CARROLL, JOHN PATRICK

Bishop; b. Dubuque, Iowa, Feb. 22, 1864; d. Fribourg, Switzerland, Nov. 4, 1925. He was the son of Martin and Catherine (O'Farrell) Carroll. After completing his primary education at St. Raphael's School, Dubuque, he entered the secondary department of St. Joseph's College (later Loras) in the same city. He attended the Grand Seminary, Montreal, Canada, for philosophical and theological studies and was ordained in 1889. He served as professor of philosophy at St. Joseph's until 1894, when he was appointed president of the college. In 1904, Carroll succeeded John B. Brondel, first bishop of Helena, Mont. His first concerns as bishop were the erection of a larger cathedral and the establishment of a diocesan college. He laid the cornerstone of the new cathedral in 1908, formally dedicated it in 1914, and arranged its formal consecration in 1924. Construction of Mount St. Charles College in Helena (later named Carroll College in his honor) was begun in 1909.

In 1908, Carroll was proposed as successor of Bp. Denis J. O'Connell as rector of The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., but the Holy See did not make the appointment. Carroll served in 1910 and 1912 as national chaplain of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. He was nationally known as an orator, and he delivered the principal address at the Washington Celebration in Portland, Ore.; preached at the dedication of the cathedrals in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Seattle, Wash.; delivered the oration of the Catholic Day at the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition; and addressed the national convention of the American Federation of Labor at Seattle in 1913. In 1925, during the crisis aroused by the Oregon School Case, he opposed an Oregon statute, which was ultimately declared unconstitutional, requiring public school attendance of all children between eight and 16. Carroll died while en route to Rome for his ad limina visit.

[t. a. clinch]