{{Short description|American prelate}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | name = Joshua Maria Young | title = Bishop of Erie | image = | alt = | caption = | church = Roman Catholic Church | archdiocese = | diocese = | see = Diocese of Erie | term = April 23, 1854 – September 18, 1866 | predecessor = Michael O'Connor | successor = Tobias Mullen <!-- Orders -->| ordination = April 1, 1838 | ordinated_by = | consecration = April 23, 1854 | consecrated_by = John Baptist Purcell | rank = <!-- Personal details --> | birth_date = {{birth date|1808|10|29}} | birth_place = Acton, Maine | death_date = {{death date and age|1866|9|18|1808|10|29}} | death_place = Erie, Pennsylvania | previous_post = | honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | ordained_by = John Baptist Purcell | education = Mount St. Mary's University }} '''Joshua Maria Young''' (October 29, 1808 – September 18, 1866) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Erie in Pennsylvania from 1854 until his death in 1866.

==Biography==

=== Early life === Joshua Young was born in Acton, Maine, to Jonathan and Mehetable (née Moody) Young.<ref name="clarke">{{cite news|work=Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States|title=RIGHT REV. JOSUE MARIA YOUNG, D.D.|last=Clarke|first=Richard Henry}}</ref> One of ten children, he had three brothers and six sisters.<ref name="family">{{cite news|work=The Schliesser-Hicks Family Tree|title=Jonathan Young , III|url=http://www.geocities.com/marthajanehicks/b298.htm#P14859|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028160617/http://geocities.com/marthajanehicks/b298.htm|archivedate=2009-10-28}}</ref> Raised as a Congregationalist, he belonged to a prominent New England family of Harvard graduates and Protestant ministers.<ref name="catholic">{{cite news|work=Catholic Encyclopedia|title=Erie|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05518b.htm}}</ref><ref name="erie">{{cite news|work=Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie |title=About the Diocese: Early History (1853–1900) |url=http://www.eriercd.org/history1.asp |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204140909/http://www.eriercd.org/history1.asp |archivedate=2008-12-04 }}</ref>

At age eight, Young was sent to live with his uncle in Saco, Maine, and later became a printer's apprentice for the ''Eastern Argus'' newspaper in Portland, Maine, in 1823.<ref name="clarke" /> He worked as editor of ''The Maine Democrat'' for about a year after his apprenticeship.<ref name="clarke" />

After a co-worker lent him Catholic books, Young decided to convert to Catholicism and received a conditional baptism in October 1828.<ref name="clarke" /> Following his conversion, he changed his name to Joshua Maria Young in honor of the Virgin Mary.<ref name="catholic" /> In 1830, he went to study for the priesthood at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he hoped the climate would be more congenial with his health.<ref name="clarke" /> Young briefly worked for the ''Catholic Telegraph''.<ref name="clarke" />

=== Priesthood === After completing his theological studies at Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland, Young was ordained a priest by Bishop John Purcell on April 1, 1838.<ref name="hierarchy">{{cite news|work=Catholic-Hierarchy.org|title=Bishop Joshua Maria (Moody) Young|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/byoung.html}}{{Self-published source|date=March 2015}}</ref> He then labored as a missionary in the Western United States before becoming pastor of St. Mary's Parish at Lancaster, Ohio.<ref name="clarke" /> He also attended the First Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1852 as a theologian to Bishop Purcell.

=== Bishop of Erie === On July 29, 1853, Young was appointed the second bishop of the Diocese of Erie by Pope Pius IX.<ref name="hierarchy" /> He received his episcopal consecration on April 23, 1854, from Bishop Purcell, with Bishops Martin Spalding and Louis Rappe serving as co-consecrators.<ref name="hierarchy" />

Young was an opponent of slavery during the American Civil War (1861–1865).<ref name="erie" /> Due to the 1859 discovery of oil in Titusville, Young was forced to erect numerous churches to accommodate the new Catholic settlers along Oil Creek and the Allegheny River.<ref name="catholic" /> At the beginning of Young's tenure, the diocese contained 28 churches and 14 priests; by the time of his death, the number of churches and priests were both over 50.<ref name="catholic" /> He established several Catholic schools and orphanages, and a hospital.<ref name="catholic" /> He also introduced into the diocese the Sisters of St. Joseph from Buffalo, New York.<ref name="erie" />

Joshua Young died suddenly at his residence in Erie on September 18, 1886, at age 57.<ref name="clarke" />

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box | before=Michael O'Connor | title=Bishop of Erie | years=1854–1866 | after=Tobias Mullen }} {{s-end}}

{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie}} {{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Joshua Maria}} Category:1808 births Category:1866 deaths Category:People from York County, Maine Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Congregationalism Category:Archdiocese of Cincinnati Category:19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:Roman Catholic bishops in Pennsylvania Category:Catholics from Maine Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Erie