Patrick James Byrne, M.M. (October 26, 1888 – November 25, 1950) 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 for missions in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He served as the Prefect Apostolic of Pyongyang from 1927 to 1929, Prefect Apostolic of Kyoto from 1937 to 1940,

Apostolic Visitor In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor (or ''Apostolic Visitator''; Italian: Visitatore apostolico) is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration. The visitor is deputed ...

to Korea from 1947 to 1949, and the

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

to Korea from 1949 to 1950. He died under custody in Korea.

Early life

Born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Patrick Byrne was raised in Auburn, NY, during his school age years, and attended Holy Family School. His education was continued by the

Sulpicians The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (; PSS), also known as the Sulpicians, is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, where it was founded. The members of the Society add the ...

at St. Charles College in

Ellicott City, Maryland Ellicott City is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its ...

, and St. Mary's Seminary in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. He was ordained as priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore on June 23, 1915.

Priest

A week after he was ordained, Byrne was given permission by Cardinal

James Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 unti ...

to enter Maryknoll. He served the community in a variety of capacities. He supervised construction projects at Maryknoll and at

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

, and then served as the rector of both seminaries. He was the editor of ''Field Afar'', and he served as the community's

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 treasurer. In 1923 Byrne organized the first Maryknoll Mission to Korea. On November 9, 1927,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

named him the

Prefect Apostolic An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Pyongyang. In 1929 he was a delegate to the first General Chapter of Maryknoll and he was elected the Assistant Superior General. He resigned his position as Prefect Apostolic on August 12, 1929, to take up his new responsibilities. In 1935 Byrne reentered the mission field, this time in

Kyoto, Japan Kyoto ( or ; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most pop ...

. Pope Pius XI named him the Prefect Apostolic of Kyoto on June 18, 1937. He resigned this office on October 10, 1940, in favor of a Japanese priest. Because of his charitable reputation he was not imprisoned during the

Second World War 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 ...

, but held under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

. He made radio broadcasts on behalf of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

to calm the Japanese people as the Americans occupied Japan at the conclusion of the war.

Bishop

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 Byrne Apostolic Visitor of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

to Korea on July 17, 1947. On April 7, 1949, Pope Pius named him 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 Gazera and the first Apostolic Delegate to Korea. Byrne was consecrated a bishop on June 14, 1949, by Auxiliary Bishop of New York

Thomas McDonnell Thomas McDonnell ( – 8 November 1899) was a 19th-century New Zealand public servant, military leader and writer. Biography Childhood and early life McDonnell was born to Thomas McDonnell Sr., an early British merchant and speculator who s ...

. The principal co-consecrators were Bishops Paul Marie Kinam Ro, Apostolic Vicar of Seoul, and Andrien-Joseph Larribeau, Apostolic Vicar emeritus of Seoul. He was in Seoul when North Korea forces invaded South Korea in June 1950 and occupied the city. He was arrested by the

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

on July 2, 1950, and put on trial. He was placed on a march that went through the former Maryknoll Mission territory to the

Yalu River The Yalu River () or Amnok River () is a river on the border between China and North Korea. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between China and North Korea. Its valle ...

. Byrne was put of trial again in Pyongyong and was forced on another march that lasted four months. The weather was bad and there was little food or shelter. Byrne came down with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and died on November 25, 1950, at the age of 62. He was buried by fellow prisoner, Monsignor Thomas F. Quinlan, S.S.C, who was the Prefect Apostolic of Chuncheon.

Notes

References

8.https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/deceased-fathers-bro/bishop-patrick-j-byrne-mm/ ;Additional sources * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrne, Patrick James 1888 births 1950 deaths Religious leaders from Washington, D.C. St. Charles College (Maryland) alumni St. Mary's Seminary and University alumni American Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Korea Roman Catholic missionaries in Japan 20th-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Maryknoll bishops Apostolic nuncios to South Korea American missionaries in Japan Deaths from pneumonia in South Korea American people who died in prison custody American people imprisoned in North Korea Prisoners who died in North Korean detention 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Korea Roman Catholic bishops of Pyongyang