Harold Robert Perry

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Harold Robert Perry , SVD (born October 9, 1916 in Lake Charles , Louisiana , † July 17, 1991 in New Orleans ) was an American Roman Catholic bishop. He was auxiliary bishop in New Orleans for over 20 years . Along with Joseph Oliver Bowers , he was the first African American to be ordained a bishop in the United States in the 20th century.

Life

Youth and education

Harold Perry was the son of Frank J. Perry, a rice mill worker , and his wife, Josephine, a cook. He was the eldest of six children in a devout Catholic, French-speaking family. At 13, he entered the seminary ( Divine Word Seminary ) of the Divine Word Missionaries in Bay St. Louis , Mississippi , a. He continued his education in Illinois and Wisconsin . In 1938 he took his religious vows with the Steyler missionaries.

On January 6, 1944, Richard Oliver Grow , Bishop of Natchez , ordained him a priest for the Steyler missionaries. He was the 26th African American priest. He then served as a vicar in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church parish in Lafayette . In 1948 he was transferred to the parish of Notre Dame Church in St. Martinville . From 1949 he was in the parish of St. Peter's Church in Pine Bluff , Arkansas and from 1951 in St. Gabriel's Church in Mound Bayou , Mississippi. From 1952 he was the first pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Broussard . During his six years in the parish, he built the church, the rectory, and a school.

Career

In 1958 he became the principal of his alma mater , the Divine Word Seminary in Bay St. Louis. He was active in the civil rights movement and joined the National Catholic Council for Interracial Justice after it was founded in 1960. In 1961, in the Catholic monthly newspaper Interracial Review , he advocated that racial segregation , which even reached the communion bench , should be abandoned and that the true attitude of the Church should be shown. In 1963 he was invited to the White House with other religious leaders . There they discussed desegregation with President John F. Kennedy . In 1964 he was called to be Provincial of the Southern Province of the Steyler Missionaries in the USA. In the same year he became the first African American clergyman to offer the opening prayer of the United States Congress .

Pope Paul VI appointed him on September 29, 1965 titular bishop of Mons in Mauretania and auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New Orleans . He was the first African American to become a Catholic bishop in the 20th century. After his appointment, the Archbishop of New Orleans, Philip Hannan , greeted him with the words “We welcome the first American-born Negro bishop.” (“We welcome the first American-born Negro bishop”). Bishop James Augustine Healy , son of a plantation owner and his mulatto slave, is considered the first colored bishop in the United States. Perry's appointment was welcomed by many civil and religious leaders, including President Lyndon B. Johnson . However, Perry stated that his appointment was religious and not civil in nature. He is not the leader of the civil rights movement. On January 6, 1966, Egidio Vagnozzi , the then Apostolic Delegate in the USA, consecrated him as bishop. Co-consecrators were Philip Hannan, Archbishop of New Orleans, and John Cody , Archbishop of Chicago . Whites demonstrated against his ordination. One woman described his ordination as the reason God would destroy the Vatican .

As auxiliary bishop, Perry was pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church and St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Church in New Orleans , Vicar General of the Archdiocese and Rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor . He lived in the rectory on the grounds of the Ursuline Academy , the oldest girls' school in the United States. For many years he was chaplain of the Knights of Peter Claver . He died in the Wynhoven Health Care Center of complications from Alzheimer's disease . Archbishop Francis B. Schulte said of his death that as the first African-American bishop of the century he was a symbol of great changes in the Church and in the United States.

His motto was Infunde Amorem Cordibus (pour love into the hearts) from the hymn Veni creator spiritus .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Bishop Harold R. Perry, 74, Dies; First Black Prelate in the Century . In: The New York Times , July 19, 1991. 
  2. ^ A b c Roman Catholics: Historic Bishop . In: TIME Magazine , October 8, 1965. 
  3. ↑ In Memoriam . In: Holy Angels Church . Archived from the original on April 1, 2009. 
  4. ^ A b c d Most Rev. Harold Perry, 74, 1st Black Catholic Bishop Named In 20th Century, Dies . In: Jet , August 5, 1991. 
  5. ↑ a b c Deceased African American Bishops . In: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops . 
  6. ^ Education: Spirit v. Reality . In: TIME Magazine , March 3, 1961. 
  7. ↑ New Bishop Comments On 'Rights' . In: St. Petersburg Times , March 9, 1966. 
personal data
SURNAME Perry, Harold Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Roman Catholic Bishop
DATE OF BIRTH October 9, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Lake Charles , Louisiana
DATE OF DEATH 17th July 1991
Place of death New Orleans