Christopher Edward Byrne
Christopher Edward Byrne was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Galveston from 1918 until his death in 1950.Biography
Christopher Byrne was born in Byrnesville, Missouri, to Patrick and Rose Byrne. After attending the village school where his father taught, he studied at St. Mary's College in Kansas, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1886. He then studied for the priesthood at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. Returning to Missouri, he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick on September 23, 1891.
Byrne then served as a curate at in St. Louis until 1897, when he became pastor of in Columbia. In 1898 he took a leave due to poor health and lived at San Antonio, Texas, before returning to Missouri. He was pastor of in Edina from 1899 to 1910, and was transferred to Holy Name Church at St. Louis in 1911. He erected churches and schools at every assignment, and for many years he also did editorial work on the Catholic newspaper The Church Progress. He also served as diocesan director of the Holy Name Society and member of the Diocesan School Board.
On July 18, 1918, Byrne was appointed the fourth Bishop of Galveston, Texas, by Pope Benedict XV. He received his episcopal consecration on the following November 10 from Archbishop John J. Glennon, with Bishops Thomas Francis Lillis and John Baptist Morris serving as co-consecrators. His expressed priority as bishop was vocations, saying, "If Catholicism has not taken that deep hold on the people which will make them dedicate their young to God's service, it cannot endure." During his tenure he ordained about 130 priests and received several hundred people into religious communities. He also increased the number of Catholics in the diocese from 70,000 to 200,000, and the number of schools from 51 to over 100.
Byrne later died from a heart attack at age 82. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Galveston.
