J. Terry Steib

James Terry Steib, SVD (born May 17, 1940) is an American Catholic retired prelate who served as Bishop of Memphis from 1993 to 2016. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Louis from 1983 to 1993. He was the first African American to lead the Diocese of Memphis and is a member of the Society of the Divine Word.

Biography

Early life James Terry Steib was born on May 17, 1940, in Vacherie, Louisiana, one of five children of Rosemond and Vivian Steib. As a child, Steib worked with his family harvesting sugar cane. After his ordination, the Verbites assigned Steib to Saint Stanislaus College in Bay St. Louis, teaching English, literature, religion, reading and speech to high school students. He also held a position as assistant dean of students at Saint Stanislaus from 1967 to 1969. In 1973, Steib graduated from Xavier University in New Orleans with a master's degree in guidance and counseling. Duran was eventually defrocked. In 2006. the diocese settled the case for $2 million. When interviewed for a deposition in the case, Steib had these comments:I don’t know that the church did not respond appropriately. I think it responded according to what it knew and believed at the time. I think that many of the times saw this as a very moral issue … and … you remove the person … from the temptation or the sin, you know. On December 21, 2015, the Memphis City Council renamed a portion of Central Avenue as J. Terry Steib Lane in honor of the bishop. On August 23, 2016, Pope Francis accepted Steib's letter of resignation as bishop of Memphis.