Robert William Muench (born December 28, 1942) is 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 ...

. Muench served as bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge in Louisiana from 2002 to 2018. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Covington in Kentucky from 1996 to 2002 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans in Louisiana from 1990 to 1996.

Biography

Early life

Robert Muench was born on December 28, 1942, in

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, to William Anthony and Mary Kathryn (née Allgeier) Muench; he has three sisters, Jo Ann, Mary Alice, and Marsha. When he was age three, the family moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. Muench attended Jefferson Davis and St. Leo the Great primary schools in New Orleans. In 1956, Muench entered Saint Joseph Seminary in Saint Benedict, Louisiana. He graduated from the high school and junior college program in 1962. He graduated from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans in 1964, earning a Bachelor of Philosophy degree From 1964 to 1968, Muench studied at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

in Washington, D.C., earning a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum an ...

degree and completing his seminary studies. He also attended courses at

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the nam ...

and the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a Public university, public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. First opened in 1958 as Louisiana State University in New Orleans, it is the largest public university and one of t ...

Priesthood

On May 18, 1968, Muench 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 by Archbishop

Philip Hannan Philip Matthew Hannan (May 20, 1913 – September 29, 2011) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church. He served as auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, Archdiocese of Washington from ...

for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. After his ordination, Muench joined the faculty of St. John Vianney Preparatory School in New Orleans He worked there until 1977, serving as religion teacher,

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

director, guidance counselor, and eventually rector. Muench also assisted at various

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

in New Orleans. In 1976, he became associate pastor of St. Matthias Parish in New Orleans, later becoming pastor. In 1977, Muench also became the vicar for Christian formation, but was moved in 1981 to director of vocations. In 1983, he was named director of the Pope John XXIII House for Vocation Discernment and executive assistant to Archbishop Hannan. After being named by the Vatican as an honorary prelate of his holiness in 1985, Muench was named by the archbishop 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 ...

(1989) and moderator of the curia (1990) for the archdiocese.

Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans

On May 8, 1990,

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 Muench 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 Diocese of New Orleans and titular bishop of Mactaris''.'' He was consecrated on June 29, 1990, at Saint Louis, Cathedral in New Orleans by Archbishop Francis Schulte, with Hannan and then Bishop John Favalora serving 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 ...

. Muench selected as his episcopal motto, ''"Jesus Must Increase"'' John 3:30.

Bishop of Covington

On January 5, 1996, John Paul II appointed Muench as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Covington. He was installed on March 19, 1995, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky. Muench served as a board member of St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Northern Kentucky, chancellor of Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Kentucky, and a member of the Committee on Priestly Formation within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He also initiated renovations of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption

Bishop of Baton Rouge

On December 15, 2001, John Paul II appointed Muench as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge . He was installed at St. Joseph Cathedral in Baton Rouge on March 14, 2002, with Archbishop Alfred Hughes presiding. Muench also served on the board of trustees of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans and Saint Joseph Seminary College. On November 12, 2004, the Diocese of Baton Rouge settled a sexual abuse lawsuit brought by a Baton Rouge man. The plaintiff claimed that the late Bishop Joseph Sullivan had abused him when the man was 17 years old in 1975. Muench authorized the settlement, calling the accusations credible. He promised to rename the Bishop Sullivan High School before the next school term. Following

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

in 2005, Muench joined Hughes and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco in a televised appearance declaring a

day of prayer A Day of Prayer is a day allocated to prayer, either by leaders of religions or the general public, for a specific purpose. Such days are usually Ecumenism, ecumenical in nature, and are usually are treated as commemorative in nature, rather than ...

for the state of Louisiana. On June 26, 2018,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted Muench's letter of resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Baton Rouge after Muench reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge Official Site

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muench, Robert William 1942 births Living people Brother Martin High School alumni Loyola University New Orleans alumni Notre Dame Seminary alumni Religious leaders from Louisville, Kentucky Catholic Church in Louisiana Roman Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge Roman Catholic bishops of Covington Catholic University of America alumni