Francis Augustine Thill

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Most Rev. Francis Augustine Thill
Bishop of Salina
Bishop Francis A. Thill.jpg
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
SeeSalina
In officeNovember 15, 1938 – May 21, 1957
PredecessorFrancis Joseph Tief
SuccessorFrederick William Freking
Orders
OrdinationFebruary 28, 1920
ConsecrationOctober 28, 1938
Personal details
Born(1881-03-07)March 7, 1881
Dayton, Ohio
DiedSeptember 22, 1965(1965-09-22) (aged 84)
Salina, Kansas

Francis Augustine Thill (October 12, 1893 – May 21, 1957) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Salina from 1938 until his death in 1957.

Biography[]

Francis Thill was born in Dayton, Ohio, to Bernard and Margaret (née Schele) Thill.[1] After attending the University of Dayton, he entered Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West at Cincinnati in 1914. As a seminarian he established and organized the Catholic Students' Mission Crusade to aid missionaries in foreign fields.[1] Thill was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Henry K. Moeller on February 28, 1920.[2] He then furthered his studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome, and toured American missionary outposts in the Orient.[1] Upon his return, he served as professor of oratory at Mount St. Mary's, and became chancellor of the Cincinnati Archdiocese (1935) and Domestic Prelate of His Holiness (1937).[1]

On August 26, 1938, Thill was appointed the fourth Bishop of Concordia, Kansas, by Pope Pius XI.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 28 from Archbishop John T. McNicholas, O.P., with Archbishops Francis Beckman and Urban Vehr serving as co-consecrators, at St. Monica's Cathedral in Cincinnati.[2] He was installed by Archbishop John J. Glennon in Concordia on November 15, 1938.[1] Despite the lingering effects of the Great Depression, Thill managed to liquidate the dicoese's debt of nearly a quarter of a million dollars in late 1942.[1] On December 23, 1944, the episcopal see was moved from Concordia to Salina,[3] much to the chagrin of local Catholics.[1]

During his tenure, he also laid the cornerstone for Sacred Heart Cathedral on June 4, 1951, and later dedicated it on June 6, 1953.[1] He erected or remodeled twenty-five churches, ten schools, eleven rectories, nine convents, and six chapels.[1] He ordained thirty-five priests and founded the Catholic Youth Organization of Concordia in 1939.[1]

Thill later died at age 63.[2] He is buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Salina.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Bishop Francis A. Thill: 1938-1957". Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina.
  2. ^ a b c d "Bishop Francis Augustine Thill". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  3. ^ "Diocese of Salina". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Salina
1938–1957 		Succeeded by
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