Raymond Joseph Gallagher

Raymond Joseph Gallagher (November 19, 1912 – March 7, 1991) was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana from 1965 to 1982.

Biography

Early life Raymond Gallagher was born on November 19, 1912, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Hugh and Ella (née Reedy) Gallagher. He was educated at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish School (1918–1926) and Cathedral Latin High School in Chardon, Ohio (1926–1930). After his ordination, Gallagher served as a curate at St. Colman Parish in Cleveland (1939–1944). In 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps, serving there until his discharge in 1946. In 1948, Gallagher earned a Master of Social Work degree from Loyola University Chicago and became assistant director of diocesan Catholic Charities.

Pope Pius XII named Gallagher a papal chamberlain in 1955. Between 1958 and 1959, he was a member of US President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Commission on Child Welfare, becoming chair of the White House Conference on Children and Youth in 1960. He served as general secretary of the National Conference of Catholic Charities from 1961 to 1965.

Bishop of Lafayette in Indiana On June 21, 1965, Gallagher was appointed the third bishop of Lafayette in Indiana by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal consecration at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland on August 11, 1965, from Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi, with Bishops Leo Byrne and Clarence Issenmann serving as co-consecrators.

On October 26, 1982, Pope John Paul II accepted Gallagher's resignation as bishop of Lafayette in Indiana. Raymond Gallagher died in Muncie, Indiana, on March 7, 1991, at age 78.