John Joseph Boylan (bishop)

John Joseph Boylan (October 7, 1889 – July 19, 1953) was the third Roman Catholic Bishop of Rockford, Illinois (1943-1953).

Biography

John Boylan was born in New York City to Edward Lawrence and Bridget Anne (née Morrissey) Boylan. He studied at La Salle Academy in Providence, Rhode Island (1904-1908) and Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland (1908-1910). He entered St. Bernard's Seminary in Rochester, New York in 1910, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Des Moines on July 28, 1915. He earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Licentiate of Canon Law from the Catholic University of America at Washington, D.C. in 1917.

Returning to Iowa, he served as a curate at St. Francis Church in Council Bluffs until 1918. He was a professor (1918-1922) and later president (1922-1943) at Dowling College. In 1923 he earned a Ph.D. from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He also served as director of Catholic Charities, superintendent of Catholic schools (1924-1934), and vicar general (1934-1942) in the Des Moines Diocese. He was named a Domestic Prelate in October 1933 and a protonotary apostolic in November 1940.

On November 21, 1942, Boylan was appointed Bishop of Rockford, Illinois, by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on February 17, 1943 from Bishop Gerald Bergan, with Bishops Edmond Heelan and Henry Rohlman serving as co-consecrators. He remained as bishop until his death ten years later, at Narragansett, Rhode Island, aged 63.

References

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Edward Francis Hoban	Bishop of Rockford 1943—1953	Succeeded by Raymond Peter Hillinger