Henry Richter (bishop)
Appearance
The Most Reverend Henry Joseph Richter | |
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St. Joseph's College Pontifical North American College |
Henry Joseph Richter (April 9, 1838 – December 26, 1916) was a German-born
Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Grand Rapids
in Michigan from 1883 until his death in 1916.
Biography
Early life
Henry Richter was born on April 9, 1838, in
St. Joseph's College in Bardstown, Kentucky, before returning to Cincinnati to attend Mount St. Mary's Seminary.[2] In 1860, he was sent to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, obtaining a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree in 1865.[1]
Priesthood
While in Rome, he was
vice-president of Mount St. Mary's in 1866.[1] In 1870, he was appointed as the founding pastor of St. Lawrence Parish in the Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati.[1]
Bishop of Grand Rapids
On January 30, 1883, Richter was appointed the first
consecration on April 22, 1883, from Archbishop William Elder, with Bishops Caspar Borgess and William McCloskey serving as co-consecrators, at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Grand Rapids[3]
When Richter was appointed bishop, the diocese had 36 priests, 33 churches, 17 parochial schools, and 50,000 Catholics; by the time of his death, there were 75 priests, 56 churches, 38 parochial schools, and over 150,000 Catholics.[2] He also attended the Second (1882) and Fifth (1889) Provincial Councils of Cincinnati and the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884).[2]
Death and legacy
Henry Richter died on December 26, 1916, after three days of illness at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Rapids; he was age 78.[1]