Alexander Joseph McGavick

Alexander Joseph McGavick (August 21, 1863 – August 25, 1948) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of La Crosse in Wisconsin from 1921 until his death in 1948. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois from 1899 to 1921.

Biography Early life McGavick was born on August 21, 1863, in Fox Lake, Illinois, to James and Catherine (née Watt) McGavick. His parents were Irish immigrants who came to the United States from County Antrim in 1849. He received his early education in local public schools, and entered St. Viator College at Bourbonnais, Illinois, in 1879, earning his bachelor's (1884) and master's degrees (1887). His first assignment was as assistant pastor under Reverend Edward Joseph Dunne at All Saints Parish in Chicago. Due to his poor health, McGavick went to Colorado in 1889, hoping that the climate there would help him recover. He served as an assistant to Bishop Nicholas Matz at the cathedral in Denver for a year and a half before returning to Chicago and resuming his duties at All Saints.

Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago On December 12, 1898, McGavick was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago and titular bishop of Marcopolis by Pope Leo XIII. After a few months abroad, he returned to the United States. McGavick was a patient at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, for a time before returning to Chicago in December 1899.

McGavick subsequently submitted his resignation as bishop to the Vatican in 1900, but it was not accepted. That same year, in addition to his duties as an auxiliary bishop, he was appointed pastor of Holy Angels Parish in Chicago. One of his assistants at Holy Angels was Reverend William Richard Griffin, who would again serve with McGavick as auxiliary bishop of La Crosse (1935–1944).

In 1915, Archbishop George Mundelein appointed McGavick as spiritual director of the Holy Name Society in the archdiocese. He organized Holy Name societies in almost every parish over the next six years, increasing the number of branches from 33 to 200.

Bishop of La Crosse Pope Pius XI appointed McGavick to succeed the late James Schwebach as the fourth bishop of La Crosse on November 21, 1921. He was installed at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Workman in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on March 21, 1922.

During McGavick's tenure as bishop of La Crosse, the diocese's Catholic population grew from 116,000 to 140,000.