Maurice Francis Burke

Maurice Francis Burke (May 5, 1845 – March 17, 1923) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Cheyenne in Wyoming (1887–1893) and as bishop of the Diocese of Saint Joseph in Missouri (1893–1923).

Biography

Early life Maurice Burke was born on May 5, 1845, in Knockainy, County Limerick, in Ireland to Francis Noonan and Joanna (née Casey) Burke. When he was four years old, his family immigrated to the United States, settling in Chicago, Illinois. He received his education at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Chicago and at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Priesthood Burke was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago by Cardinal Costantino Patrizi Naro in Rome on May 22, 1875. On his return to Chicago, Burke was assigned to serve as a curate at St. Mary's Parish in that city. In a letter to Mother Katherine Drexel, Burke described himself as a "bishop in name only" without parishioners or priests. In 1893, Pope Leo XIII attached the Diocese of Cheyenne to the ecclesiastical province of Dubuque, and transferred Burke to another diocese.

Bishop of Saint Joseph Pope Leo XIII appointed Burke as bishop of Saint Joseph on June 19, 1893. Burke was considered an authority on the Italian writer Dante Alighieri and served as president of the American Dante Society.

Death and legacy After three years of failing health, Maurice Burke died in St. Joseph, Missouri, on May 12, 1923, at age 77. Burke's collection of 3,000 books was donated to the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.