Charles Arthur Brown, M.M. (August 20, 1919 – May 14, 1997) was an American-born

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

and

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. As a member of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll) he was assigned to missions in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. He served as the

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the Archdiocese of Santa Cruz from 1957 to 1997.

Early life and education

Charles Brown was born in the Highbridge section of the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, to James and Mary Jane (Sullivan) Brown and was one of 11 children. He was educated at Sacred Heart School and Cathedral College, a

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

for the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York ...

. He entered Maryknoll following graduation and entered Venard Apostolic College in

Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania Clarks Summit is a borough in Lackawanna County, northwest of Scranton in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 5,108 at the 2020 census. It is also the northern control city of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension, I-476, th ...

. He completed his studies for the priesthood at Maryknoll Seminary in New York before being ordained a priest on June 9, 1946.

Priesthood

Brown spent his entire career in the Maryknoll Mission in Bolivia. He did pastoral work in

Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...

before being the named the National Director of Vocations by the Bolivian bishops in 1953. In the fall of the same year, he became pastor at St. Peter's parish in

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

. Brown also held Maryknoll leadership positions in South America.

Episcopacy

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

appointed Brown as the

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Vallis'' and Auxiliary Bishop of Santa Cruz on November 29, 1956. He was consecrated a bishop by Cardinal

Francis Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Archbishop of New York from 1939 until his death in 1967. F ...

at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York on February 27, 1957. The principal co-consecrators were New York Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Flannelly and Coadjutor Bishop Luis Aníbal Rodríguez Pardo of Santa Cruz. He attended all four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

(1962-1965). He served the diocese, and later, Archdiocese of Santa Cruz as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

and helped to organize a pre-seminary. He remained as the auxiliary bishop until his resignation was accepted by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in August 1995.

Later life and death

Bishop Brown continued to reside in Santa Cruz, but because his health was declining he was only able to provide limited ministry. He went to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1996 at the invitation of Pope John Paul II to celebrate a special

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

Mass of thanksgiving at St. Peter’s Basilica for all priests, who like the pope, were ordained in 1946. Brown was unable to take part in the Mass as he was taken ill. His need for medical treatment became more urgent upon his return to Santa Cruz and he returned to New York. He was treated at

New York University Medical Center NYU Langone Health is an integrated academic health system located in New York City, New York, United States. The health system consists of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, both part of New Y ...

before moving to St. Teresa’s Residence at Maryknoll. He spent a few days there before he was hospitalized again and he died on May 14, 1997, at Phelps Memorial Hospital in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, Unit ...

. His funeral was celebrated by Cardinal

John O'Connor John O'Connor may refer to: Clergy * John O'Connor (Archdeacon of Emly) ( 1854–1904), Archdeacon of Emly, 1880–1904 * John J. O'Connor (bishop of Newark) (1855–1927), Roman Catholic Bishop of Newark * John O'Connor (priest) (1870–1952), ...

of New York at Our Lady Queen of Apostles Chapel in the Maryknoll Center. He had another funeral in Santa Cruz and was laid to rest in the Cathedral-Basilica of San Lorenzo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Charles Arthur 1919 births 1997 deaths Religious leaders from the Bronx American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent American Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Bolivia 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bolivia 20th-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops Maryknoll Seminary alumni Maryknoll bishops Participants in the Second Vatican Council American missionaries in Bolivia Catholics from New York (state) Roman Catholic bishops of Santa Cruz de la Sierra