Archbishop James P. Lyke, O.F.M. (1939-1992)

James Patterson Lyke, O.F.M. (February 18, 1939—December 27, 1992) was an African American clerygman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Atlanta from 1991 to 1992. James Lyke was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of seven children of Amos and Ora (née Sneed) Lyke. His father abandoned the family, and his mother was left to raise the children in impoverished surroundings, relying on welfare checks. The family lived in a flat, where there were no beds and the only source of heat was a coal stove, before moving to Wentworth Gardens, a Chicago housing project. His mother, a Baptist, sent James to a Catholic school in the fourth grade in order to keep him out of trouble, and did the church’s laundry to help pay the tuition. Shortly afterwards, she and six of her children, including James, converted to Catholicism. He joined the Franciscan order in 1959, studying at St. Francis Novitiate in Teutopolis, IL, and obtaining his bachelor of arts degree in philosophy at Our Lady of Angels House of Philosophy through Quincy College in Illinois. He held a master’s of divinity from St. Joseph Theological Seminary in Teutopolis and received a Ph.D. in theology in 1981 from The Union Graduate School in Cincinnati.n While serving as Auxiliary Bishop in the Diocese of Cleveland, Bishop Lyke Coordinated the hymnal project which produced Lead Me, Guide Me: the African American Catholic Hymnal in 1987. After the resignation of Archbishop Eugene Marino due to scandal in 1990, Bishop Lyke was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. He was installed as archbishop on June 24, 1991. Lyke died of cancer in 1992. At the time of his death, he was the highest-ranking black Catholic clergyman in the nation.

(From Wikipedia)