James John Keane (August 26, 1857 – August 2, 1929) was an American prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Cheyenne in

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

from 1902 to 1911, and then as archbishop of the

Archdiocese of Dubuque The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in the northeastern quarter of the state of Iowa in the United States. The Diocese of Dubuque was erected in 1837 and ...

in Iowa from 1911 until his death in 1929.

Biography

Early life

James Keane was born August 26, 1857, in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...

. When he was a young child, the family moved to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. He was educated at St. John's Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota, St. Francis Xavier College in New York City and the

Grand Séminaire de Montréal The Grand séminaire de Montréal (, "Major Seminary of Montreal") is the centre for priestly formation of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal. History The institution was founded by the Sulpicians in 1840 at the request of the then-Bis ...

in Montreal, Quebec.

Priesthood

Keane was ordained a priest in Montreal by Archbishop

Édouard-Charles Fabre Édouard-Charles Fabre (; February 28, 1827 – December 30, 1896) was Bishop of Montréal in 1876 and first Archbishop of Montreal in 1886. Life Fabre was the eldest of 11 children in an important Montreal business family. His father Édou ...

on December 23, 1882, for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul. After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned Keane as an assistant pastor in parishes within the archdiocese. He soon became a faculty member of the

College of St. Thomas The University of St. Thomas (also known as UST or simply St. Thomas) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university with campuses in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Fo ...

in St. Paul, Minnesota. Keane was named president of St. Thomas in 1882, He left that position in 1892 to become pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Bishop of Cheyenne

On June 10, 1902

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

appointed Keane as the third bishop of Cheyenne. He was consecrated at the Cathedral of Saint Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota, on October 28, 1902, by Archbishop

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian-American actor and film director. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in New York City, he came to prominence with film audiences for his supporting roles i ...

. Bishops Joseph Cotter and James McGolrick were the principal co-consecrators. Keane came to

at a time of increasing population and economic expansion. Keane needed to recruit priests who would be willing to work in the difficult environment of Wyoming, and was successful in doing so. The diocese was incorporated according to the laws of the state of Wyoming. The parishes of the diocese were likewise incorporated with the bishop, the pastor and two lay trustees serving as a corporate board at each parish. He obtained funding from the newly formed Catholic Church Extension Society in Chicago, Illinois, to expand the Catholic presence across Wyoming. Keane also directed the building of Cheyenne's St. Mary's Cathedral and a new episcopal residence. He dedicated the new cathedral in 1909.

Archbishop of Dubuque

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

named James Keane as the third archbishop of Dubuque on August 11, 1911. James Keane would gain the nickname "Hickory" due to his stern nature. Along with the Keane appointment, Pius X erected the new

Diocese of Des Moines The Diocese of Des Moines () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southwestern Iowa in the United States. It is a suffragan see in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque. ...

out of the western part of the archdiocese. One of Keane's interests as archbishop was Columbia College, the Catholic college in Dubuque. When he came to Dubuque, Columbia had an enrollment of 330 and a staff of 20. By the time he died, it had an enrollment of 700 and a faculty of 48. He began an

endowment fund A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are ...

for the college in 1917; it became one of only seven Catholic educational institutions in the U.S. with an endowment fund of at least one million dollars. Keane secured a $200,000 donation from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

for the college. Columbia College is now Loras College. A strong believer in Catholic education, Keane insisted that all Catholics in the archdiocese support the parochial schools, even if they did not have children attending them. He also started the diocesan newspaper, the ''Witness''. Keane was a staunch supporter of the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

in the United States and spoke out frequently against

alcohol consumption Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

. He also served on the American Commission on Conditions in Ireland of 1920, organized to resolve the armed conflict in Ireland between the United Kingdom and the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

. Keane gained national attention as a speaker in 1926 at the World Alliance for International Friendship Through the Churches in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, his address being broadcast nationally on radio. Keane decreed that Catholics in his diocese who went dancing on Saturday nights should be denied communion at

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

Death and legacy

James Keane died on August 2, 1929, in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

. He was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in

Key West, Iowa Key West is an unincorporated community in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, near the extreme southern end of the city of Dubuque. Parts of the community are now within the city of Dubuque, while others are unincorporated. Owing to the presenc ...

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kane, James 1857 births 1929 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Saint John's University School of Theology–Seminary alumni University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Roman Catholic bishops of Cheyenne Roman Catholic archbishops of Dubuque People from Joliet, Illinois Religious leaders from Minnesota Catholics from Illinois