Name Francis Krautbauer | Died December 17, 1885 | |
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Born June 12, 1828 ( 1828-06-12 ) Similar People Francis Xavier, Pope Innocent VIII, Otto II - Holy Roman Emperor, Pope Innocent XII, Pope Clement XIII | ||
Francis Xavier Krautbauer (June 12, 1828 – December 17, 1885) was a German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the second Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin.
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Early life, ordination and ministry
Born in Mappach, Bavaria, he received his early education in Regensburg, and afterward studied theology in the Ducal Georgianum in Munich. He was ordained to the priesthood, on June 16, 1850, for the Diocese of Buffalo, New York. arrived in the United States in October of the same year. After a short residence in Buffalo, he was appointed in 1851 pastor of St. Peter's Church, Rochester, where he also erected schools for boys and girls.
In 1859 Krautbauer went to Milwaukee to become spiritual director of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, at the same time attending the Church of Our Lady of the Angels. He remained in this post for over ten years, and the mother house of the sisterhood was built under his direction. In 1873 Krautbauer was shipwrecked on Lake Michigan and narrowly escaped drowning.
Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin
On February 12, 1875, Pope Pius IX appointed him Bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and he was consecrated bishop on June 29, 1875. Bishop Krautbauer found the administration of his diocese a work of great difficulty, as his flock embraced people from every country in Europe. Some congregations were made up of English-speaking Roman Catholics, Germans, Frenchmen, Hollanders, Bohemians, Walloons, Poles, and people of the First Nations.
He devoted special attention to the work of education, and in 1884 had 44 parochial schools, attended by 5,292 children. The number of churches increased from 92 to 126, and the number of priests from 63 to 96. Under his bishopric the Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier in Green Bay was planned and erected between 1876 and 1881.
Bishop Krautbauer died in Green Bay.