PETER RICHARD KENRICK. — First Archbishop of St. Louis; theologian and scholar of ecclesiastical history. Born in Dublin on 4 Aug. 1806, in 1833 he emigrated to the United States, where in Philadelphia he served as vicar general of the diocese. In 1841 he was elected bishop and assigned as coadjutor to Bishop Rosati of St. Louis, succeeding him in 1847. At his suggestion, the immense diocese was divided into five others, and St. Louis became a metropolitan see (1847).
He was responsible for the ecclesiastical and administrative organization of the new province, which, still during his episcopate, was further subdivided into sixteen other suffragan sees. He fought for the freedom of Catholics, notably opposing successfully the “Drake Constitution” in Missouri, which imposed on Catholics an oath contrary to their conscience. He studied with passion and scientific interest the history of the Holy House of Loreto. He took part in the Vatican Council and was among those who opposed the definition of papal infallibility, though he submitted 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 Litany of Loreto, and various aspects of pastoral activity. Among others: *Concio Petru 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 Loretto; or an explanation of the historical evidence of its miraculous translation* (new ed., Philadelphia 1876); *Month of Mary* on the litanies of the Madonna (ibid. 1840); *The earliest of Anglican Ordinations examined* (ibid. 1841).