John Selby Spence (May 19, 1909 – March 7, 1973) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as titular bishop of

Aggersel Aggersel was an ancient city in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis. Aggersel was a former Roman Catholic Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and is now a titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former ...

and

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 Washington In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

in the District of Columbia from 1964 until his death in 1973.

Biography

Early life

John Spence was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

on May 19, 1909. He attended

St. Mary’s Seminary St. Mary's Seminary and University is a Catholic seminary located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland; it was the first seminary founded in the United States after the Revolution and has been run since its founding by th ...

in Baltimore, Maryland then went to the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Prie ...

in Rome.

Priesthood

Spence was ordained into the priesthood in Rome by Cardinal

Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani (1 October 1871 – 13 January 1951) was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, Vicar General of His Holiness, Secretary of the Holy Office, ...

to the priesthood on December 5, 1933, for the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Spence was incardinated, or transferred, to the new Archdiocese of Washington when it split from the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1939. Spence also served as the archdiocesan director of education in 1948. As such, he was tasked by the archbishop with ending

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

at all of the archdiocesan schools. Spence was also the founding pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in

Chillum, Maryland Chillum is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, bordering Washington, D.C., and Montgomery County. In addition to being its own unincorporated neighborhood, Chillum is also a ce ...

, in 1951 and pastor of the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Parish in Washington in 1958. Spence served as coordinator for the archdiocese for its participation in the

1963 March on Washington Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

, in which

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his a ...

gave his famous "

I have a dream "I Have a Dream" is a Public speaking, public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, Kin ...

" speech.

Auxiliary Bishop of Washington

On March 17, 1964,

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

appointed Spence as an auxiliary bishop of Washington and titular bishop of

; he was consecrated at the

Shrine of the Immaculate Conception The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic Church (building), church in Downtown Atlanta, downtown Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The current church building was completed in 1873 and is the oldest ch ...

in Washington by Cardinal

Egidio Vagnozzi Egidio Vagnozzi (26 February 1906 – 26 December 1980) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as the second president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See from 1968 until his death, and was elevated ...

on May 19, 1964. He remained pastor at Sacred Heart Parish.

Death

John Spence died in Washington on March 7, 1973, at age 63.

References

1909 births 1973 deaths Religious leaders from Baltimore 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States {{US-RC-bishop-stub