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Richard Vincent Whelan
Summary
Richard Vincent Whelan (January 28, 1809 – July 7, 1874) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Richmond in Virginia (1841–1850) and as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling in West Virginia (1850–1874).
Richard Whelan was born on January 28, 1809, in Baltimore, Maryland. At age ten, he was enrolled at Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland where he studied the classics. Following his graduation with the highest honors in 1826, Whelan completed his theological studies at the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice in Paris, France.
Whelan was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Richmond by Bishop Jean-François-Étienne Borderies in Versailles, France, on May 1, 1831.Returning to Maryland, Whelan became a faculty member and business manager at Mount St. Mary's, and also served as pastor of a parish in Harper's Ferry, then in Virginia. His pastoral responsibilities included missions at Martinsburg, Winchester and Bath, all in Virginia at that time These communities, separated by long distances, contained many families who could not access Catholic institutions of any kind.
On December 19, 1840, Whelan was appointed the second bishop of the Diocese Richmond by Pope Gregory XVI. He received his episcopal consecration on March 21, 1841, from Archbishop Samuel Eccleston, with Bishops Benedict Fenwick and John Hughes serving as co-consecrators, at Baltimore.
Since the departure of Bishop Patrick Kelly in 1822, the Diocese of Richmond had been vacant. During that period, Richmond had become a stronghold of the Know-Nothing political party, known for its anti-Catholic bigoty and violence. The diocese only had six priests.
Soon after his arrival in Richmond, Whelan appealed to the Societies for the Propagation of the Faith in Paris, Lyon, France, and Vienna in the Austrian Empire to recruit priests for the diocese. He also established a seminary college outside Richmond, where he resided and taught classes whenever he was in town. Wheland also established several parishes, missions and schools.
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