Francis Kenrick

infobox bishopbiog
name = Francis Patrick Kenrick †


See = Archdiocese of Baltimore
Title = Archbishop of Baltimore
Period = August 19, 1851—July 8, 1863
Predecessor = Samuel Eccleston †
Successor = Martin John Spalding †
Previous post = Diocese of Philadelphia
ordination = April 7, 1821
bishops = Diocese of Philadelphia
date of birth = December 3, 1796
place of birth = Dublin, Ireland
date of death = July 8, 1863
place of death = Baltimore, Maryland |

Francis Patrick Kenrick (December 3, 1796 - July 8, 1863) was a Roman Catholic bishop during the time of Orestes Brownson. He headed the Diocese of Philadelphia from 1842 to 1851, then was elevated to Archbishop of Baltimore and served until his death.

Early life and education

Francis Patrick Kenrick was born in Dublin, Ireland, to Thomas and Jane (Eustace) Kenrick. He was educated at the Urban College of the Propaganda Fide in Rome and ordained a priest on April 7, 1821.

Kenrick volunteered to serve in the Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky, where he taught Greek and history and all of the theology courses at St. Joseph’s college and seminary. He earned a reputation as an eloquent preacher and an effective apologist. He later served as the secretary to Bishop Benedict Flaget and served as his theologian at the First Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1829.

Bishop of Philadelphia

Kenrick was appointed coadjutor of the Diocese of Philadelphia with right of succession in 1830 and became bishop in 1842. The boundaries of the diocese at that time included the entire states of Pennsylvania and Delaware and southwest New Jersey. In 1835 he proposed separating western Pennsylvania into a new diocese at Pittsburgh.

Influenced by the work of his contemporary, English Catholic priest John Lingard, Kenrick published his own translation of the four gospels in 1849. He eventually translated the entire Bible.

Archbishop of Baltimore

He became archbishop of Baltimore in 1851 and presided over the First Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1852. In 1854 he was invited by Pope Pius IX to attend the promulgation of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in Rome. He died on July 8, 1863.

References

* [http://dd.freedomlives.net/~andrew/Catholic/Kenrick/kenrick.html 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

External

* [http://www.kkchs.org/ Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School]
* [http://bibles.wikidot.com/kenrick Kenrick's Bible Editions]