Bishop Matthias Loras (1792-1858)

Today marks the death of Bishop Matthias Loras (1792-1858), first Bishop of Dubuque, Iowa. Born in Lyons during the French Revolution, he lost seventeen relatives to the Reign of Terror(including his father when he was ten weeks old). At school he befriended Jean Vianney, the future saint. After his ordination in 1815, he spent a dozen years in seminary work. In 1828 he volunteered to work in the United States with fellow Lyons native Bishop Michael Portier, Bishop of Mobile, Alabama. In Mobile he served as Portier’s Vicar General (the bishop’s second-in-command). In 1837 he was ordained a bishop and assigned to a diocese that covered all of Iowa, most of Minnesota, and the Dakotas east of the Missouri River. During his tenure in Dubuque he founded nearly fifty churches and brought three religious orders to Iowa, and the Catholic population increased from two thousand to 54,000. In 1839 he founded St. Raphael Seminary, now known as Loras College. Not too long ago, Loras was a popular name for Iowa Catholic parents to give their sons, and many girls were named DeLoras.