Francis Xavier Krautbauer (January 12, 1824 – December 17, 1885) was a German-born prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who served as the second bishop of the

Diocese of Green Bay The Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay ( la, Diocesis Sinus Viridis) was established on March 3, 1868, by Pope Pius IX. It covers the city of Green Bay, as well as Brown, Calumet, Door, Florence, Forest, Kewaunee, Langlade, Manitowoc, Mar ...

in Wisconsin from 1875 until his death in 1885.

Biography

Early life

Krautbauer was born on July 16, 1850, in Mappach, near

Bruck in der Oberpfalz Bruck in der Oberpfalz is a market town in the district of Schwandorf in the Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous co ...

in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

(now part of Germany) to Francis Xavier and Ursula (née Wendl) Krautbauer. He received his early education in Regensburg and Amberg, both in Bavaria. He began his studies for the priesthood at the Ducal Georgianum at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

Priesthood

While in Regensburg, Bishop

John Timon John Timon, C.M. (February 12, 1797 – April 16, 1867) was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of the new Diocese of Buffalo in Western New York and founder of the brothers of the Holy Infancy religious order. B ...

of the Diocese of Buffalo recruited Krautbauer to immigrate to the United States. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Buffalo on July 16, 1850, by Valentin von Riedel, the

bishop of Regensburg The Bishops of Regensburg (Ratisbon) are bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany.

. Travelling with future Bishop Rupert Seidenbusch, Krautbauer arrived in the United States in October 1850. After first briefly serving as assistant pastor at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Buffalo, Krautbauer in 1851 was appointed pastor of St. Peter's Parish in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in W ...

. St. Peter's served the local German Catholic community, who long fought against Krautbauer and Church leadership for control of the parish. In addition to his pastoral duties at St. Peter's, Krautbauer was named

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

of the diocese in 1858. He was soon transferred to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

to become chaplain of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, serving there from 1859 to 1875.

Bishop of Green Bay

On February 12, 1875, Krautbauer was appointed by Pope Pius IX to succeed the late Joseph Melcher as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay. He received his episcopal consecration on June 29, 1875, from Archbishop

John Henni John Martin Henni (June 15, 1805 – September 7, 1881) was a Swiss-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1843 until his death in 1881. Biography Early life a ...

, with Bishops Michael Heiss and

Thomas Grace Thomas Grace may refer to: * Thomas Grace (Archdeacon of Ardfert) (1770–1848), Irish priest * Thomas Grace (Archdeacon of Marlborough) (fl. 1873–1890), Anglican priest in New Zealand, son of the above * Thomas Grace (bishop of Sacramento) (1846 ...

serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee. Krautbauer oversaw a period of growth for the diocese. During his ten years in Green Bay, the number of Catholics in the diocese increased from 60,000 to 70,000, churches from 92 to 126, and priests from 63 to 96. A year before his death, there were also 44 parochial schools with over 5,000 students. He oversaw the planning and construction of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral (modeled after

Ludwigskirche Ludwigskirche in Old Saarbrücken, Germany, is a Lutheran baroque-style church. It is the symbol of the city and is considered to be one of the most important Protestant churches in Germany, along with the Dresden Frauenkirche and the St. Mich ...

in Munich), laying the cornerstone in 1876 and consecrating in 1881. Francis Krautbauer died in Green Bay on December 17, 1885, at age 61. He was buried under the floor of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral.

References

External links