Francis Patrick Keough
Francis Patrick Keough was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Providence and Archbishop of Baltimore.Biography
Francis Keough was born in New Britain, Connecticut, the second and youngest son of Patrick and Margaret Keough. His parents were Irish immigrants, and his father died when Francis was only five years old. He received his early education at the parochial school of in his native city, and began his studies for the priesthood at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield. In 1911, he was sent to the Grand Seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. He returned home following the outbreak of World War I, and completed his theological studies at St. Bernard's Seminary in Rochester, New York.
On June 10, 1916, Keough was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Hartford by Bishop John Joseph Nilan. His first assignment was as a curate at in Meriden, where he remained until becoming private secretary to Bishop Nilan in 1919. He also served as diocesan director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, assistant chancellor, and chaplain of two institutions.
On February 10, 1934, Keough was appointed the fourth Bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, by Pope Pius XI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 22 from Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, with Archbishop John Murray and Bishop James Edwin Cassidy serving as co-consecrators. During his tenure in Providence, the Catholic population of the diocese increased from 325,000 to 425,000, and the number of clergy grew by fifty percent. He also founded a minor seminary, eased tensions between the French-speaking and English-speaking members of his congregation, and reduced the heavy financial debts burdening the diocese.
On November 29, 1947, Keough was named by Pope Pius XII to succeed Michael Joseph Curley as the eleventh Archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland. He was formally installed in the Basilica of the Assumption on February 24, 1948. During the fourteen years of his administration, the Catholic population of the archdiocese, the first Catholic see in the United States, grew from 265,000 to 400,000. The new Cathedral of Mary Our Queen and many new schools, homes, orphanages and other institutions were built. He was a trustee of the Catholic University of America and a member of the American Board of Catholic Missions, and served three terms as chairman of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. Keough was known as the "Archbishop of the poor" due to his dedication to orphans and the aged. He was named an Assistant at the Pontifical Throne in 1959.
Keough died from cerebral thrombosis, aged 70.Episcopal succession
