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Vincent Stanislaus Waters

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(Redirected from Vincent S. Waters) American prelate
His Excellency, The Most Reverend
Vincent Stanislaus Waters
Bishop of Raleigh
SeeDiocese of Raleigh
InstalledMarch 15, 1945
Term endedDecember 3, 1974
PredecessorEugene J. McGuinness
SuccessorFrancis Joseph Gossman
Other post(s)Chancellor of the Diocese of Richmond
Orders
OrdinationDecember 8, 1931
by Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani
ConsecrationMay 15, 1945
by Peter Leo Ireton
Personal details
BornAugust 15, 1904
Roanoke, Virginia, US
DiedDecember 3, 1974
Raleigh, North Carolina, US
DenominationRoman Catholic
EducationBelmont Abbey College
Ordination history of
Vincent Stanislaus Waters
History
Episcopal consecration
Consecrated byPeter Leo Ireton (Bishop of Richmond)
DateMay 15, 1945
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Vincent Stanislaus Waters as principal consecrator
Charles Borromeo McLaughlinApril 15, 1964
George Edward LynchJanuary 6, 1970

Vincent Stanislaus Waters (August 15, 1904—December 3, 1974) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh in North Carolina from 1945 until his death in 1974.

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). Waters furthered his studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Ordination and ministry

Waters was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Richmond in Rome by Cardinal Francesco Selvaggiani on December 8, 1931. 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. Waters served as chancellor of the diocese from 1936 to 1943, and director of the diocesan Mission Fathers from 1943 to 1945.

Bishop of Raleigh

On March 15, 1945, Waters was appointed the third bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on May 15, 1945, from Bishop Peter Ireton, with Bishops Gerald O'Hara and Emmet M. Walsh serving as co-consecrators.

In 1953, a year before Brown v. Board of Education decision by the US Supreme Court, Waters ordered the desegregation of all Catholic churches and schools in the diocese. 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,

" 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.

See also

References

  1. ^ Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
  2. ^ "Bishop Vincent Stanislaus Waters". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  3. ^ "Bishop Waters, Led Raleigh Diocese". The New York Times. 1974-12-05.
  4. "Bishop Vincent S. Waters (1904-1974)". North Carolina History Project.
  5. "Light in Newton Grove". TIME Magazine. 1953-06-08. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008.
  6. "Cure for the Virus". TIME Magazine. 1953-06-29. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008.

External links

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded byEugene J. McGuinness Bishop of Raleigh
1945—1974
Succeeded byFrancis Joseph Gossman
Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh
Ordinaries
Bishops
William Hafey
Eugene J. McGuinness
Vincent Stanislaus Waters
F. Joseph Gossman
Michael Francis Burbidge
Luis R. Zarama
Churches
Cathedral
Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral
Basilica
Basilica Shrine of St. Mary, Wilmington
Parishes
St. Michael the Archangel Church, Cary
Immaculate Conception Church, Durham
Immaculate Conception Church, Halifax
St. Paul's Church, New Bern
St. Raphael the Archangel Church, Raleigh
St. Catherine of Siena, Wake Forest
Chapel
Sacred Heart Church, Raleigh
Education
High schools
Cristo Rey Research Triangle High School, Durham
John Paul II Catholic High School, Greenville
Cardinal Gibbons High School, Raleigh
St. Thomas More Academy, Raleigh
Priests
Bernard Shlesinger
Casey Cole
Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond
Bishops
Ordinaries
Patrick Kelly
Richard Vincent Whelan
John McGill
James Gibbons
John Joseph Keane
Augustine Van de Vyver
Denis J. O'Connell
Andrew James Louis Brennan
Peter Leo Ireton
John Joyce Russell
Walter Francis Sullivan
Francis X. DiLorenzo
Barry Christopher Knestout
Auxiliary bishops
Joseph Howard Hodges
Ernest Leo Unterkoefler
James Louis Flaherty
David Edward Foley
Churches
Cathedral
Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
Basilica
Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Norfolk
Basilica of St. Andrew, Roanoke
Parishes
St. Vincent de Paul Church, Newport News
Church of the Sacred Heart, Petersburg
St. Paul's Church, Portsmouth
Church of the Sacred Heart, Richmond
St. Peter's Church, Richmond
St. Bede's Church, Williamsburg
St. Stephen, Martyr, Chesapeake
Education
High schools
Benedictine College Preparatory, Richmond
Blessed Sacrament Huguenot, Powhatan
Catholic High School, Virginia Beach
Holy Cross Regional Catholic School, Lynchburg
Peninsula Catholic High School, Newport News
Roanoke Catholic School, Roanoke
Saint Gertrude High School, Richmond
Walsingham Academy, Williamsburg
Priests
Francis Janssens
Vincent Stanislaus Waters
Miscellany
Francis J. Parater
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