John Joyce Russell
John Joyce Russell was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as Bishop of Richmond from 1958 to 1973.Biography
John Russell was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to John and Mary Russell. He received his early education at Calvert Hall and Loyola High School. From 1912-17, he studied at St. Charles College in Ellicott City. He earned his Master of Arts degree from St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore in 1919, and a Doctor of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome in 1923. He was ordained to the priesthood on July 8, 1923.
Following his return to Baltimore, Russell served as a curate at St. Martin Church from 1923-37. He also served as diocesan director of Catholic Big Brothers and of the Holy Name Societes. From 1929-46, he was diocesan director of the Catholic Evidence Guild. He was pastor of St. Ursula Parish in Baltimore from 1937 to 1946, and was named a domestic prelate in 1945. He then served as pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. and diocesan director of Catholic Charities. From 1948-50, he was pastor of the Church of the Nativity.
On January 28, 1950, Russell was appointed Bishop of Charleston by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following March 14 from Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, with Archbishop Patrick O'Boyle and Bishop John Michael McNamara serving as co-consecrators. His relative William Thomas Russell had previously served as the Bishop of Charleston.
Russell was later named the tenth Bishop of Richmond on July 3, 1958, being installed as such on September 30 of that same year. From 1962 to 1965 he attended the Second Vatican Council. In implementing the Council's reforms, Bishop Russell established a Diocesan Commission on Ecumenical Affairs in 1963, and a Diocesan Pastoral Council and a Council of Priests in 1966. A champion of civil rights, he had the parents of prospective students for Richmond's Catholic schools be interviewed for signs of racism.
After fourteen years of service, he resigned as Bishop of Richmond on April 28, 1973. Russell later died at St. Joseph's Home in Richmond, run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, at the age of 95.
Russell was a schoolmate of Francis J. Parater, now a Servant of God.
