Thomas Albert Andrew Becker

Styles of
**Thomas Albert Andrew Becker**
Styles of; Thomas Albert Andrew Becker
Reference style	His Excellency; The Most Reverend;
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Thomas Albert Andrew Becker
His Excellency, The Most Reverend; Thomas Albert Andrew Becker
Bishop of Savannah
See	Diocese of Savannah
Installed	May 16, 1886
Term ended	July 29, 1899
Predecessor	William Hickley Gross
Successor	Benjamin Joseph Keiley
Other post(s)	Bishop of Wilmington; (1868–1886)
Orders
Ordination	July 18, 1859
Consecration	August 16, 1868
Personal details
Born	December 20, 1832; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Died	July 29, 1899 (aged 66); Washington, Georgia, USA
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Education	Western University of Pennsylvania; University of Virginia
Motto	Ora pro nobis (Pray for us)

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 (1868–1886) and the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Savannah in Georgia (1886–1899).

Biography

Early life and education

Thomas Becker was born on December 20, 1832, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to German Protestant parents.^[1] After attending the Allegheny Institute, he entered the Western University of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh and then the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia.^[2] In Virginia, he met Bishop John McGill, who persuaded him to convert to Catholicism.^[3]

After his conversion, Becker decided to enter the priesthood. He travelled to Rome in 1854 to study at the Urban College of Propaganda, receiving a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree.

Ordination and ministry

On July 18, 1859, Becker was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Cardinal Costantino Naro at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.^[4] Following his return to the United States, Becker was assigned to a mission including Martinsburg and Berkeley Springs in what was then Virginia.^[1]

When Becker's churches were converted into barracks during the American Civil War, he moved to Emmitsburg, Maryland, to teach theology, ecclesiastical history, and Sacred Scriptures at Mount St. Mary's College.^[3] He later became secretary to Archbishop Martin Spalding, whom he assisted in preparing for the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866.^[2] Becker afterwards served as pastor of St. Peter's Parish in Richmond, Virginia.^[1]

Bishop of Wilmington

On March 3, 1868, Becker was appointed the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Wilmington by Pope Pius IX.^[4] He received his episcopal consecration on August 16, 1868, at the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore from Archbishop Martin Spalding, with Bishops Richard Whelan and John McGill serving as co-consecrators.^[4] He selected Ora pro Nobis (Latin: "Pray for us") as his episcopal motto.^[5]

At that time, the Diocese of Wilmington comprised the Delmarva Peninsula, including all of Delaware and several counties of Maryland and Virginia.^[6] Becker oversaw a three-fold increase in the number of priests and a doubling of the number of churches.^[6] He established an orphanage and academy for boys, an academy for girls, and two additional parochial schools.^[6] 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.^[5]

Bishop of Savannah

On March 26, 1886, Becker was appointed the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Savannah by Pope Leo XIII.^[4] He was installed on May 16. 1886.^[4] During his tenure, Becker added an episcopal residence to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, which he completed with the building of spires in 1896.^[5] After the cathedral was nearly destroyed by a fire in 1898, he solicited funds for its rebuilding.^[5]

Thomas Becker died on July 29, 1899, at age 66, in Washington, Georgia.

Racism

Becker was known as a virulent racist, chiefly responsible for the introduction of Jim Crow policies into the Diocese of Savannah. One particularly notable incident involved his segregation of St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church in the city, which had been an interracial congregation. Becker personally separated the parish with an unannounced visit to the church in the middle of a Sunday Mass, where he reportedly declared: "You white people associating and mixing with the niggers will soon become worse than the niggers."^[7]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c "Thomas Andrew Becker". Catholic Encyclopedia.
^ ^a ^b Shea, John Gilmary (1886). The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the United States. New York: Catholic Publications.
^ ^a ^b Corcoran, James Andrew, ed. (1894). The American Catholic Quarterly Review. Vol. XIX. Philadelphia: Charles A. Hardy.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cheney, David M. "Bishop Thomas Albert Andrew Becker". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Right Reverend Thomas A. Becker, D.D." Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27.
^ ^a ^b ^c "A Brief History of the Diocese of Wilmington". Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington.
^ Hogan, Edmund M. (2016). The turning of a tide : Ignace Lissner and the Society of African Missions in the U.S.A. Rome. ISBN 978-1-5239-4971-7. OCLC 1179450242.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Thomas Andrew Becker". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Becker, Thomas Albert" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.

External links

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by None	Bishop of Wilmington 1868–1886	Succeeded by Alfred Allen Paul Curtis
Preceded by William Hickley Gross	Bishop of Savannah 1886–1899	Succeeded by Benjamin Joseph Keiley

[catholic-1] "Thomas Andrew Becker". Catholic Encyclopedia.

[shea-2] Shea, John Gilmary (1886). The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the United States. New York: Catholic Publications.

[review-3] Corcoran, James Andrew, ed. (1894). The American Catholic Quarterly Review. Vol. XIX. Philadelphia: Charles A. Hardy.

[hierarchy-4] Cheney, David M. "Bishop Thomas Albert Andrew Becker". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.

[diosav-5] "The Right Reverend Thomas A. Becker, D.D." Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27.

[cdow-6] "A Brief History of the Diocese of Wilmington". Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington.

[7] Hogan, Edmund M. (2016). The turning of a tide : Ignace Lissner and the Society of African Missions in the U.S.A. Rome. ISBN 978-1-5239-4971-7. OCLC 1179450242.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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v t e Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington
Bishops	Thomas Albert Andrew Becker Alfred Allen Paul Curtis John James Joseph Monaghan Edmond John Fitzmaurice Michael William Hyle Thomas Mardaga Robert Edward Mulvee Michael Angelo Saltarelli William Francis Malooly William Edward Koenig
Coadjutor bishop	Hubert James Cartwright
Churches	List List of churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington Cathedral Cathedral of St. Peter Parishes St. Joseph's Church, Greenville, DE St. John the Baptist Church, Newark, DE St. Joseph's Church, Middletown, DE St. Peter's Church, Queenstown, MD St. Francis Xavier Church, Warwick, MD Resurrection Church, Wilmington, DE Immaculate Conception Parish, Elkton, MD St. Anthony's Church, Wilmington, DE St. Catherine of Siena Church, Wilmington, DE St. Hedwig's Church, Wilmington, DE St. Joseph's Church, Wilmington, DE St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church, Wilmington, DE St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Wilmington, DE
Education	High schools Archmere Academy, Claymont, DE Padua Academy, Wilmington, DE Saints Peter and Paul High School, Easton, MD St. Elizabeth High School, Wilmington, DE St. Mark's High School, Wilmington, DE St. Thomas More Preparatory, Magnolia, DE Salesianum School, Wilmington, DE Ursuline Academy, Wilmington, DE Primary schools Mount Aviat Academy, Childs, MD St. Edmond's Academy, Wilmington, DE Immaculate Conception School, Elkton, MD Former college St. Mary's College
Priests	John Barres Benjamin Joseph Keiley
Catholicism portal

v t e Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah
Ordinaries	Bishops Francis Xavier Gartland John Barry Augustin Verot Ignatius Persico William Hickley Gross Thomas Albert Andrew Becker Benjamin Joseph Keiley Michael Joseph Keyes Gerald Patrick Aloysius O'Hara Thomas Joseph McDonough Gerard Louis Frey Raymond W. Lessard J. Kevin Boland Gregory John Hartmayer Stephen D. Parkes
Churches	Cathedral Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist
Education	High schools Aquinas High School Benedictine Military School Mount de Sales Academy Pacelli High School St. Vincent's Academy
Catholicism portal

Authority control databases
International	VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	United States