KENRICK, PETER RICHARD. – First archbishop of St. Louis; theologian and student of ecclesiastical history. Born in Dublin on 4 August 1806, in 1833 he emigrated to the United States, where in Philadelphia he was vicar general of the diocese. In 1841 he was elected bishop and appointed coadjutor to Bishop Rosati of St. Louis, whom he succeeded in 1847. The immense diocese, at his suggestion, was divided into five other dioceses, and St. Louis became a metropolitan see (1847).
He was responsible for the ecclesiastical and administrative organization of the new province, which was subsequently, but always during his episcopate, further divided into 16 other suffragan sees. He fought for the freedom of Catholics, and in particular successfully opposed the “Drake Constitution,” which in Missouri imposed upon Catholics an oath contrary to their conscience. He studied the history of the Holy House of Loreto with passion and scholarly interest. He took part in the First Vatican Council and was among those who opposed the definition of papal infallibility, although he submitted to it once the definition had been made. His publications cover various fields, from the question of the validity of Anglican ordinations to meditations and commentaries on the Litanie Lauretane, as well as the various areas of pastoral activity. Among them: Concio Petri Richardi K. archiepiscopi S. Ludovici in Conc. Vaticano habenda at non habita (Naples 1870); An inside view of the Vatican Council (New York 1871); The holy house of Loreto; or an explanation of the historical evidence of its miraculous translation (new ed., Philadelphia 1876); Month of Mary on the litanies of Our Lady (ibid. 1840); The earliest of Anglican Ordinations examined (ibid. 1841).