Joseph Rodgers (25 March 1903 – 10 July 1966) was an Irish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

who served as

Bishop of Killaloe The Bishop of Killaloe ( ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the town of Killaloe in County Clare, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bis ...

between 1955 and 1966.

Early life

Rodgers was born in Liss, in the parish of Killanena,

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, on 25 March 1903. He attended secondary school in St Flannan's College between 1915 and 1920. Rodgers entered

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

in September 1920, and was ordained to the priesthood in the College Chapel,

Maynooth Maynooth (; ) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's College, Maynoo ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

, on 19 June 1927.

Presbyteral ministry

Following his ordination, Rodgers returned to St Flannan's College as a teacher. He also obtained a Doctorate in Divinity.

Episcopal ministry

Coadjutor Bishop of Killaloe

Rodgers was named

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of Killaloe and

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 Sebela on 10 January 1948, and was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

by the Archbishop of Cashel-Emly, Jeremiah Kinane, on 7 March in the Pro-Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul,

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

. During his coadjutorship, he lived at Ashline House on the Kilrush Road in Ennis, which had been made available for him by the incumbent, Michael Fogarty, by means of an eviction.

Bishop of Killaloe

Following the death of Fogarty on 25 October 1955, Rodgers succeeded him as

on 29 October. He participated in 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 ...

Clonlara affair controversy

In May 1956, two members of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

were attacked in Doonass, near

Clonlara Clonlara, officially Cloonlara (), is a village in County Clare, Ireland, and a Roman Catholic parish of the same name. Village and amenities Clonlara is in the east of County Clare in the civil parish of Kiltonanlea or Doonass, barony of T ...

, which led to a

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

case in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

at which local

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

Fr. Patrick Ryan and nine of his parishioners were charged with assaulting the two members and maliciously damaging

IR£ The pound ( Irish: ) was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ (or £Ir for distinction.) The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin circulation until ...

3 worth of books, Bibles and other literature being distributed by them. All charges made against Ryan and his parishioners were dropped, in part due to an intervention on the part of Rodgers, who was present at the trial. The presiding judge declared that the two Jehovah’s Witnesses had been "guilty of blasphemy", and that they had "come into this village f Clonlaraand attack and outrage all that these simple Irishmen hold dear. I think the two men were lucky to escape so lightly." Rodgers was so outraged by the whole affair that he wrote to the then

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

John A. Costello John Aloysius Costello (20 June 1891 – 5 January 1976) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957. He was leader of the opposition from 1951 to 1954 and from 1957 to 1959 and attorney gene ...

, expressing his anger that the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

could proceed with the case "against one of is priestsfor upholding and defending the fundamental truths of our treasured Catholic faith", given the "pernicious and blasphemous literature distributed and sold in isdiocese" by the two members. While Costello was not unmindful of "the just indignation aroused among the clergy and the people by the activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses", he insisted that the law had to be upheld.

Death and burial

Rodgers took a walk in the garden of his Westbourne residence in Ennis on the evening of 10 July 1966, but suffered a heart attack and was found dead the following morning. He is buried in the grounds of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul,

References

External links

Bishop Joseph Rodgers
on

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with Rome. The website, not officially sanctioned by the Church, is run as a private pro ...

Bishop Joseph Rodgers
on GCatholic {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Joseph 1903 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland Roman Catholic bishops of Killaloe People educated at St Flannan's College Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Christian clergy from County Clare