Emmanuel Boleslaus Ledvina

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Emmanuel Boleslaus Ledvina (October 28, 1868 – December 15, 1952) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Corpus Christi (Texas) from 1921 to 1949.

Biography[]

Emmanuel Ledvina was born in Evansville, Indiana, to George Emmanuel and Mary (née Kiefer) Ledvina.[1] His father was a native of Bohemia, and worked as an architect and construction engineer.[2] After attending parochial schools in Evansville and St. Louis, Missouri, he returned to Indiana and entered St. Meinrad's College in 1883.[3] He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Silas Chatard on March 18, 1893.[4] Ledvina then served as a curate at Holy Trinity Church in Evansville and afterwards at St. John's Pro-Cathedral in Indianapolis.[5] From 1895 to 1907, he was pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Princeton.[1] He became vice-president and general secretary of the Catholic Church Extension Society in 1907.[5] He was later named a Domestic Prelate in 1918, and an honorary canon of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1919.[1]

On April 30, 1921, Ledvina was appointed the second Bishop of Corpus Christi, Texas, by Pope Benedict XV.[4] He received his episcopal consecration on the following June 14 from Bishop Joseph Chartrand, with Bishops Cornelius Van de Ven and Joseph Patrick Lynch serving as co-consecrators.[4] He was installed at Corpus Christi on July 12, 1921.[4] During his tenure, he increased the number of priests from 32 to 160, and erected over 50 churches, 53 mission chapels, and 47 rectories.[3] He was named an Assistant at the Pontifical Throne in 1931.[1] He constructed Corpus Christi Cathedral in 1940, and a chancery office in 1947.[6] He invited the Benedictine monks of Subiaco Abbey to establish a community in the diocese and staff a new high school.[6] He also became known for his efforts among Mexican American Catholics in South Texas and for his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan.[3]

After twenty-seven years as bishop, Ledvina resigned due to poor health on March 15, 1949; he was appointed Titular Bishop of Pitanae on the same date.[4] He later died at age 84, and is buried in a crypt under the main altar of Corpus Christi Cathedral.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d Curtis, Georgina Pell (1947). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. VII. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
  2. ^ Moore, James Talmadge (2002). Acts of Faith: The Catholic Church in Texas, 1900-1950. Texas A&M University Press.
  3. ^ a b c d "GARRIGA, MARIANO SIMON (1886-1965)". Handbook of Texas Online.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Bishop Emmanuel Boleslaus Ledvina". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  5. ^ a b O'Donnell, John Hugh (1922). "The Catholic Hierarchy of the United States, 1790-1922". The Catholic University of America Studies in American Church History. Washington, D.C. IV. hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t5r786c77.
  6. ^ a b "Bishop Emmanuel Boleslaus Ledvina". Roman Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi. Archived from the original on 2010-05-05.

External links[]

Episcopal succession[]

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Corpus Christi
1921–1949 		Succeeded by
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