John R. Gaydos

Last updated

His Excellency, The Most Reverend

John Raymond Gaydos
Bishop Emeritus of Jefferson City
Archdiocese St. Louis
Diocese Jefferson City
AppointedJune 25, 1997
InstalledAugust 27, 1997
RetiredNovember 21, 2017
Predecessor Michael Francis McAuliffe
Successor Shawn McKnight
Orders
OrdinationDecember 20, 1968
by  Francis Frederick Reh
ConsecrationAugust 27, 1997
by  Justin Francis Rigali, Michael Francis McAuliffe, and Oscar Hugh Lipscomb
Personal details
Born (1943-08-14) August 14, 1943 (age 80)
St. Louis, Missouri
MottoWith a shepherd's care
Styles of
John Raymond Gaydos
Coat of arms of John Raymond Gaydos.svg
Reference style
Spoken style Your Excellency
Religious style Bishop

John Raymond Gaydos (born August 14, 1943) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Jefferson City in Missouri from 1997 to 2017.

Contents

Biography

Early years

John Gaydos was born on August 14, 1943, in St. Louis, Missouri, to George and Carrie (née Lee) Gaydos. [1] He graduated from St. Agnes School in 1957, then entered St. Louis Preparatory Seminary in St. Louis. In 1961, Gaydos entered Cardinal Glennon College at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in Shrewsbury, Missouri. [2]

In 1965, Gaydos traveled to Rome to attend the Pontifical North American College and the Pontifical Gregorian University. He obtained his Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree in dogmatic theology in 1969.

Priesthood

On December 20, 1968, Gaydos was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis by Bishop Francis Reh in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. [3] [1]

After returning to Missouri, Gaydos was assigned as associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Manchester, Missouri, until 1974. He was then transferred to be associate pastor at St. Cecilia Parish in St. Louis, serving there until 1977. Gaydos was appointed as priest-secretary to Cardinal John Carberry and as vice-chancellor of St. Louis from 1977 to 1981. He then became secretary to Archbishop John May and full chancellor until 1990. Gaydos became pastor of St. Gerard Majella Parish in Kirkwood, Missouri in 1990, and vicar general of the archdiocese on February 14, 1996.

Bishop of Jefferson City

On June 25, 1997, Pope John Paul II appointed Gaydos as the third bishop of the Diocese of Jefferson City. He was consecrated on August 27, 1997, by Archbishop Justin Rigali, with Bishop Michael McAuliffe and Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Jefferson City. [1]

As bishop, Gaydos established a branch of Catholic Charities USA. He built the Alphonse J. Schwartze Memorial Catholic Center in Jefferson City to consolidate all the diocesan ministries and Father Tolton Regional Catholic High School in Columbia, Missouri. [2]

Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Gaydos served as chair of the Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry, and was a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse, the Administrative Committee, and the Committee for Communications.

O'Connell sex abuse case

On March 19, 2002, Gaydos and the diocese were sued by a former student at St. Thomas Aquinas Preparatory Seminary in Hannibal, Missouri. The plaintiff claimed that Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell, then rector at the seminary, had sexually exploited him. [4] In May 2002, facing declining enrollment at the seminary and pending lawsuits, Gaydos closed it. [5]

In March 2002, it was revealed that the diocese had made a secret settlement of $125,000 in 1996 to a former seminarian who claimed by have been sexually abused by O'Connell in 1969 at the seminary. In 1988, O'Connell was named bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach; it is unknown if Gaydos had informed John Paul II about the O'Connell settlement before he appointed O'Connell as bishop. [6] In 2002, O'Connell admitting abusing two boys at the seminary and resigned as bishop of Palm Beach.

Other sexual abuse cases

In 2003, Gaydos and the diocese were named in a sexual abuse lawsuit by a Missouri man. The plaintiff alleged that Reverend Gary Pool and Reverend Kevin Clohessy had sexually abused him for most of his childhood. [7]

On September 3, 2015, the diocese settled for $40,000 a long-standing sexual abuse claim by David Clohessy, the brother of Kevin Clohessy, against Reverend John Whiteley. David Clohessy had sued the diocese in 1991, claiming that Whitely, then a pastor at St. Pius X Parish in Moberly, Missouri, had sexually abused him. Clohessy's case was dismissed in 1993 due to the Missouri statute of limitations. However, Clohessy renewed his claim in 2015 and the diocese decided that it was credible. [8]

Retirement

In 2017, Gaydos sent a letter of resignation to Pope Francis, asking for early retirement as bishop of Jefferson City for health reasons. [9] [1] These were later described as hypertension, arterial fibrillation, and the need for heart valve replacement. [10] The pope accepted his resignation on November 21, 2017.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Missouri, USA

The Archdiocese of St. Louis is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the City of St. Louis and the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Perry, Saint Charles, Saint Francois, Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis, Warren, and Washington. It is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province containing three suffragan sees: Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, the Diocese of Jefferson City, and the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph. It is led by Archbishop, Mitchell Thomas Rozanski, formerly the Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts. The archdiocesan cathedral is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis.

Anthony J. O'Connell was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic church. He served as the first of the Diocese of Knoxville in Tennessee from 1988 to 1998. He later served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach in Florida from 1999 to 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Finn (bishop)</span> Catholic bishop

Robert William Finn is an American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph from 2005 until his forced resignation in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Missouri, USA

The Diocese of Jefferson City is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the state of Missouri in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of St. Louis.

David G. Clohessy is known as an American activist and leader for victims of clergy abuse. He served for more than two decades, until December 2017, as the executive director and spokesman for the Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). He remained on the board after his resignation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita</span> Diocese of the Catholic Church

The Diocese of Wichita is a Latin Catholic ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in Kansas in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Tennessee, United States

The Diocese of Knoxville is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Tennessee in the United States. It was founded on May 27, 1988, from the eastern counties of what was then the Diocese of Nashville. The diocese is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Louisville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Florida, USA

The Diocese of Palm Beach is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Florida in the United States The patron saint of the diocese is Mary, mother of Jesus, under the title Queen of the Apostles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln</span> Diocese of the Catholic Church in USA

The Diocese of Lincoln is a Latin Church diocese in Nebraska, United States, and comprises the majority of the eastern and central portions of the state south of the Platte River. It is a suffragan see to the archdiocese of Omaha. The episcopal see is in Lincoln, Nebraska. Bishop James D. Conley is the current ordinary of the Diocese. The Cathedral of the Risen Christ is the cathedral parish of the diocese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Missouri, USA

The Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southern Missouri in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in US

The Diocese of Duluth is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern Minnesota in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert James Carlson</span> 20th and 21st-century American Catholic bishop

Robert James Carlson is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the ninth archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis in Missouri from 2009 to 2020.

St. Thomas Aquinas Preparatory Seminary was a Catholic high school seminary located in Hannibal, Missouri in the Diocese of Jefferson City, active from 1957 to 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Fred Naumann</span> American Christian cleric

Joseph Fred Naumann is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas since 2004. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis from 1997 to 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert J. Cunningham</span> American prelate

Robert Joseph Cunningham is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Syracuse in Upstate New York from 2009 to 2019. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg in Northern New York from 2004 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Joseph Lucas</span> American prelate of the Catholic Church (born 1949)

George Joseph Lucas is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha in Nebraska since 2009, having previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois from 1999 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Stika</span> American Catholic prelate (born 1957)

Richard Frank Stika is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville in Tennessee from 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward M. Rice</span> American prelate (born 1960)

Edward Matthew Rice is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in Missouri since 2016. Rice previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in Missouri from 2010 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl A. Kemme</span> American prelate

Carl Alan Kemme is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Since 2014, he has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Wichita in Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shawn McKnight</span> American prelate of the Catholic Church (born 1968)

William Shawn McKnight, also known as W. Shawn McKnight, is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Jefferson City in Missouri since 2017.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Bishop John Raymond Gaydos [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Nies, Jay (August 17, 2022). "ENCORE: Bishop Gaydos's silver jubilee". The Catholic Missourian. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  3. ↑ Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 107th Congress Second Session: Vol.148 Part 12. Government Printing Office.
  4. ↑ "Ex-Seminarian Sues Former Palm Beach Bishop Over Sexual Abuse". Boca Raton New. March 19, 2002. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  5. ↑ "SEMINARY TO CLOSE". Tampa Bay Times. April 20, 2002. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  6. ↑ Wakin, Daniel J. (March 12, 2002). "Secrecy Over Abusive Priests Comes Back to Haunt Church". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Sex Abuse Suit Filed In Missouri". www.cbsnews.com. February 19, 2003. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Clohessy, JC Diocese settle priest abuse case". newstribune.com. September 4, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  9. ↑ Nies, Jay (November 21, 2017). "Pope Names New Bishop for Jefferson City Diocese". Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City (from The Catholic Missourian). Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Pope names new bishop for diocese". Jefferson City News Tribune. November 22, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Jefferson City
1997–2017		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.