Thomas Patrick Collins, M.M. (January 13, 1915 – December 7, 1973) 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 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which 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.Tho ...

and

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 ...

. As a member of the

Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America Maryknoll is a name shared by a number of related Catholic organizations, including the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers (also known as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America or the Maryknoll Society), the Maryknoll Sisters, and the Mary ...

(Maryknoll) he was assigned to missions in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. He served as the

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pr ...

of the Pando from 1961 to 1968.

Early life and education

Thomas Collins was born in the

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and was one of seven children. He was educated at Sacred Heart School and studied for the priesthood at seminaries in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is th ...

and Venard before being ordained a priest on June 21, 1942.

Priesthood

Brown spent his entire career in the Maryknoll Misson in Bolivia. He did pastoral work in a mission station from the Mission Center at

Riberalta Riberalta is a town in the Beni Department in northern Bolivia, situated where the Madre de Dios River joins the Beni River. Riberalta is on the south (south east) bank of the Beni River. As the capital of the province of Vaca Diez, the city ha ...

Episcopacy

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 28 Oc ...

appointed Collins as 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 a ...

of ''Sufetula'' and Vicar Apostolic of Pando on November 15, 1960. He was consecrated by Auxiliary Bishop Hugh Donohoe of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco on March 7, 1961. The principal co-consecrators were San Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Merlin Guilfoyle and Bishop John Comber, M.M., the Maryknoll Superior General. Collins attended all four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

(1962-1965). In 1967 he returned to Mountain View for medical treatment. His resignation for health reasons was accepted by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo 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 to his death in Augus ...

in November 1968.

Later life and death

Bishop Collins became a resident at the Ferncliff Nursing Home in

Rhinebeck, New York Rhinebeck is a village in the town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,657 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well ...

. He died there on December 7, 1973 at the age of 58. His funeral was celebrated at Our Lady Queen of Apostles Chapel in the Maryknoll Center and was buried in the Maryknoll Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Thomas Patrick 1915 births 1973 deaths Clergy from San Francisco American Roman Catholic clergy of Irish descent American Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Bolivia 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bolivia 20th-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops Maryknoll Seminary alumni Maryknoll bishops Participants in the Second Vatican Council American expatriates in Bolivia Catholics from California Roman Catholic bishops of Pando