Thomas Bonacum
Thomas Bonacum | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Lincoln | |
 | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Diocese | Diocese of Lincoln |
| Predecessor | Office established |
| Successor | John Henry Tihen |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | June 18, 1870 by Joseph Melcher |
| Consecration | November 30, 1887 by Peter Richard Kenrick |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 29, 1847 Penane, County Tipperary, Ireland |
| Died | February 4, 1911 (aged 64) Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S. |
Thomas Bonacum (January 29, 1847 – February 4, 1911) was an Irish-born American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Lincoln, serving from 1887 until his death in 1911.
Biography
Early life and educatin
Thomas Bonacum was born January 29, 1847 in Penane,[1] near Thurles, County Tipperary, the youngest of four children of Edmund and Mary (née McGrath) Bonacum.[2] While he was still an infant, the family immigrated to the United States in 1848, settling in St. Louis, Missouri.[3] He received his early education in St. Louis before attending Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, near Milwaukee, from 1863 to 1867.[4] Returning to Missouri, he completed his studies for the priesthood at St. Vincent's Seminary in Cape Girardeau.[2]
Priesthood
Bonacum was ordained a priest on June 18, 1870 at St. Mary of Victories Church in St. Louis.[5] He was ordained by Joseph Melcher, the Bishop of Green Bay and a former St. Louis priest, since Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick was in Rome attending the First Vatican Council.[6] After serving for a few months as assistant pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Edina, Bonacum served as pastor of St. Stephen's Church in Indian Creek from 1871 to 1874.[7] He then served as pastor of St. Peter's Church in Kirkwood (1874-1877).[7]
Bonacum then furthered his studies in Europe, attending the University of Würzburg in Bavaria for two years. While there, he studied theology under Franz Hettinger and canon law and church history under Joseph Hergenröther.[6] After returning to the United States, he served as pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Rolla until 1880,[8] when he was transferred to Immaculate Conception Church in St. Louis.[6] He remained there for a year before serving as pastor of Holy Name Church (1882-1887).[7]
While pastor at Holy Name, Bonacum attended the third Plenary Council of Baltimore from November to December 1884, as a theological consultant to Archbishop Kenrick.[9] He was named by the bishops as the first Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville proposed for Southern Illinois. The Congregation of Propaganda did not immediately act, and Bonacum was appointed to the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Bishop of Lincoln
Bonacum was consecrated bishop on 30 November 1887, and took formal possession of the see on 21 December 1888.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Hackett, James Dominick (1936). Bishops of the United States of Irish Birth Or Descent. New York: American Irish Historical Society.
- ^ a b Morton, Julius Sterling (1906). Illustrated History of Nebraska. Vol. II. Lincoln, NE: Jacob North & Company.
- ^ Bruskewitz, Fabian (August 17, 2012). "Our Hundred and Twenty-Fifth". Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln.
- ^ "Necrology". Salesianum. VI (III). April 1911.
- ^ "Bishop Thomas Bonacum". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
- ^ a b c "The Appointment of Father Bonacum as Bishop of Lincoln, Neb". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. July 9, 1887.
- ^ a b c Gosen, Loretta (1986). History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, 1887-1987. Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln.
- ^ "Parish History". St. Patrick Parish.
- ^ Meehan, Thomas (1910). "Lincoln". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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