Vincent Stanislaus Waters

Vincent Stanislaus Waters (August 15, 1904 – December 3, 1974) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Raleigh from 1945 until his death in 1974. He is best known for desegregating his diocese early on in the civil rights movement.

Biography

Early life and education Vincent Waters was born on August 15, 1904, in Roanoke, Virginia, to Michael Bernard and Mary Frances (née Crowley) Waters. He attended Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina from 1920 to 1925, and then entered St. Charles College in Ellicott City, Maryland (1925-1926) and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland (1926-1928). Following his return to Virginia in 1932, Waters served as a curate at Holy Cross Parish in Lynchburg, Virginia, until 1936, when he was transferred to Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond, Virginia. He described racial segregation as a product of "darkness," and declared that "the time has come for it to end." He also said, "I am not unmindful, as a Southerner, of the force of this virus of prejudice among some persons in the South, as well as in the North. I know, however, that there is a cure for this virus, and that is our faith." Bishop Michael Begley said of Waters, "[his] missionary zeal and his concern for God's people cannot be measured. He was a leader in many fields, one of which was civil rights, as he fought for the civil rights of the black people in integrating schools, churches and all Catholic institutions."Waters attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council in Rome between 1962 and 1965. Waters was later accused by some of the diocesan clergy of holding on to idle church property worth millions of dollars while some parishes were in debt. He also denied requests for the creation of a priests' senate, and had his resignation requested by around twenty percent of the clergy. In 1972, Waters expelled five Sisters of Providence nuns from the diocese for not wearing their religious habits while teaching.

Vincent Waters died from a heart attack at his residence in Raleigh on December 3, 1974, at age 70. He is buried in the cemetery of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Newton Grove, North Carolina.