Father Clarence Walworth (1820-1900)

Today marks the death of Father Clarence Walworth, one of the original founding members of the Paulist Fathers. Born in upstate New York to a distinguished family, he was studying to be an Episcopalian priest when he converted to Roman Catholicism. He then joined the Redemptorists, where he met Paulist founder Isaac Hecker and the other founding members (all of whom were converts). Ordained in Europe, they went back to work in America. At that time, the Redemptorists were working mainly with the German immigrants, but these priests felt a strong call to work for the conversion of non-Catholic America. In 1858 they received permission to start the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, known as the Paulists. Eventually Walworth left the Paulists and worked as a diocesan priest in Albany, where he died in 1900. he is also famous for translating a hymn that is still in use, “Holy God We Praise Thy Name.”