Joseph Lawson Howze

Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, D.D., born August 30, 1923, in Daphne, Alabama, is a retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Biloxi. He was born Lawson Howze and took the name Joseph when he converted to Catholicism in 1948.infobox bishopstyles
name=Joseph Howze
dipstyle=The Most Reverend
offstyle=Your Excellency
relstyle=Monsignor
deathstyle=not applicable |He received his B.A. degree from Alabama State University, in 1948. After religious training at Christ the King Seminary at St. Bonaventure University, in New York, Howze was ordained a priest for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1959.

He was named an auxiliary bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Natchez-Jackson, Mississippi, on November 14, 1972, and was installed on January 28, 1973. When the Diocese of Biloxi was created in 1977, Howze as appointed as its first bishop. He was the first black bishop in the 20th century to head a diocese in the United States. He retired June 6, 2001.

References

* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bhowze.html Bishop Howze - Catholic-Hierarchy]
* [http://www.lib.usm.edu/~spcol/coh/cohhowzej.html "Oral history with Most Reverend Joseph Lawson E. Howze", University of Southern Mississippi. Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage.]
* [http://www.nbccc-us.com/bishop_howze.aspx National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus] bio of Joseph Lawson Howze