Ignatius Mrak

{{Short description|Slovenian-born American prelate}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = | honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Right Reverend | name = Ignatius Mrak | honorific_suffix = | title = Bishop of Sault Sainte Marie and Marquette<br>Titular Bishop of Antinoë | image = Ignacij Mrak.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | church = Catholic Church | archdiocese = | province = | metropolis = | diocese = Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie and Marquette | see = | appointed = September 25, 1868 | term_end = April 28, 1879 | quashed = | predecessor = Frederic Baraga | successor = John Vertin | opposed = | other_post =  | ordination = August 13, 1837 | ordained_by = Anton Aloys Wolf | consecration = February 7, 1869 | consecrated_by = John Baptist Purcell | cardinal = | created_cardinal_by = | rank = | laicized =  | birth_name = Ignatz Mrack | birth_date = {{Birth date|1810|10|16}} | baptised = | birth_place = Hotovlja, Duchy of Carniola, Austrian Empire | death_date = {{Death date and age|1901|01|02|1810|10|16}} | death_place = Marquette, Michigan, US | buried = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | religion = | residence = | parents = | spouse = | children = | occupation = | profession = | education = | alma_mater = | motto = ''Unum est necessarium''<br>(There is need of only one thing) | signature = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms = | coat_of_arms_alt =  | feast_day = | venerated = | saint_title = | beatified_date = | beatified_place = | beatified_by = | canonized_date = | canonized_place = | canonized_by = | attributes = | patronage = | shrine = | suppressed_date =  | module = | module2 = | other = }} '''Ignatius Mrak''' (October 16, 1810 – January 2, 1901) was a Slovenian-born American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette in Michigan from 1869 to 1879.

==Biography== ===Early life=== Ignatius Mrak was born on October 16, 1810, in Hotovlja<ref name=CE /><ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Savnik|editor-first=Roman|title=Krajevni leksikon Slovenij|volume=1|place=Ljubljana|publisher=Državna založba Slovenije|year=1968|page=362}}</ref><ref name="Taufbuch">{{cite book |title=Taufbuch |date=1809–1825 |location=Poljane nad Škofjo Loko |page=10 |url=https://data.matricula-online.eu/sl/slovenia/ljubljana/poljane-nad-skofjo-loko/01792/?pg=11 |access-date=June 26, 2022}}</ref> in the Duchy of Carniola in the Austrian Empire (present-day Slovenia). He was baptized Ignatz Mrack.<ref name="Taufbuch"/> He was one of six children of Mathias and Maria (née Demscher) Mrak.<ref name=rezek>{{cite book|last=Rezek|first=Antoine Ivan|date=1906|title=History of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wd--j79HxxUC|location=Chicago|publisher=M. A. Donohue & Co}}</ref> He received his early education at schools in Poljane and Kranj before attending the Bežigrad Gymnasium, a Jesuit school in Ljubljana.<ref name=CE>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia|title=Ignatius Mrak|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10624d.htm|access-date=16 November 2012}}</ref> In 1834, he entered the diocesan seminary of Ljubljana, where he completed his theological studies with honors.

===Priesthood=== Mrak was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ljubljana on August 13, 1837, in Ljubljana by Anton Aloys Wolf, its prince-bishop.<ref name=CE/> After passing a rigorous state examination, he was appointed as a tutor in 1838 to the son of Baron Peter Pirquet in Legnago, then also part of the Austrian Empire.<ref name=CE/> He returned to Carniola in 1840 to serve as an assistant pastor at parishes in Poljane and Slavina.

Influenced by the missionary work of his fellow Slovene, Reverend Frederic Baraga, with Native Americans, in the Diocese of Detroit, Mrak requested incardination there.<ref name=CE/> After being accepted, Mrak arrived in Michigan in late 1845. Bishop Peter Lefevere immediately assigned him to assist Reverend Francis Pierz, another Slovene, at the missions in the L'Arbre Croche area of the Upper Peninsula. Mrak quickly learned the Ottawa dialect; One month after arriving in America, Mrak preached an entire sermon in Ottawa.<ref name=rezek/><ref name="CE" />

In 1847, the diocese assigned Mrak his own mission at St. Anthony's in Cross Village, Michigan, while also attending other missions in Michigan:

* St. Francis Xavier's in Readmond * St. Leopold's on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan * Immaculate Conception in Peshawbestown<ref name="quarterly">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEQ8AQAAMAAJ|title=The American Catholic Quarterly Review|volume=XXII|date=1897|location=Philadelphia|publisher=Charles A. Hardy}}</ref>

Pope Leo IX in 1853 erected the Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Michigan, taking the Upper Peninsula region from the Diocese of Detroit, and appointed Baraga as its vicar apostolic. Mrak was incardinated into the new vicariate apostolic.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marquette (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dmarq.html |access-date=2025-11-07 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}</ref>

Four years later, in 1857, Leo IX elevated the vicariate to the Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie, with Baraga as its first bishop. He appointed Mrak vicar general of the diocese in 1859.<ref name="rezek" /> After returning from a European trip to recruit priests for the diocese, Mrak asked the Vatican to reassign him back to Carniola. to return to Slovenia. However, Baraga and Lefevere persuaded him to stay in Michigan.<ref name="rezek" />

=== Bishop of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette === On September 25, 1868, Mrak was named to succeed the late Bishop Baraga as bishop of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette by Pius IX.<ref name="hierarchy">{{cite web|url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmrak.html|title=Bishop Ignatius Mrak|website=The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church}}</ref> However, Mrak was reluctant to accept the position; he refused to respond to the letters announcing his appointment for several months. He finally yielded and received his episcopal consecration on February 7, 1869, from Archbishop John Purcell, with Bishops Lefevere and John Henni serving as co-consecrators, at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral in Cincinnati, Ohio.<ref name="hierarchy" />

Mrak attended the First Vatican Council in Rome (1869–1870), which was announced a few months after his consecration. Over the course of his tenure as bishop, the diocese saw slow development. He increased the number of churches from 21 to 27 and the number of priests from 15 to 20.<ref name="CE" /> Two priests he ordained were Reverend John Stariha, a Slovene who would become the first bishop of the Diocese of Lead in South Dakota and Reverend Frederick Eis, a future bishop of Marquette.<ref name="hierarchy" /> At the same time, a depression in the Copper Country industry lead to a significant decline in the Catholic population. Two prominent schools, one in Sault Ste. Marie and the other in Hancock, Michigan, closed during his first year as bishop.<ref name="rezek" /> In 1874 he placed a church in Hancock under interdict after the congregation refused to accept their new pastor.<ref name="rezek" />

===Retirement and legacy=== After suffering an attack of rheumatism, Mrak submitted his resignation as bishop of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette to the pope. It was accepted on April 28, 1879, by Pope Leo XIII, who gave him the titular see of Antinoë.<ref name="hierarchy" /> After his health improved, Mrak served as a pastor at parishes in Negaunee and Menominee, Michigan. He then resumed missionary work, accepting a post in Peshawbestown. Mrak returned to Marquette in 1891 and finished his days as a chaplain at St. Mary's Hospital in that city.<ref name="CE" />

Ignatius Mrak died at St. Mary's Hospital on January 2, 1901, at age 90.<ref>{{cite news |title=Useful Life at an End |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104440435/ignatius-mrak-1810-1901/ |work=The Minneapolis Journal |date=January 3, 1901 |location=Minneapolis, MN |page=3 |accessdate=June 26, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}</ref> He is buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Cathedral.

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== {{wikiquote}} {{commons category}}

* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Ignatius Mrak}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mrak, Ignatius}} Category:1810 births Category:1901 deaths Category:People from the Municipality of Gorenja Vas-Poljane Category:Slovenian Roman Catholic missionaries Category:19th-century Slovenian Roman Catholic priests Category:Emigrants from the Austrian Empire to the United States Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Marquette Category:19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:Burials at St. Peter Cathedral (Marquette, Michigan) Category:Slovenian emigrants to the United States Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States