Thomas Albert Andrew Becker
Western University of Pennsylvania University of Virginia | |
---|---|
Motto | Ora pro nobis (Pray for us) |
Coat of arms |
Thomas Albert Andrew Becker (December 20, 1832 – July 29, 1899) was an American
Biography
Early life and education
Thomas Becker was born on December 20, 1832, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to German Protestant parents.[1] After attending the Allegheny Institute, he entered the Western University of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh and then the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.[2] In Virginia, he met Bishop John McGill, who persuaded him to convert to Catholicism.[3]
After his conversion, Becker decided to enter the
Ordination and ministry
On July 18, 1859, Becker was
When Becker's churches were converted into barracks during the American Civil War, he moved to Emmitsburg, Maryland, to teach theology, ecclesiastical history, and Sacred Scriptures at Mount St. Mary's College.[3] He later became secretary to Archbishop Martin Spalding, whom he assisted in preparing for the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866.[2] Becker afterwards served as pastor of St. Peter's Parish in Richmond, Virginia.[1]
Bishop of Wilmington
On March 3, 1868, Becker was appointed the first
At that time, the Diocese of Wilmington comprised the Delmarva Peninsula, including all of Delaware and several counties of Maryland and Virginia.[6] Becker oversaw a three-fold increase in the number of priests and a doubling of the number of churches.[6] He established an orphanage and academy for boys, an academy for girls, and two additional parochial schools.[6] He wrote a series of articles on the idea of a Catholic university, which attracted wide attention, and was an outspoken supporter of the temperance movement.[5]
Bishop of Savannah
On March 26, 1886, Becker was appointed the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Savannah by
Thomas Becker died on July 29, 1899, at age 66, in Washington, Georgia.
Racism
Becker was known as a virulent racist, chiefly responsible for the introduction of Jim Crow policies into the Diocese of Savannah. One particularly notable incident involved his segregation of St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church in the city, which had been an interracial congregation. Becker personally separated the parish with an unannounced visit to the church in the middle of a Sunday Mass, where he reportedly declared: "You white people associating and mixing with the niggers will soon become worse than the niggers."[7]
See also
- Catholic Church hierarchy
- Catholic Church in the United States
- Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
- List of Catholic bishops of the United States
- Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
Notes
- ^ a b c "Thomas Andrew Becker". Catholic Encyclopedia.
- ^ a b Shea, John Gilmary (1886). The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the United States. New York: Catholic Publications.
- ^ a b Corcoran, James Andrew, ed. (1894). The American Catholic Quarterly Review. Vol. XIX. Philadelphia: Charles A. Hardy.
- ^ a b c d e Cheney, David M. "Bishop Thomas Albert Andrew Becker". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
- ^ a b c d "The Right Reverend Thomas A. Becker, D.D." Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27.
- ^ a b c "A Brief History of the Diocese of Wilmington". Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington.
- OCLC 1179450242.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Thomas Andrew Becker". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.