Joseph John Rice

Joseph John Rice (December 6, 1871—April 1, 1938) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Burlington in Vermont from 1910 until his death in 1938.

Biography Early life Joseph Rice was born on December 6, 1871, in Leicester, Massachusetts, to Henry and Catherine (née Donnelly) Rice. After graduating from Leicester Academy in Leicester in 1888, he studied at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts (1888–1891), and at the Grand Seminary of Montreal in Montreal, Quebec (1891–1894).

Priesthood Returning to Massachusetts, Rice was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts by Bishop Thomas Beaven in Springfield on September 29, 1894. He then travelled to Rome to study at the College of the Propaganda, earning a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1896. Rice's next pastoral assignment was as an assistant pastor at St. Bernard's parish in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. He was then appointed as pastor of a French-Canadian parish in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Rice also served in parishes in Oxford, Massachusetts, and Whitinsville, Massachusetts. During his 28-year-long tenure, Rice opened three high schools and Trinity College for women in Burlington. He was also confronted a case of anti-Catholicism; in November 1925, the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross on the steps of St. Augustine's Church at Montpelier, Vermont.

Death Joseph Rice died in Burlington on April 1, 1938, at age 66. He is buried at Resurrection Park in South Burlington, Vermont.