Henry Rohlman

Henry Patrick Rohlman baptized as Bernard Heinrich Rohlmann (March 16, 1876 – September 13, 1957) was a German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Davenport in Iowa from 1927 to 1944 and as coadjutor archbishop and archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dubuque in Iowa from 1944 to 1954.

Biography

Early life Rohlman was born on March 16, 1876, in Appelhuelsen, Westphalia in the Kingdom of Prussia (present day Germany), to Bernard and Bernadine (Huesmann) Rohlmann. When he was two years old, the Rohlmann family immigrated to the United States, settling in Carroll County, Iowa. They moved to Arkansas, where both of his parents died. Henry was then sent to Nebraska, where he finished elementary school and worked on a farm.

With financial assistance from the people from Carroll County, Rohlman was able to study in the high school department at St. Lawrence Seminary in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin. Rohlman then graduated from Columbia College in Dubuque, Iowa. He later entered the Grand Seminary of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec.

Priesthood Rohlman was ordained a priest by Archbishop Paul Bruchesi in Montreal for the Archdiocese of Dubuque on December 21, 1901. When he returned to Dubuque, the archdiocese assigned him to the apostolate, which preached parish missions in the archdiocese and elsewhere in Iowa. He was later appointed pastor at St. Mary's Parish in Waterloo, Iowa, then became business manager at Columbia College. In the early 1920s, the archdiocese assigned Rohlman to form Nativity Parish in Dubuque.

Bishop of Davenport On May 20, 1927, Pope Pius XI named Rohlman the fourth bishop of Davenport. Rohlman was consecrated by Archbishop James Keane of Dubuque in St. Raphael's Cathedral in Dubuque on July 25, 1927. He was installed the next day as bishop in Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport, Iowa. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops Edmond Heelan of Sioux City and Thomas Drumm of Des Moines.

In 1928, Rohlman commissioned a study to assess the social problems in the diocese. The result of this study was the establishment of a local branch of Catholic Charities in 1929. He named Reverend Martin Cone as its first director. Its immediate focus was the welfare of the children at St. Vincent's Home in Davenport.

Two colleges for women were started in the diocese during Rohlman's episcopate. The Sisters of St. Francis in Clinton, Iowa, established Mount St. Clare College (later Ashford University) in 1928. It was an extension of their academy, which had been established in the 1890s. St. Ambrose College in Davenport inaugurated a woman's division in 1934 and continued to support it as it searched for a religious order of women to take it over. In 1937, property was secured for a woman's college in Davenport on the west side of the city. The Congregation of the Humility of Mary, at Rohlman's urging, established Marycrest College in 1939 from the woman's division of St. Ambrose.

The diocese celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1931. The next year Rohlman convoked the diocese's third synod. The synod was called to bring the diocese's regulations in line with the Code of Canon Law that had been promulgated by the Vatican in 1917. The synod set the salary for pastors at $1,000 per year, plus household expenses, with associate pastors and chaplain's salaries receiving $500 per year. Catholic Charities had set up their offices in the Kahl Building in Davenport They were joined in 1932 with the chancery and the newly established superintendent of schools. All of these offices and the bishop's office moved into a property on Church Square behind St. Anthony's Church downtown. It was renamed the Cosgrove Building after Davenport's second bishop, Henry Cosgrove.

Rohlman led the diocese through the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II in the 1940s. The Catholic Messenger, an independent Catholic newspaper published in Davenport, was experiencing financial problems during the depression; the diocese purchased it use as its newspaper in 1937.

Until Rohlman came to the diocese, only five priests had been recognized for their contributions to the church by being given a papal honor, all of them from Bishop Davis. Rohlman named monsignors every two years. By the time he returned to Dubuque, 25 priests had been honored and five were recognized twice.

Coadjutor Archbishop and Archbishop of Dubuque During the early 1940s, Archbishop Francis Beckman of Dubuque had involved the archdiocese in a dubious financial scheme. Beckman had been talked into investing borrowed money in gold mines. However, the scheme was soon revealed to be a fraud. Because Beckman had signed promissory notes in the archdiocese's name, it led to a $600,000 loss for the archdiocese when the holders of the notes began demanding repayment.

Because of the financial problems surrounding Beckman, Pope Pius XII on June 15, 1944, appointed Rohlman as titular archbishop of Macra and coadjutor archbishop of Dubuque. The Vatican told Beckman that while he was archbishop of Dubuque, Rohlman was running the archdiocese. On November 11, 1946, Beckman retired as archbishop of Dubuque and Rohlman automatically succeeded him.

On August 10, 1945, the Diocese of Omaha was elevated to an archdiocese. At that time the province of Dubuque was reduced in size to the four dioceses in Iowa. In 1949, Rohlman requested a coadjutor archbishop. The Vatican appointed Bishop Leo Binz of Winona to the post.

Retirement and legacy Rohlman's resignation as archbishop of Dubuque was accepted by Pius XII on December 2, 1954. The pope named Rohlman as titular archbishop of Cotrada. Rohlman Hall at St. Ambrose University Rohlman Hall in the Marycrest College Historical District in Davenport