Joseph Patrick Lynch

Joseph Patrick Lynch (born November 16, 1872 in St. Joseph , Michigan , † August 19, 1954 in Dallas , Texas ) was an American Roman Catholic clergyman. Lynch was bishop of the Diocese of Dallas and, at 43 years in office, was the longest-serving bishop in United States history.

Life

Joseph Patrick Lynch was the eldest of eight children of John Valentine and Veronica Jane Lynch. His father was Irish , his mother Canadian . In 1887 he entered the Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee ( Wisconsin a). His degree he earned in 1891 at St. Charles College in Ellicott City ( Maryland ). Early 1890s changed Lynch his study and began law study. He practiced as a lawyer for a few years in the mid-1890s .

It was Bishop Edward Joseph Dunne who encouraged Lynch to become a priest. He entered the seminary then Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis ( Missouri a). On June 9, 1900, Lynch received the sacrament of ordination . He began his clerical career as a curate at the Cathedral Santuario de Guadalupe in Dallas ( Texas ). In 1902 he became chaplain of St. Stephen's Church in Weatherford , a small town in Parker County . Here, as in Handley , a suburb of Fort Worth , he was instrumental in the construction of two churches. In 1903 he founded an independent congregation, St. Edward's Church in Dallas, where he founded the parsonage and a denominational school in addition to the church .

Lynch was appointed Vicar General of the Diocese of Dallas in June 1910 , and only two months later, after Bishop Dunne died in early August 1910, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese.

Pope Pius X appointed Lynch Bishop of Dallas only a year later, on June 8, 1911. Archbishop Jakob Hubert Blenk donated him the sacrament of episcopal ordination on July 12, 1911. Co- consecrators were Bishops Nicolaus Aloysius Gallagher and John Baptist Morris .

When Lynch took office, he found a huge 118,000 square miles diocese spanning 109 counties of Texas. With the help of the Vatican, three new dioceses split off during his tenure, the Diocese of El Paso in 1914, the Diocese of Amarillo in 1926 and, most recently, the Diocese of Austin in 1953 .

After the Mexican Revolution , Lynch was one of the advocates of Mexicans in Texas. In 1915 he founded his own mission church for Mexican Americans in Dallas. Lynch, nicknamed the Lion of Texas , was a gifted speaker and communication genius. For example, he gave solemn speeches in 1936 on the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Alamo . He was so popular that he was asked to ordain numerous priests as bishops. He also ordained over 100 men as priests. The number of Catholics in his diocese rose from 20,000 to over 125,000. In 1929 he founded a church for African American Catholics in Fort Worth.

On May 13, 1936, he received the honorary title of Papal Assistant to the Throne .

Lynch served his diocese until his death in August 1954. He was 81 years old and had been a bishop for 43 years.

Web links

• Entry on Joseph Patrick Lynch on catholic-hierarchy.org

predecessor	Office	successor
Edward Joseph Dunne	Bishop of Dallas 1911–1954	Thomas Kiely Gorman