Thomas Andrew Becker

Thomas Albert Andrew Becker (born December 30, 1832 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , † July 29, 1899 ) was an American clergyman and bishop of Savannah .

Life

Thomas Andrew Becker converted to the Catholic Church at the age of 20 , studied theology and received the sacrament of ordination for the Archdiocese of Baltimore on June 18, 1859 .

Pope Pius IX appointed him on March 3, 1868 first bishop of the diocese of Wilmington established on the same date . The Archbishop of Baltimore, Martin John Spalding , ordained him episcopal on August 16 of the same year; Co- consecrators were the Bishop of Wheeling , Richard Vincent Whelan , and the Bishop of Richmond , John McGill . As a motto he chose Ora pro nobis ( request for us ). With the motto and his bishop's coat of arms, which shows a silver star, Becker expressed his devotion to Mary .

In a well-received series of articles he presented the idea of ​​a Catholic university . Becker was involved in the abstinence movement .

On March 26, 1886 Pope Leo XIII appointed him . to the Bishop of Savannah. The inauguration took place on May 16 of the same year.

Under Becker's direction, the cathedral of the diocese of Savannah was completed and the neighboring bishop's residence built. For the reconstruction of the cathedral, which was largely destroyed by fire in 1898, Becker obtained financial support from other dioceses. He died before the reconstruction was complete.

Web links

• Entry on Thomas Andrew Becker on catholic-hierarchy.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Biography with photo (English) , homepage of the Diocese of Savannah, accessed on April 26, 2014

predecessor	Office	successor
William Hickley Gross CSsR	Bishop of Savannah 1886–1899	Benjamin Joseph Keiley
---	Bishop of Wilmington 1868–1886	Alfred Allen Curtis