Mathias Loras
Roman Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
| See | Dubuque |
| In office | July 28, 1837 – February 20, 1858 |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Clement Smyth |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | November 12, 1815 by Joseph Fesch |
| Consecration | December 10, 1837 by Michael Portier |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 30, 1792 |
| Died | February 19, 1858 (aged 65) Dubuque, Iowa, U.S. |
| Previous post(s) | President of Spring Hill College (1830–1832) |
| Motto | O Crux Ave Spes Unica (Hail, oh cross, our only hope) |
| Signature | .png){kind=small} |
Mathias Loras (August 30, 1792 – February 19, 1858) was French Catholic priest in the United States who served as the first Bishop of Dubuque, in what would become the state of Iowa.
Early life and ministry
Pierre-Jean-Mathias Loras was born in Lyon, France, on August 30, 1792. He was a descendant of a French noble of the robe family. During the Reign of Terror in France, Loras' father and 17 members of his family were put to death by guillotine.[1]
As a young man, he studied for the priesthood, along with St.
Bishop-elect
Bishop of Dubuque
In 1837, the third
.Loras knew little of his new diocese and wrote to
Loras traveled to France to recruit
His connections and influence in Europe had enabled him to secure necessary financial assistance from the
Over the next 19 years, Loras guided the Dubuque Diocese during its formative years. He established several missions among the Native American tribes. Loras also established several schools, as well as parishes in every populated area of the diocese. In 1839 he established St. Raphael's Seminary, a forerunner of Loras College. Mother Mary Frances Clarke and the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary came to Dubuque in 1843.[7] Loras visited Mount Melleray Abbey in Ireland in 1849 and expressed his desire to have the Trappists establish a monastery in his diocese. Clement Smyth and six monks came to Dubuque County that same year and established New Melleray Abbey. When they had completed the first buildings, another 16 monks arrived to join them.
Not satisfied with St. Raphael's Seminary in Dubuque, Loras moved the school south of Dubuque to an area known today as Key West. The new school, renamed St. Bernard's College and Seminary, was plagued with financial problems but managed to survive until Loras' death.
Loras also encouraged immigrants to come to Iowa from the more crowded conditions in the eastern U.S. Soon, Dubuque had growing Irish and German populations. Even though he welcomed immigrants to the area, tensions between immigrant groups caused Loras some of his greatest difficulties.
The Germans felt that Loras had not done enough to give them clergy of German descent. The Irish felt slighted when Loras provided the Germans with their parish, Holy Trinity (now
On July 19, 1850, Pope
In the 1850s, under the direction of Loras, the present cathedral church was begun. This was the third building for St.Raphael's parish, and it was over three times the size of the old cathedral. Loras did not live long enough to see this cathedral completed, but he could offer the first mass in this new structure at Christmas, 1857.
By the late 1850s, Loras found that his health was failing. He asked the Holy See to name a coadjutor bishop to assist him. On January 9, 1857, Clement Smyth, prior at New Melleray, was appointed as coadjutor bishop. As the Dubuque Diocese grew in size Loras wrote to Pope Pius IX in May 1857, and in the letter stated that he was considering asking for the Dubuque Diocese to be divided, with Keokuk as the See city for the new diocese.[9] However this was not done in his lifetime.
Although he had been sick for some time, Loras' death still came suddenly on Friday, February 19, 1858, in Dubuque at 65. Before his death, Loras had been seriously ill but had seemed to be recovering well, even up to the evening of February 18. At about 8:30 on the 18th, he informed his staff that he was retiring for the evening. He ordered them not to disturb him unless necessary, as the divine office he wanted to pray was long, and he wanted to make sure he finished. Around 11:00 PM, his housekeeper heard Loras moaning and informed Father McCabe, who proceeded to the Bishop's room and found him collapsed on the floor. During the night, his condition worsened steadily, and sometime between five and six in the morning on February 19, he died.[9]
A funeral Mass was held the following Sunday at 9:00 am. The body of Loras was taken from the old cathedral to the new cathedral for a full service led by Smyth. After the Mass, Loras was buried within the mortuary chapel of the cathedral.[9]
At the time of his death, the Diocese of Dubuque had grown to 54,000 Catholics, in 60 parishes, served by 48 priests in a territory that now only covered the state of Iowa.[6]
Legacy
Bishop Loras is still remembered as one of the pioneers of the Catholic Church in Iowa. The college run by the archdiocese in Dubuque, which had numerous name changes in its history, was named after Loras in 1939. Loras Boulevard in Dubuque was also named in his memory. In 2020, his statue was removed from Loras Boulevard to after evidence surfaced that Loras had funded some of his missionary work using money earned from the labor of an enslaved person he owned in Alabama.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d "Bishop Mathias Loras". The Palimpsest. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ a b c Clarke, Richard Henry. "Right Rev. Mathias Loras, D.D.," Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, Volume 2, P. O'Shea, 1872, p. 126 et seq.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "About Spring Hill College". Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ a b Kempker, John F. Catholic Missionaries in the Early and the Territorial Days of Iowa Annals of Iowa vol X, number 1. April 1911. 3rd Series
- ^ "Reminiscences, memoirs, and lectures of Monsignor A. Ravoux, V.G." Retrieved January 9, 2016.
- ^ a b Dubuque Catholic Encyclopedia (1911)
- ^ "Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary," The Catholic Church in the United States of America, Catholic Editing Company, 1914, p. 88 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Loras, Mathias Encyclopedia Dubuque
- ^ ISBN 0-936875-10-0.
- ^ Waterbury, Robert (September 9, 2020). "Loras College Reacts to Uncovered Evidence from Bishop Loras Research". Loras College Daily. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
External links
- "Dubuque". New Advent Encyclopedia.