Camillus Paul Maes: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Line 93: Line 93:
On September 11, 1884, a telegram from Rome announced that [[Pope Leo XIII]] appointed Maes to be [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington|Bishop of Covington]] in Kentucky.<ref name=appointed>{{cite news|date=September 13, 1884|title=Covington's New Bishop|work=[[The Courier-Journal]]}}</ref> At the same [[Papal consistory|consistory]], Giuseppe Sarto (the future [[Pope Pius X]]) was named [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mantua|Bishop of Mantua]].<ref name=jstor/> The official papal document announcing Maes's appointment was dated October 1, 1884.<ref name=jstor/><ref name=hierarchy/> He was the first diocesan priest from Detroit to become a bishop.<ref name=nkt>[https://www.nkytribune.com/2019/10/covingtons-third-bishop-camillus-paul-maes-to-be-entombed-in-cathedral-he-built-on-october-26/ "Covington’s third bishop, Camillus Paul Maes, to be entombed in Cathedral he built on October 26"], ''North Kentucky Tribune'', October 15, 2019</ref> As bishop-elect, he attended the third [[Plenary Councils of Baltimore|Plenary Council of Baltimore]] from November to December 1884.<ref name=jstor/>
On September 11, 1884, a telegram from Rome announced that [[Pope Leo XIII]] appointed Maes to be [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington|Bishop of Covington]] in Kentucky.<ref name=appointed>{{cite news|date=September 13, 1884|title=Covington's New Bishop|work=[[The Courier-Journal]]}}</ref> At the same [[Papal consistory|consistory]], Giuseppe Sarto (the future [[Pope Pius X]]) was named [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Mantua|Bishop of Mantua]].<ref name=jstor/> The official papal document announcing Maes's appointment was dated October 1, 1884.<ref name=jstor/><ref name=hierarchy/> He was the first diocesan priest from Detroit to become a bishop.<ref name=nkt>[https://www.nkytribune.com/2019/10/covingtons-third-bishop-camillus-paul-maes-to-be-entombed-in-cathedral-he-built-on-october-26/ "Covington’s third bishop, Camillus Paul Maes, to be entombed in Cathedral he built on October 26"], ''North Kentucky Tribune'', October 15, 2019</ref> As bishop-elect, he attended the third [[Plenary Councils of Baltimore|Plenary Council of Baltimore]] from November to December 1884.<ref name=jstor/>


Maes received his episcopal consecration on January 25, 1885 from Archbishop [[William Henry Elder]] of Cincinnati, with Bishop Borgess of Detroit and Bishop [[William George McCloskey]] of Louisville serving as co-consecrators.<ref name=hierarchy/> During Bishop Maes' time in Covington, he arranged for a new cathedral to be built down the street from the cathedral at the time, which was rapidly falling into decay. The bishop designed the cathedral to look exactly like [[Notre Dame de Paris]]. The cathedral would not be finished before Bishop Maes' death. Bishop Maes brought much help to the missions serving the hills of eastern Kentucky, still in the diocese in that period. Maes was also responsible for starting a diocesan newspaper, now known as the ''Messenger''. Bishop Maes served the diocese until his death in Covington on May 11, 1915, the longest-serving bishop to date.<ref name=nkt/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29390524/dayton-daily-news/ |title=Master Calls Bishop Maes |newspaper=[[Dayton Daily News]] |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |page=3 |date=1915-05-11 |access-date=2022-05-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Maes received his episcopal consecration on January 25, 1885 from Archbishop [[William Henry Elder]] of Cincinnati, with Bishop Borgess of Detroit and Bishop [[William George McCloskey]] of Louisville serving as co-consecrators.<ref name=hierarchy/> He served as Bishop of Covington until his death 30 years later, the longest-serving head of the diocese to date. At the time of his arrival, the diocese counted a Catholic population of 38,000 people, 42 parishes, and 38 priests; by the year preceding his death, there were 60,000 Catholics, 57 parishes, 25 missions, and 85 diocesan and religious priests.<ref name=jstor/> During his tenure, he also celebrated the silver jubilee of his ordination as a priest in 1893 and bishop in 1909.

===New cathedral===
At the beginning of his tenure in Covington, [[Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption (Covington, Kentucky)|St. Mary's Cathedral]] had fallen into disrepair, even described as "rapidly tottering to decay."<ref name=encyc>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04462b.htm|title=Diocese of Covington|last=Gorey|first=James|date=1908|website=The Catholic Encyclopedia|publisher=Robert Appleton Company}}</ref> Maes soon began plans for the construction of a new cathedral, a process that would span his entire time as bishop. In 1890 he purchased property at the corner of Madison Avenue and Twelfth Street, a site that was considered to be the center of the city.<ref name=cathedral>{{cite web|url=https://covcathedral.com/history/|title=History|website=[[Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption (Covington, Kentucky)]]}}</ref> To design the building, he hired a Detroit architect who had worked on [[Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit|St. Anne's Church]] and based his plans on [[Notre-Dame de Paris]]. Ground was first broken on April 13, 1894 and the cornerstone was laid on September 8, 1895.<ref name=cathedral/> Although parts of the cathedral remained unfinished past his death, Maes dedicated the new cathedral on January 27, 1901 and opened it for services.<ref name=cathedral/>

===Later life and death===
Bishop Maes served the diocese until his death in Covington on May 11, 1915, the longest-serving bishop to date.<ref name=nkt/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29390524/dayton-daily-news/ |title=Master Calls Bishop Maes |newspaper=[[Dayton Daily News]] |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |page=3 |date=1915-05-11 |access-date=2022-05-14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 05:26, 28 June 2022

Camillus Paul Maes
Bishop of Covington
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseDiocese of Covington
AppointedOctober 1, 1884
Term endedMay 11, 1915 (his death)
PredecessorAugustus Toebbe
SuccessorFerdinand Brossart
Orders
OrdinationDecember 19, 1868
by Charles André Anthonis
ConsecrationJanuary 25, 1885
by William Henry Elder
Personal details
Born(1846-03-13)March 13, 1846
Kortrijk, West Flanders, Belgium
DiedMay 11, 1915(1915-05-11) (aged 69)
Covington, Kentucky, U.S.
SignatureCamillus Paul Maes's signature

Camillus Paul Maes (March 13, 1846 – May 11, 1915) was a Belgian-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the third Bishop of Covington from 1885 until his death in 1915. During his thirty years in office, he was most notably responsible for building the current Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption.

Early life and education

Camillus Paul Maes (recorded as Camille Polydore Maes in the civil record of his birth)[1] was born in Kortrijk, West Flanders, on March 13, 1846. He was the only child of Jean Baptiste and Justine (née Ghyoot) Maes.[2] Orphaned by age 16, he was subsequently raised by an uncle.[3] He received his classical education at St. Amand's College in Kortrijk, graduating in 1863. He then entered the Minor Seminary of Roeselare and continued his studies for the priesthood at the Major Seminary of Bruges, studying under Bernard Jungmann at both institutions.[4]

In 1867, Bishop Peter Paul Lefevere was touring Belgium to recruit priests for the Diocese of Detroit.[4] As a favor to Lefevere for assuming his duties during an illness, Bishop Johan Joseph Faict of Bruges agreed to give him a seminarian of his choice and Lefevere chose Maes, who had expressed a desire to become a foreign missionary.[3] Maes was then sent to the American College of Louvain to complete his theological studies.

Priesthood

Maes was ordained a priest on December 19, 1868 by Bishop Charles Anthonis, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Mechelen.[5] Two days later, he performed his first Mass at the Church of Our Lady in his native Kortrijk.[2] He left Belgium a few months later and arrived in the United States in May 1869. His first assignment was to St. Peter's Church in Mount Clemens, whose first pastor was Gabriel Richard (the first Catholic priest to serve in Congress).[6] At St. Peter's, Maes established a parochial school with the help of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[6]

After two years in Mount Clemens, he was transferred to Monroe in 1871 to become pastor of St. Mary's Church.[7] The congregation there consisted mostly of French and English-speaking Catholics until Bishop Caspar Henry Borgess directed Maes to organize a new parish to accommodate the growing English-speaking faction.[2] Maes opened St. John the Baptist Church in 1873 and was appointed its first pastor.[8] During his seven years as pastor there, he wrote a widely a widely acclaimed biography of his fellow Belgian Charles Nerinckx, one of the first Catholic missionaries in Kentucky and the founder of the Sisters of Loretto.[3][9]

Bishop Borgess named Maes as his secretary and chancellor of the diocese in 1880. When the Diocese of Grand Rapids was erected in 1882, Maes was included on the list of candidates for bishop that was sent to Rome but the title was ultimately given to Henry Richter.[2]

Bishop of Covington

On September 11, 1884, a telegram from Rome announced that Pope Leo XIII appointed Maes to be Bishop of Covington in Kentucky.[10] At the same consistory, Giuseppe Sarto (the future Pope Pius X) was named Bishop of Mantua.[4] The official papal document announcing Maes's appointment was dated October 1, 1884.[4][5] He was the first diocesan priest from Detroit to become a bishop.[11] As bishop-elect, he attended the third Plenary Council of Baltimore from November to December 1884.[4]

Maes received his episcopal consecration on January 25, 1885 from Archbishop William Henry Elder of Cincinnati, with Bishop Borgess of Detroit and Bishop William George McCloskey of Louisville serving as co-consecrators.[5] He served as Bishop of Covington until his death 30 years later, the longest-serving head of the diocese to date. At the time of his arrival, the diocese counted a Catholic population of 38,000 people, 42 parishes, and 38 priests; by the year preceding his death, there were 60,000 Catholics, 57 parishes, 25 missions, and 85 diocesan and religious priests.[4] During his tenure, he also celebrated the silver jubilee of his ordination as a priest in 1893 and bishop in 1909.

New cathedral

At the beginning of his tenure in Covington, St. Mary's Cathedral had fallen into disrepair, even described as "rapidly tottering to decay."[12] Maes soon began plans for the construction of a new cathedral, a process that would span his entire time as bishop. In 1890 he purchased property at the corner of Madison Avenue and Twelfth Street, a site that was considered to be the center of the city.[13] To design the building, he hired a Detroit architect who had worked on St. Anne's Church and based his plans on Notre-Dame de Paris. Ground was first broken on April 13, 1894 and the cornerstone was laid on September 8, 1895.[13] Although parts of the cathedral remained unfinished past his death, Maes dedicated the new cathedral on January 27, 1901 and opened it for services.[13]

Later life and death

Bishop Maes served the diocese until his death in Covington on May 11, 1915, the longest-serving bishop to date.[11][14]

References

  1. ^ "Belgique, Flandre-Occidentale, registres d’état civil, 1582-1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-MLSQ-MK?cc=2139860&wc=QZ9J-GD9%3A1009434701%2C1067761001 : 5 May 2014), Kortrijk > Geboorten 1845-1850 > image 153 of 683; België Nationaal Archief, Brussels (Belgium National Archives, Brussels).
  2. ^ a b c d Ryan, Paul E. (1954). History of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky.
  3. ^ a b c Enzweiler, Stephen (September 30, 2019). "Our Rich History: From the beginning, Camillus Maes seemed destined to become Covington bishop". NKyTribune.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Bittremieux, J.; Van der Heyden, J. (1922). "THE RIGHT REVEREND CAMILLUS P. MAES, BISHOP OF COVINGTON". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. 33. JSTOR 44208573.
  5. ^ a b c "Bishop Camillus Paul Maes". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  6. ^ a b "St. Peter Parish History". St. Peter Catholic Church.
  7. ^ "OUR HISTORY". St. Mary Catholic Church.
  8. ^ "Parish History". St. John the Baptist Parish.
  9. ^ Maes, Camillus Paul (1880). The Life of Charles Nerinckx. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co.
  10. ^ "Covington's New Bishop". The Courier-Journal. September 13, 1884.
  11. ^ a b "Covington’s third bishop, Camillus Paul Maes, to be entombed in Cathedral he built on October 26", North Kentucky Tribune, October 15, 2019
  12. ^ Gorey, James (1908). "Diocese of Covington". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
  13. ^ a b c "History". Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption (Covington, Kentucky).
  14. ^ "Master Calls Bishop Maes". Dayton Daily News. Cincinnati, Ohio. 1915-05-11. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-05-14 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Covington
1885—1915 		Succeeded by


Stub icon

This article about an American Catholic bishop or archbishop is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Camillus_Paul_Maes&oldid=1095406361"