Henry Damian Juncker

Henry Damian Juncker ( born August 22, 1809 in Fénétrange, Lorraine, France, † October 2, 1868 in Alton, Illinois, USA ) was a German-born American Catholic bishop.

Biography

Juncker was already in infancy in the United States and later studied at a seminary before March 16, 1834 at his ordination by the Bishop of Cincinnati, John Baptist Purcell was. He then became pastor of the Church of the Holy Trinity (Church of the Holy Trinity ), the first German church in Cincinnati; appointed. 1836 he was appointed pastor in Canton, Ohio, and in 1846 pastor of Emanuel Dayton, Ohio. He was not only responsible for some of English-speaking communities, but also for more than a dozen German -speaking settlements.

On January 9, 1857, he was appointed bishop of the newly established Diocese of Alton. On April 26 of the same year John Baptist Purcell of him now Archbishop of Cincinnati raised donated the episcopal ordination. Co-consecrators were the Bishop of Milwaukee, John Hennigan, and the Bishop of Erie, Joshua Young.

The diocese covered a large part of Illinois, had at the time but only 18 priests. Beginning of 1858 he traveled to Europe and returned in July 1858 with four seminarians back, he then consecrated to the priesthood. Within little more than a year, the number of priests increased to 42, while eight new churches were built. 1859 the construction of St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral was completed, one of the most beautiful churches in the United States. The visits in his diocese were extended and led to the creation of new communities, in which he subsequently sent clergy. In addition, however, he held many tasks of a simple priest. Another focus of his work was in education: In addition to the establishment of two colleges for boys and six academies for girls, he also founded a seminary next to the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, two hospitals and an orphanage. At the time of his death, the number of priests 100 and 25 theology students who were active in 125 churches. In addition, there were 56 community schools and a number of fraternities.

Bishop Juncker spoke in German, English and French. His personal friendships ranged beyond his own religion.

After his death, Peter Joseph Baltes was appointed as the new Bishop of Alton on September 24.