Robert Fraser (10 August 1858 – 28 March 1914) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishop who served as the Bishop of Dunkeld from 1913 to 1914.

Life

Born in

Kennethmont Kennethmont (archaically Kinnethmont) is a village in the Marr area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately south of Huntly. It has a population of approximately 470 people. Kennethmont children attend Kennethmont Primary School and the Gordo ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, Scotland on 10 August 1858, he was educated at the junior seminary St Mary's College, Blairs, St. Edmund's in Douai, and the

Scots College (Rome) The Scots College (or The Pontifical Scots College) (Italian: Il Pontificio Collegio Scozzese) in Rome is the main seminary for the training of men for the priesthood from the dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. History The Scots C ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood on 13 August 1882. He served as a professor at Blairs from 1883 to 1897, when he was appointed rector of the Scots College, a post he held until 1913. Fraser wrote the article on the "Scots College" for the ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. Fraser was made a

domestic prelate Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

in 1898, and a

Protonotary apostolic In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

in 1904. He was appointed the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Diocese of Dunkeld The Diocese of Dunkeld was one of the 13 historical dioceses of Scotland preceding the abolition of Episcopacy in 1689. History It is thought that the diocese was constituted as far back as the middle of the ninth century. The first occupant ...

by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

on 14 May 1913, and

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

to the

Episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on 25 May 1913. The principal consecrator was Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val y Zulueta, and the principal co-consecrators were Archbishop Thomas Francis Kennedy, Rector of 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 Pri ...

and Donald Aloysius Mackintosh,

Coadjutor Archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He died in office on 28 March 1914, aged 55.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Robert (bishop) 1858 births 1914 deaths People from Aberdeenshire 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Scotland Bishops of Dunkeld (Roman Catholic, Post-Reformation) People educated at Blairs College Contributors to the Catholic Encyclopedia Scottish Roman Catholic bishops