Arkansas’ First Bishop

Last updated on: June 10, 2009 at 6:48 am by Pat McNamara

Arkansas’ First Bishop 2009-06-10T06:48:00-06:00 Pat McNamara

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Today marks the death of Bishop Andrew Byrne (1801-1862), first Bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock in Arkansas. The following is taken from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture:

Andrew Byrne was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Little Rock (Pulaski County), a diocese which then and now encompasses the boundaries of the state of Arkansas. A prelate on the southern frontier, he had few Catholics in his ecclesiastical domain; nevertheless, he planted the Church so deeply that even his death, the Civil War, and the five-year absence of any bishop could not eradicate the faith.

Andrew Byrne was born in Navan, a town about forty miles northwest of Dublin, Ireland, the son of Robert and Margery Moore Byrne. There is no exact date of his birth on parish records, though they record that he was baptized on December 3, 1802; with his name being Andrew, he may have been born on November 30, the Catholic feast day for St. Andrew the Apostle. While a seminarian in Navan, he heard Bishop John England of Charleston, South Carolina, in a personal appearance at the seminary, asking for priests for his new American diocese. Answering the call, Byrne arrived in Charleston in the early 1820s. He completed his formation under Bishop England, who ordained him to the priesthood on November 11, 1827.

After first serving in North Carolina, Byrne became pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Charleston by 1830. In 1833, he accompanied Bishop England to Baltimore to the Second Provincial Council as the Vicar General for the Diocese of Charleston. For reasons unknown, Byrne left the Diocese of Charleston in 1836 and transferred to the Diocese of New York, where he distinguished himself as a preacher-pastor; acting as the founding pastor of St. Andrew’s Church in New York City in 1842.

Byrne’s abilities as pastor, his prior experience in the South, and a recommendation from Bishop John Hughes of New York made him an obvious choice for a new diocese on the southwestern frontier. After Pope Gregory XVI erected the Diocese of Little Rock on November 28, 1843, Byrne was consecrated as Arkansas’s first Catholic bishop on March 10, 1844, at the Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He arrived in Little Rock three months later, with just two other priests to minister to all of Arkansas.

Byrne quickly discovered that there was a Catholic church already built in Little Rock at northwestern corner of 7th and Louisiana, but the priest who had built it had taken the deed to the property and sold it to another priest in New Orleans. Byrne eventually acquired title to this land on August 13, 1851. By that time, he had raised funds to purchase a lot at 2nd and Center streets in Little Rock, where he erected and dedicated the first Cathedral of St. Andrew on November 1, 1846.

Throughout his eighteen years as Arkansas’s Catholic prelate, he never had more than ten priests working under him. He maintained the diocese with funds primarily from Austrian-based Leopoldine Society and the French-based Society for the Propagation of the Faith. From these and other funds, Byrne bought land and started the Catholic College of St. Andrew near present-day Fort Smith (Sebastian County). He traveled to Naas, Ireland, to persuade the Sisters of Mercy to locate a convent in Little Rock. In 1851, the sisters opened what was then known as the Academy of St. Mary (now Mount St. Mary Academy), the oldest continuous educational institution in the state of Arkansas. By the start of the Civil War, the Mercy sisters had opened convent academies in Fort Smith and Helena (Phillips County).

During the nativistic, anti-Catholic Know Nothing uproar, Byrne studiously avoided political disputes. He never owned slaves, and his correspondence reveals no opinion on the issue. Like most southern Catholic prelates, Byrne probably saw slavery as political issue, not one of moral or religious concern. In 1850, the Diocese of Little Rock was attached to the newly created ecclesiastical province of New Orleans. With bishops from Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and northern Louisiana, Byrne attended provincial councils in New Orleans in 1856 and 1860.
Byrne worked diligently to attract Catholic immigrants and clergy to Arkansas, especially from his famine-stricken birthplace, Ireland. Still, by 1860, Catholics still numbered just one percent of the white population, and less than one half of one percent of the total population. The Civil War closed his College of St. Andrew in 1861 and disrupted international communications, making it difficult for the Arkansas bishop to secure needed funds from Europe.

Byrne died in Helena on June 10, 1862, at St. Catherine’s Convent, exhausted from his missionary labors in a poor diocese on the southern frontier. He was buried initially in the Mercy Sisters convent garden in Helena, but Bishop Edward M. Fitzgerald, his successor, had his remains placed in crypt in his new Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock on November 30, 1881.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 10, 2009

Bishop Augustin Verot (1804-1876)

Next Post

June 10, 2009 Quote of the Day

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category African-American Catholics Alabama Catholics American Catholic History American Catholic women American History Anniversaries Anti-Catholicism Arkansas Catholics Benedictines Bishops Blessed John Henry Newman Book Reviews Books Boston College Brooklyn churches Brothers California Catholics Capuchins Cardinals Carlo Carretto Carmelites Catholic authors Catholic Cemeteries Catholic Historians Catholic History in Less Than 5 Minutes Catholic musicians Catholic Poetry Catholic Press Catholic School Textbook Catholic University of America Catholic Worker Catholics and Music Catholics and Race Catholics in Politics Catholics in the American Revolution Catholics in the Military Catholics in the Movies Catholics in the South Catholics in the West Catholics on Stage Catjolic Women Catolic Poetry Charles de Foucauld Children's Masses Christian Brothers Christmas Church Reform Civil Rights Movement Civil War Colleges and universities Converts D.C. Catholics Deaf Catholics Dominicans. Dorothy Day English Catholics Florida Catholics Fordham University Franciscans French Catholics Georgetown University German Americans Good Shepherd Sisters Hispanic Catholics Historians and Archivists Holy Cross Fathers Holy Name Society Idaho Catholics Illinois Catholics Indian Wars Indiana Catholics Irish Americans Irish Catholicism Italian Americans Italian Catholics Jesuits Josephite Sisters Kentucky Catholics Know-Nothings Laetare Medal Recipients laity Liturgical Movement Maine Catholics Manhattan College Maryland Catholicism Michigan Catholics Middle Ages Minnesota Catholics Missionaries Mississippi Catholics Missouri Catholics Monasteries Montana Catholics Native Americans New England Catholicism New Jersey Catholics New York Catholics North American College Ohio Catholics Oratorians Oregon Catholics Parish Mission Parishes Passionists Pat McNamara's Books Paulists Pennsylvania Catholics Popes Presidents Priests Quotations Religious Orders Rhode Island Catholics Saints Salesians Seminarians Seminaries Sermons Servants of God Siisters of Charity Sisters of Mercy South Carolina Catholics Spanish-American War Sports St. Francis of Assiai St. John Henry Newman Suplicians Tennessee Catholics Texas Catholics The year in review Thomas Merton Throwback Thursday Photograph Trappists Uncategorized University of Notre Dame Video Presentations Vincentians Virginia Catholics Visitation Nuns Washington West Point West Virginia Catholics West Viriginia Catholics Wisconsin Catholicism Women Religious World War II

Select a Month December 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 March 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Bethesda" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

House of mercy House of olives House of bread House of wind