Bernard William Schmitt

Bernard William Schmitt ( born August 17, 1928 in Wheeling, West Virginia; † August 16, 2011 ) was an American clergyman and Roman Catholic Bishop of Wheeling - Charleston.

Life

Bernard William Schmitt, the fourth of seven children from a family of German ancestry, attended by the Corpus Christi School and the Wheeling and Central Catholic High School in Wheeling, St. Charles College in Catonsville (Maryland ) and the St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore. Schmitt received on 28 May 1955 in the St. Joseph's Cathedral in Wheeling ordained priest for the Diocese of Wheeling by Bishop Thomas J. McDonnell. Later, he completed a postgraduate course in "guidance and counseling" at Ohio University.

After working as a deputy minister at the St. Joseph's Cathedral and assistant of Archbishop John Joseph Swint he became director in 1963 for the appointments for the priesthood, later Director of the Propagation of the Faith and Director of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD). In 1966, Schmitt Rector of St. Joseph's Preparatory Seminary in Parkersburg, then pastor of the Franz-von- Assisi Parish in St. Albans. In 1982 he moved to the parish of Saint Michael in Wheeling.

Pope John Paul II appointed him on 27 May 1988 as Titular Bishop of Walla Walla and auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Wheeling - Charleston. The Archbishop of New Orleans Francis Schulte gave him on 1 August 1988 consecrated bishop; Co-consecrators were William Donald Borders, Archbishop of Baltimore, and Donald Wuerl, Bishop of Pittsburgh. On March 29, 1989, he was appointed Bishop of Wheeling - Charleston. Schmitt was involved in the U.S. Bishops' Conference of the commissions for the life and ministry of priests, for marriage and family as well as the initiative for human life.

On 9 December 2004, Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation due to age.

He was inducted in 2011 into the Wheeling Hall of Fame and honored with the Wheeling YMCA 's "Light of the Valley."

Writings

• The sacraments. A collection of pastoral letters, Diocese of Wheeling - Charleston 2004 (101 pages)