of Catholicism and Catholic institutions in his diocese. He started a Catholic journal, opened a seminary in the then-independent city of Carondelet, Missouri, and invited a number of Roman Catholic religious institutes to work in the diocese.