Paul Peter Rhode

{{Short description|German-born prelate}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Bishop | honorific-prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend | name = Paul Peter Rhode | honorific-suffix = | title = Bishop of Green Bay<br>Titular Bishop of Barca | image = Paul Peter Rhode, circa 1934.jpg | image_size = 220 | alt = | caption = Rhode, circa 1934 | native_name = Paweł Pioter Rhode | native_name_lang = csb | diocese = Diocese of Green Bay | term = 1915–1945 | predecessor = Joseph John Fox | successor = Stanislaus Vincent Bona | other_post = Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago (1908–1915) | ordination = June 17, 1894 | ordained_by = Frederick Katzer | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1871|9|18}} | birth_place = Wejherowo, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire | death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|3|3|1871|9|18}} | death_place = Mercy Hospital, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA | buried =  | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | religion = | residence = | parents = | spouse =  | children = | occupation = | profession =  | education = St. Mary's College<br>St. Ignatius College<br>Saint Francis Seminary | alma_mater = | motto = ''Via tuas Domine''<br>(Your way, Lord) | signature = | signature_alt = | consecration = July 29, 1908 | consecrated_by = James Edward Quigley | coat_of_arms = }}

{{Infobox bishopstyles | name= Paul Peter Rhode | dipstyle= *His Excellency *The Most Reverend | offstyle=Your Excellency | relstyle=Bishop | image = Coat of arms of Paul Peter Rhode.svg | image_size = 200px }} '''Paul Peter Rhode''' ({{langx|csb|Paweł Pioter Rhode}}; September 18, 1871 – March 3, 1945) was a German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin from 1915 until his death in 1945.

Rhode was the first Pole and Kashubian to be elevated to an American bishopric.<ref name="holli">{{cite book|last1=Holli|first1=Melvin G.|last2=Jones|first2=Peter d'Alroy|title=Ethnic Chicago : a multicultural portrait|date=1995|publisher=W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co|location=Grand Rapids, Mich.|isbn=9780802870537|page=186|edition=4.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=First Polish Bishop in America|url=http://flps.newberry.org/article/5423968_11_0940/|work=Dziennik Chicagoski|issue=June 10, 1908|archive-date=January 7, 2014|access-date=December 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107174832/http://flps.newberry.org/article/5423968_11_0940/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Biography==

===Early life and education=== Paul Rhode was born in Neustadt in the Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire (now part of Poland) to Augustin and Krystyna Rhode.<ref name=poland>{{cite book|last1=Van Norman|first1=Louis E.|title=Poland: The Knight Among Nations|url=https://archive.org/details/polandknightamo00normgoog|year=1908|publisher=Fleming H. Revell Company|location=New York}}</ref> Augustin died in Prussia while Paul Rhode was a young boy. When he was age nine, his family immigrated to the United States in the Kashubian diaspora, settling in Chicago, Illinois.<ref name=poland/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bambenek.org/kashubia/the-kashubian-emigration/|title=The Kashubian Emigration – Bambenek.org|website=bambenek.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-07-26}}</ref>

Rhode was first educated at St. Mary's College in Hardin's Creek, Kentucky. He then attended St. Ignatius College in Chicago, where he completed his classical and philosophical studies.<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|date=1945-03-04|work=The New York Times|title=BISHOP PAUL RHODE OF GREEN BAY DEAD; Head of Wisconsin Diocese Since 1915 in Priesthood More Than 50 Years}}</ref> Rhode completed his theological studies at St. Francis Seminary in St. Francis, Wisconsin.<ref name="nytimes" />

===Ordination and ministry=== Rhode was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago by Bishop Frederick Katzer on June 17, 1894.<ref name=hierarchy>{{cite news|work=Catholic-Hierarchy.org|title=Bishop Paul Peter Rhode|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/brhode.html}}</ref> His first assignment was as a curate at St. Adalbert Parish in Chicago, where he remained for two years.<ref name=poland/> In 1896, Rhode was appointed as the first pastor of SS. Peter and Paul, a parish for Polish Catholics in the McKinley Park section of Chicago.<ref name=pgsa>{{cite news|work=Polish Genealogical Society of America|title=SS Peter and Paul Church History|url=http://www.pgsa.org/ArchChiPolPar/SSPete&PaulChi%20.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103072938/http://www.pgsa.org/ArchChiPolPar/SSPete%26PaulChi%20.htm|archive-date=2010-01-03}}</ref> He was named pastor of St. Michael Parish in South Chicago in 1897.<ref name=pgsa/>

===Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago=== By the early 1900s, waves of immigrants from Partitioned Poland had created notable demand for a Polish bishop, and the issue was acknowledged by church officials in the United States. After the matter was eventually raised to Pope Pius X, Archbishop Quigley finally managed to convinced Rome of the need, and an election was held.<ref>Trisco, R. F., & Catholic Church National Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee for the Bicentennial. (1976). ''Catholics in America, 1776-1976.'' National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee for the Bicentennial. p. 91.</ref>

On May 22, 1908, Rhode was appointed auxiliary bishop of Chicago and titular bishop of ''Barca'' by Pope Pius X.<ref name="hierarchy" /> Since he was the first Pole in America to be named a bishop, this occasion was celebrated by the Polish American community. He received his episcopal consecration at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on July 29, 1908, from Archbishop James Edward Quigley, with Bishops Peter Muldoon and Joseph Koudelka serving as co-consecrators.<ref name="hierarchy" /> He served as vicar general of the archdiocese from 1909 to 1915.<ref name="nytimes" />

===Bishop of Green Bay=== Following the resignation of Bishop Joseph J. Fox, Rhode was appointed the sixth bishop of Green Bay by Pope Benedict XV on July 15, 1915.<ref name=hierarchy/> During his tenure, he established 10 parishes and 19 parochial schools, and organized the diocesan Catholic Charities and a department of education.<ref name=diocese>{{cite news|work=Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay|title=Bishops of the Diocese of Green Bay|url=http://www.gbdioc.org/what-the-church-can-do-for-you/archives/bishops-of-the-diocese.html|access-date=2010-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227085724/http://www.gbdioc.org/what-the-church-can-do-for-you/archives/bishops-of-the-diocese.html|archive-date=2019-02-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Paul Rhode died at Mercy Hospital in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on March 3, 1945, at age 73.<ref name="nytimes" />

==See also== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * Catholic Church hierarchy * Catholic Church in the United States * Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States * List of Catholic bishops of the United States * Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops {{div col end}}

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Collier's poster|Rhode, Paul Peter|Paul Peter Rhode}} * [http://www.archchicago.org/ Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago] * [http://www.gbdioc.org/ Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay]

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{succession box | title=Bishop of Green Bay | before=Joseph John Fox | after=Stanislaus Vincent Bona | years=1915–1945 }} {{succession box | title=Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago | before=– | after=– | years=1908–1915 }} {{s-end}} {{Commons category}} {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay}} {{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago}} {{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Christianity |portal3= United States }} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhode, Paul Peter}} Category:1871 births Category:1945 deaths Category:People from Wejherowo Category:People from the Province of Prussia Category:German emigrants to the United States Category:American people of Kashubian descent Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Green Bay Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Category:Kashubian clergy Category:Archdiocese of Chicago Category:St. Francis Seminary (Wisconsin) alumni Category:Loyola University Chicago alumni