FRANCIS PATRICK KENRICK. — Archbishop of Baltimore, theologian, controversialist. Born in Dublin on 3 January 1797, died in Baltimore on 8 July 1863 during the American Civil War. A student of the College of Propaganda Fide, he was ordained priest in 1822. In 1830 he was named coadjutor bishop to Bishop Cornelius of Philadelphia, succeeding him in 1842 and governing the diocese until 1851, when he was transferred to the see of Baltimore with the additional charge of Apostolic Delegate. As such, he convened the First Plenary Council (1852), which played a major role in the history of the American Church, notably marking the end of the schism provoked by the priest Hogan.
In Philadelphia, where he founded the seminary dedicated to Charles Borromeo, his episcopate was marked by two episodes: the cholera of 1842, during which his initiatives elicited the heroic charity of the Sisters of Charity and produced a salutary effect on Protestants, and the anti-Catholic riots of 1844, fomented by the “Nativist” movement that sought to exclude Catholics from public office and immigration. That the outburst of anti-Catholic hatred did not result in greater harm was owing to Kenrick’s tact and prudence and to his personal influence. As archbishop and metropolitan of Baltimore, in connection with the First Plenary Council, he promoted the petitions of the American episcopate for
KENYA — 1) National boundaries; 2) ecclesiastical circumscriptions; 3) railways.
the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and for the correction or revision of the famous Douay version of the Bible.
As a controversialist he engaged especially with Episcopalian and Presbyterian sects, securing many conversions. He founded the periodical Catholic Herald (Philadelphia 1838 ff.) and wrote: Theologia dogmatica tractatus (ibid. 1839–40); Theologia moralis (Mechlin–Baltimore 1866); The Primacy of the Apostolic See and the authority of General Councils vindicated (Philadelphia–Pittsburgh 1848); Vindication of Catholic Church (Baltimore 1855). He also produced English translations of the following books of the Latin Vulgate, collated with the original texts: The historical books of the Old Testament, The Pentateuch (Baltimore 1859); The Psalms, Books of Wisdom, and Canticle of Canticles (ibid. 1861); The four Gospels (New York 1849).