Robert John Rose (February 28, 1930 – March 2, 2022) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

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 ...

. Rose served as bishop of the

Diocese of Gaylord The Diocese of Gaylord () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the northern region of the lower peninsula of Michigan in the United States. The diocese is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical pr ...

in Michigan from 1981 to 1989 and as bishop of the

Diocese of Grand Rapids The Diocese of Grand Rapids () is a Latin Church diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church in West Michigan, western Michigan in the United States. It comprises 80 parishes in 11 counties. It is a suffragan see to the Archdiocese of De ...

in Michigan from 1989 to 2003.

Biography

Early life

Robert Rose was born in

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, on February 28, 1930, to Urban Henry and Maida Ann (née Glerum) Rose. Rose attended St. Francis Xavier School in Grand Rapids and in 1944 entered St. Joseph's Seminary in the same city. In 1950, Rose completed his final two years of college at the Grand Seminary of Montreal. In 1952, Rose entered the Pontifical Urban College in Rome, where he earned a

Licentiate of Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology (; abbreviated LTh or STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred ...

in 1956.

Priesthood

On December 21, 1955, Rose 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 Diocese of Grand Rapids at the Pontifical Urban College by Cardinal Clemente Micara. Following his return to Grand Rapids, Rose became a professor at St. Joseph's Seminary in August 1956. Working there for 13 years, he taught religion,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, Greek, French and music (chant). Rose earned a Master of Arts degree from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1962. In July 1966, Rose became dean of the college department at St. Joseph's Seminary, and served as director of the

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

program from 1969 to 1971. In June 1971, he was appointed rector of St. John's Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan. In August 1977, Rose was named

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of Sacred Heart Parish in

Muskegon Heights, Michigan Muskegon Heights is a city in Muskegon County in the U.S. state of Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares w ...

Bishop of Gaylord

On October 13, 1981,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed Rose as the second bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord. He was installed and consecrated on December 6, 1981, by Archbishop

Edmund Szoka Edmund Casimir Szoka (September 14, 1927 – August 20, 2014) was an American Catholic prelate who served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and president of the Governorate of Vatican City State from 1997 to 2006. H ...

, with Bishops Joseph M. Breitenbeck and Joseph McKinney serving as co-consecrators, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Gaylord. Rose chose as his episcopal motto the Biblical phrase "in the Name of the Lord!",.

Bishop of Grand Rapids

On June 24, 1989, John Paul II appointed Rose as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids. He was installed on August 30, 1989. Rose created lay leadership programs, revamped the Hispanic ministry and presented forums and events focused on

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

in the diocese. He established the Catholic Foundation of West Michigan among other institutions. In 2002, the Diocese of Grand Rapids acknowledged that it had paid a $500,000 settlement in 1994 to three women who were

sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is r ...

as minors by John Thomas Sullivan, a diocesan priest, during the late 1950s. The women did not report the crimes to the diocese until 1993. Records showed that Bishop Allen Babcock, a previous bishop, had accepted Sullivan into the diocese even though Sullivan had previously fathered a child in the Diocese of Manchester in New Hampshire. Rose said that it should have never happened.

Personal life

On October 13, 2003, John Paul II accepted Rose's retirement as bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids. He moved to St. Camillus Woods, a residence for retired priests, in

Byron Township, Michigan Byron Township is a civil township of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 26,927 at the 2010 census, an increase from 20,317 at the 2010 census. Byron Township is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area and is loc ...

. Robert Rose died on March 2, 2022, at the age of 92.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids Official Site

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, Robert John 1930 births 2022 deaths University of Michigan alumni 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic bishops of Gaylord Roman Catholic bishops of Grand Rapids 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Grand Séminaire de Montréal alumni Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide alumni