James Joseph Gerrard

{{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = James Joseph Gerrard | title = Auxiliary Bishop of Fall River | image = James Joseph Gerrard.jpg | alt = | caption = | church = Catholic Church | archdiocese = | diocese = | see = Titular See of ''Forma'' | appointed = February 2, 1959 | term = March 19, 1959 - January 12, 1976 | predecessor = | successor =  | ordination = May 26, 1923 | ordained_by = Daniel Francis Feehan | consecration = March 19, 1959 | consecrated_by = James Louis Connolly | rank =  | birth_date = June 9, 1897 | birth_place = New Bedford, Massachusetts, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1991|6|3|1897|6|9}} | death_place = Fall River, Massachusetts, US | previous_post = | moto = | education = St. Laurent College<br>St. Bernard's Seminary }} '''James Joseph Gerrard''' (June 9, 1897 – June 3, 1991) was a bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Fall River in Massachusetts from 1959 to 1976.

==Biography==

=== Early life === James Gerrard was born on June 9, 1897, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was educated at Holy Family High School in New Bedford and St. Laurent College in Montreal.<ref name="Globe">{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7663173.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611061721/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-7663173.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-06-11|title=Rev. James Gerrard, 93 Was Fall River auxiliary bishop|publisher=Boston Globe|accessdate=2014-02-12}}</ref> He studied for the priesthood at St. Bernard's Seminary in Rochester, New York.

=== Priesthood === Gerrard was ordained a priest on May 26, 1923, for the Diocese of Fall River by Bishop Daniel Francis Feehan.<ref name="hierarchy" />

=== Auxiliary Bishop of Fall River === On February 2, 1959 Pope John XXIII appointed Gerrard as the titular bishop of ''Forma'' and auxiliary bishop of Fall River. He was consecrated at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in Fall River, Massachusetts, by Bishop James Connolly on March 19, 1959 The principal co-consecrators were Bishop Russell McVinney and Auxiliary Bishop Jeremiah Minihan. Gerrard attended the second session of the Second Vatican Council in 1963 in Rome.<ref name="hierarchy" />

Gerrard served as auxiliary bishop of Fall River until his resignation was accepted by Pope Paul VI on January 12, 1976. He died at the Catholic Memorial Home in Fall River, Massachusetts on June 3, 1991, at the age of 93.<ref name="hierarchy">{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgerrard.html|title=Bishop James Joseph Gerrard|publisher=Catholic-Hierarchy|accessdate=2014-02-12|last=|first=}}</ref><ref name="gcatholic">{{cite web|url=http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/bishops-22.htm|title=Bishops who are not Ordinaries of Sees|publisher=Giga-Catholic|accessdate=2014-02-12|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213023520/http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/bishops-22.htm|archivedate=2014-02-13}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerrard, James Joseph}} Category:1897 births Category:1991 deaths Category:People from New Bedford, Massachusetts Category:Diocese of Fall River Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops Category:Participants in the Second Vatican Council Category:Religious leaders from Massachusetts Category:Catholics from Massachusetts {{US-RC-bishop-stub}}