Charles Owen Rice

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Charles Owen Rice
BornNovember 21, 1908
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 13, 2005(2005-11-13) (aged 96)
McCandless, Pennsylvania, U.S.
EducationDuquesne University
Saint Vincent Seminary
Occupation(s)Catholic priest, labor organizer
Known forActivism

Charles Owen Rice (November 21, 1908 – November 13, 2005)

Catholic priest
and an American labor activist.

Background

Rice was born in

Brooklyn, New York, to Irish immigrants. His mother died when he was four, and he and his brother were sent to Ireland to be raised by his paternal grandmother, in a large extended family home along the seafront in Bellurgan, County Louth
. Seven years later he returned to the United States.

In 1934, after studies at

canon lawyer. His cousin, also called Patrick Rice (June 1918 – June 8, 2010), was an ordained priest in Dublin
and similarly elevated to the Canonry.

Contributions in Pittsburgh

In 1937, Rice founded

George Barry O'Toole. Also that year, the three priests formed the Catholic Radical Alliance.[2]

During the

H.J. Heinz Company.[3]

He met Dorothy Day and was a friend of Philip Murray, founder of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee and president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.[4]

Rice helped form the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists. From 1937 to 1969, Rice held a weekly radio program on which he often discussed the labor movement, communism, and St. Joseph's House. Rice was appointed rent director of the Hill District during World War II.[2]

During seven decades of priesthood, Rice was pastor of Pittsburgh-area congregations including St. Joseph's in Natrona, Immaculate Conception in Washington, Holy Rosary in Homewood, and St. Anne's in Castle Shannon.[2]

Later years

For many years, Rice was a columnist for the Pittsburgh Catholic. Rice was an early organizer and contributor to National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, a coalition of antiwar activists, participating in the initial Spring Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam demonstrations, held in New York City in April 1967. He opposed America's involvement in the Vietnam War in 1969, and supported workers in Pittsburgh when they lost their jobs and livelihood as the steel industry closed in the 1980s.[5]

References

  1. ^ Nate Guidry and Jon Schmitz (2005) Guidry, Nate; Schmitz, Jon (November 14, 2005). "'Labor Priest' Msgr. Rice Dies at 96". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 14 November 2005.
  2. ^ a b c "Charles Owen Rice Papers Finding Aid". Archives Service Center Finding Aids. University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  3. ^ "Priests, Pickets, Pickle Workers". Time. No. June 28. June 28, 1937. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  4. ^ "In Memoriam to the Labor Priest: Msgr. Charles Owen Rice". Archived from the original (Obituary) on June 29, 2008. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  5. ^ "Msgr. Charles Owen Rice". www.catholichistory.net. Retrieved 2016-04-12.

Books

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Owen_Rice&oldid=1212548854"