Marion Francis Forst (September 3, 1910 – June 2, 2007) 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 Dodge City 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 Kansas from 1960 to 1976, then as an

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 Kansas City in Kansas from 1976 to 1986.

Biography

Early life

One of eight children, Marion Forst was born on September 3, 1910, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, to Frank and Bertha (née Gulath) Forst. An uncle and two brothers were also priests. He learned to serve as an

altar boy An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helping bring up the gifts, and bringing up ...

in the first grade, and by the time he was in fourth grade he was teaching other boys how to serve. He studied at Kenrick Seminary in

Webster Groves Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 24,010 at the 2020 census. The city is home to the main campus of Webster University. Geography According to the United States ...

Priesthood

Forst was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood for the

Archdiocese of Saint Louis The Archdiocese of St. Louis () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of November 2024, the archdiocese is led by Archbishop Mitchell Thomas Rozans ...

by Archbishop John J. Glennon in Webster Groves, Missouri, on June 10, 1934.After his ordination, the archdiocese sent him to Denver, Colorado, for two years to serve as a

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 ...

at Blessed Sacrament Church. He returned to Missouri in 1936 to serve at Queen of Peace Church in Glendale. Forst was then assigned as a curate at St. Theresa Church in St. Louis in 1943. After the entry of the United States into

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he enlisted in the US Navy Chaplain Corps. After his discharge from the Navy in 1946, Forst was appointed pastor of St. Mary's Church in

Cape Girardeau Cape Girardeau ( , ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540, making it the 17th-largest in the state. The city is one o ...

. When

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 ...

erected the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in 1956, Bishop Charles Helmsing appointed Forst 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 ...

Bishop of Dodge City

On January 2, 1960, Forst was appointed as second bishop of Dodge City by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

. He received his

episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

consecration 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 ( ...

at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Annunciation in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on March 24, 1960, from Bishop Charles Herman Helmsing. Bishops

Mark Kenny Carroll Mark Kenny Carroll (November 19, 1896 – January 12, 1985) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Wichita in Kansas from 1947 to 1967. Biography Early life One of twelve children, Mark Ca ...

and Leo Christopher Byrne served as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. Between 1962 and 1965, Forst 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 ...

in Rome. He later described it as "the paramount event of all isepiscopal years... ndthe best thing that happened to the church in the 20th century." During his tenure, Forst established several new offices and ministries in the diocese, including Catholic Social Service, the Office of Religious Education, Family Life Office, Religious Education for the Handicapped, the ''Southwest Kansas Register'' diocesan newspaper, Office of

Mexican American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexico, Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the Unite ...

Affairs, and the Youth/Young Adults Office. He was an opponent of denying federal aid to

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

s, which he believed was "a smoke screen" designed "to get rid of these schools."

Auxiliary Bishop of Kansas City

After sixteen years as bishop Dodge City, Forst submitted his resignation due to poor health to the Vatican on October 16, 1976.

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 ...

named him as the auxiliary bishop of Kansas City in Kansas 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 ...

that same day. He remained in this capacity for ten years, when he resigned both posts on December 23, 1986.

Death and legacy

Forst died on June 2, 2007 at Olathe Medical Center in

Olathe, Kansas Olathe ( ) is the county seat of Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is the List of cities in Kansas#Highest population listing, fourth-most populous city in both the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas, with a 2020 Uni ...

, at age 96. At the time of his death, he was the oldest Catholic bishop in the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forst, Marion Francis Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis 1910 births 2007 deaths Clergy from St. Louis Kenrick–Glennon Seminary alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Participants in the Second Vatican Council United States Navy chaplains Roman Catholic bishops of Dodge City Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas