George Aloysius Carrell

George Aloysius Carrell, S.J. (June 13, 1803—September 25, 1868) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Covington in Kentucky from 1853 until his death in 1868. He was a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

Early life and education George Carrell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 13, 1803. His grandfather, Timothy Carrell, was a native of Ireland who came to the United States before the American Revolutionary War, establishing himself as a grocer in that city Philadelphia. His father, John Carrell, was a native of Philadelphia, and his mother, Mary Julia Moore, was a native of Lancaster.

Carrell then entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at White Marsh, Maryland. However, after only two years there, he returned to his family in Philadelphia. Soon afterwards, Carrell entered the Theological Seminary of St. Mary's in Baltimore, Maryland. He was a classmate of the future Archbishop of Baltimore, Samuel Eccleston. Carrell then re-entered Mount St. Mary's College, where he continued his theological studies under Dr. Simon Bruté.

Priesthood

Carrell was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Philadelphia on December 20, 1827, at St. Augustine's Church in Philadelphia by Bishop Henry Conwell. He was then assigned as pastor to a parish in Wilmington, Delaware, also supervising mission churches in West Chester, Pennsylvania and New Castle, Delaware. At that time, Delaware was part of the archdiocese.

Carrell's pastoral work earned him the praise of his parishioners, Bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick and Quakers in Philadelphia. While serving in Wilmington, he established a boarding and day school for girls under the supervision of the Sisters of Charity, and a school for boys. Carrell also spent time assisting the pastors of St. Augustine's Parish and of St. Paul's Church in Pittsburgh.

In 1835, Carrell decided to reapply for membership with the Jesuits. The Jesuits accepted him again, sending Carrell to their novitiate in Florissant, Missouri. Two years later, they assigned him as a scholastic in St. Louis, Missouri. He was soon appointed a professor in Saint Louis University, and afterwards as pastor of the College Church of St. Francis Xavier in 1843, Carrell was appointed rector of Saint Louis University. In 1847, the Jesuits transferred him to Cincinnati to teach at St. Xavier Preparatory School. Carrell was named president of Purcell Mansion College for young boys in Alliance, Ohio, in 1851.

Bishop of Covington In 1852, the bishops of the United States met in the First Plenary Council of Baltimore. They recommended to the Vatican that it create a separate diocese in eastern Kentucky to accommodate the growth of Catholicism there. Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Covington on July 29, 1853, taking its territory from the Diocese of Louisville.