See Savannah Name Thomas Andrew Consecration August 16, 1868 | Term ended July 29, 1899 Successor Benjamin Joseph Keiley Installed May 16, 1886 Education University of Virginia Ordination July 18, 1859 | |
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Other posts Bishop of Wilmington (1868-86) Born December 20, 1832
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ( 1832-12-20 ) Died July 29, 1899, Washington, Georgia, United States | ||
Denomination Roman Catholic Church Predecessor William Hickley Gross | ||
Thomas Albert Andrew Becker (December 20, 1832 – July 29, 1899) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware (1868–86) and the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia (1886–99).
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Early life and education
Thomas Becker was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to German Protestant parents. After attending the Allegheny Institute, he entered the Western University of Pennsylvania and later completed his studies at the University of Virginia. In Virginia, he met Bishop John McGill, who persuaded him to convert to Catholicism. After being received into the Catholic Church, he decided to enter the priesthood and went to Rome in 1854 to study at the Urban College of Propaganda. He there received a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree.
Ordination and ministry
On July 18, 1859, Becker was ordained a priest by Cardinal Costantino Patrizi Naro at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Following his return to the United States, he was assigned to a mission including Martinsburg and Berkeley Springs in West Virginia. When his churches were turned into barracks during the Civil War, he was appointed to the faculty of Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he served as professor of theology, ecclesiastical history, and Sacred Scriptures. He later became secretary to Archbishop Martin Spalding, whom he assisted in the preparation for the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866. He afterwards served as pastor of St. Peter's Church in Richmond.
Bishop of Wilmington
On March 3, 1868, Becker was appointed the first Bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Wilmington by Pope Pius IX. He received his episcopal consecration on the following August 16 from Archbishop Martin Spalding, with Bishops Richard Whelan and John McGill serving as co-consecrators. He selected as his episcopal motto: Ora pro Nobis (Latin: "Pray for us").
At that time, the Diocese of Wilmington comprised the entire state of Delaware, nine counties of Maryland, and two counties of Virginia, east of the Chesapeake Bay, known collectively as the Delmarva Peninsula. During his 18-year tenure, Becker oversaw a three-fold increase in the number of priests and a doubling of the number of churches. He also established an orphanage and academy for boys, an academy for girls, and two additional parochial schools. He wrote a series of articles on the idea of a Catholic university, which attracted wide attention, and was an outspoken supporter of the temperance movement.
Bishop of Savannah
On March 26, 1886, Becker was appointed the sixth Bishop of Savannah by Pope Leo XIII. He was installed on the following May 16. During his tenure, he added an episcopal residence to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, which he completed with the building of spires in 1896. After the cathedral was nearly destroyed by a fire in 1898, he solicited funds for its rebuilding.
Becker died at age 66.