Peter Richard Kenrick

Peter Richard Kenrick (August 17, 1806 – March 4, 1896) was an Irish Catholic priest who served as Bishop of St. Louis from 1843 to 1895. The see was made an archdiocese in 1847, when he was called as the first archbishop west of the Mississippi River. The archdiocese covered nearly all the territory of the Louisiana Purchase. He served in this position for nearly 50 years, until months before his death.

Kenrick was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, where he was educated at Maynooth College and ordained as a priest in 1832. He and his older brother Francis Kenrick both served all their lives as priests and officials in the Catholic Church in the United States. For a time they both served in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Early life Peter Richard Kenrick was born in Dublin on August 17, 1806 to Thomas Kenrick and Jane Eustace Kenrick. His uncle, Reverend Richard Kenrick, was the curate of a Catholic church in Dublin. Reverend Francis Kenrick, Peter's brother, was also a priest. Thomas Kenrick, who worked as a scrivener, died in 1817.

After Thomas' death, Richard Kenrick helped educate Peter, who soon became a scrivener himself. Deciding to become a priest also, Peter Kenrick in 1827 entered the Royal College of St. Patrick, the major seminary for the Irish Catholic Church in Maynooth for five years of study. The Vatican was sending Bishop Joseph Rosati of Saint Louis to Haiti on a diplomatic mission and he wanted a bishop to run his diocese. Peter was consecrated bishop on November 30, 1841, in Philadelphia at St. Mary's Church by Rosati, with Francis serving as a co-consecrator. In July 1863, Francis died in Baltimore. When the city authorities ordered the flying of the American flag from all churches, Peter refused.

With end of the war in 1865, the Missouri Constitutional Convention, passed a measure requiring all clergy in the state to take a so-called "ironclad oath" to the US Government. Peter banned his clergy from taking the oath. One priest, Reverend John A. Cummings, went to jail rather than comply with law. He filed a suit, supported by Peter and Protestant clergy, that reached the United States Supreme Court. It ruled that it was unconstitutional for the government to demand that people take this oath. While Kenrick continued as archbishop, Kain administered the archdiocese.

With advancing age, Kenrick became increasingly infirm. In 1895, Pope Leo XIII removed Peter from ministry due to his increasing dementia.

Death and legacy Peter Kenrick died on March 4, 1896. One cardinal, eight archbishops, 20 bishops and 400 priests attended his funeral. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis. Kenrick had established this cemetery on the property of a farm he bought.

The seminary of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, formerly known as Kenrick Theological Seminary, is named in his honor.

Publications The Holy House of Loretto (1840) The Month of Mary (1840) Validity of Anglican Ordinations examined (1841)