Richard Oliver Gerow

Richard Oliver Gerow (May 3, 1885 – December 20, 1976) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson in Mississippi from 1924 to 1967.

Biography

Early life Richard Gerow was born on May 3, 1885, in Mobile, Alabama, one of two children of Warren Rosencranz and Annie A. (née Skehan) Gerow. Warren Rosencranz, a native of Mobile and convert to Catholicism, built floats for Mardi Gras in Mobile for the Order of Myths. Annie Gerow was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1863. Gerow celebrated his first mass in the catacombs of Rome.

In 1963, Gerow condemned the assassination of the civil rights activist Medgar Evers in Mississippi, saying, "We need frankly to admit that the guilt for the murder and the other instances of violence in our community tragically must be shared by all of us." The following year, he ordered Catholic elementary schools in Mississippi to admit students to the first grade "without regard to race." In 1965, Gerow ordered the racial desegregation of all grades in Catholic schools, in order to "bring our practice into full conformity with the teachings of Christ."

Gerow served as episcopal moderator of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting from 1941 to 1961 and was awarded the Silver Buffalo Award by the Boy Scouts of America in 1954.

Retirement and legacy On December 2, 1967, Pope Paul VI accepted Gerow's resignation as bishop of Natchez-Jackson; he was appointed titular bishop of Vageata by the pope on the same date. He resigned his titular see on January 5, 1971. Richard Gerow died at St. Dominic's Hospital in Jackson on December 20, 1976, at age 91.