Vincent Stanislaus Waters

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The Most Reverend

Vincent Stanislaus Waters
Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh
Diocese Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh
See Atlanta
Installed March 15, 1945
Term ended December 3, 1974
Predecessor Eugene J. McGuinness
Successor Francis Joseph Gossman
Other posts Chancellor of the Diocese of Richmond
Orders
Ordination December 8, 1931
Consecration May 15, 1945
Personal details
Birth name Vincent Stanislaus Waters
Born August 15, 1904
Roanoke, Virginia
Died December 3, 1974
Raleigh, North Carolina
Nationality American
Denomination Roman Catholic
Alma mater Belmont Abbey College

Vincent Stanislaus Waters (August 15, 1904—December 3, 1974) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina from 1945 until his death in 1974.

Biography

Early life and education

Vincent Waters was born in Roanoke, Virginia, to Michael Bernard and Mary Frances (née Crowley) Waters.[1] He attended Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina from 1920 to 1925, and then went to Maryland and studied at St. Charles College in Ellicott City (1925-1926) and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore (1926-1928).[1] He furthered his studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Ordination and ministry

Waters was ordained to the priesthood on December 8, 1931.[2] Following his return to Virginia in 1932, he served as a curate at Holy Cross Church in Lynchburg until 1936, when he was transferred to Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond.[1] He was chancellor of the Diocese of Richmond from 1936 to 1943, and director of the Diocesan Mission Fathers from 1943 to 1945.[1]

Bishop of Raleigh

On March 15, 1945, Waters was appointed the sixth Bishop of Raleigh, North Carolina, by Pope Pius XII.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 15 from Bishop Peter Leo Ireton, with Bishops Gerald O'Hara and Emmet M. Walsh serving as co-consecrators.[2] A year before Brown v. Board of Education, Waters ordered the desegregation of all Catholic churches and schools in North Carolina in 1953.[3][4] He described segregation as a product of "darkness," and declared that "the time has come for it to end."[5] He also said, "I am not unmindful, as a Southerner, of the force of this virus of prejudice among some persons in the South, as well as in the North. I know, however, that there is a cure for this virus, and that is our faith."[6]

He attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965. Waters was later accused by some of the diocesan clergy of holding on to idle church property worth millions of dollars while some parishes were in debt.[3] He also denied requests for the creation of a priests' senate, and had his resignation requested by around twenty percent of the clergy.[3] In 1972 he expelled five Sisters of Providence from the diocese for not wearing their religious habit while teaching.[3]

Bishop Waters later died from a heart attack at his residence, aged 70.[3]

See also

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References

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External links

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Raleigh
1945—1974		 Succeeded by
Francis Joseph Gossman
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