John Roach (bishop)

20th-century American Catholic bishop

His Excellency The Most Reverend John Roach
Archbishop emeritus of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Church	Catholic Church
Appointed	May 21, 1975
Term ended	September 8, 1995
Predecessor	Leo Binz
Successor	Harry Flynn
Orders
Ordination	June 18, 1946
Consecration	September 8, 1971
Personal details
Born	July 31, 1921 Prior Lake, Minnesota
Died	July 11, 2003
Nationality	American
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Previous post(s)	Auxiliary Bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis (1971–1975) Titular Bishop of Cenae (1971–1975)
Alma mater	Saint Paul Seminary

Styles of John Robert Roach

Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor

Ordination history of
John Roach

History
Priestly ordination
Date	June 9, 1946
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecrator	Luigi Raimondi
Co-consecrators	Leo Binz, Leo Christopher Byrne
Date	September 8, 1971

Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by John Roach as principal consecrator
Victor Hermann Balke	September 2, 1976
Paul Vincent Dudley	January 25, 1977
John Francis Kinney	January 25, 1977
William Henry Bullock	August 12, 1980
Robert Henry Brom	May 23, 1983
Robert James Carlson	January 11, 1984
Jerome George Hanus, OSB	August 24, 1987
Joseph Leo Charron, CPPS	January 25, 1990
Roger Lawrence Schwietz, OMI	February 2, 1990

John Robert Roach (July 31, 1921 – July 11, 2003) was an American cleric of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis from 1975 to 1995.

Biography

John Roach was born in Prior Lake, Minnesota, to Simon and Mary Roach. The eldest of three children, he had two younger sisters—Virginia and Mona. He attended public elementary school in Prior Lake, and studied for two years at Shakopee High School. In his junior year he transferred to Nazareth Hall Preparatory Seminary and began his studies for the priesthood. He proceeded to Saint Paul Seminary in 1941 for philosophy and theology. Due to the accelerated program of priestly formation put in place there during World War II, he was ordained a priest on June 18, 1946, while still 24 years old.

Roach served as a priest in a number of different assignments over the course of the next 25 years. On July 12, 1971, at the age of 49 he was appointed titular Bishop of Cenae and an auxiliary bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis; he was consecrated on September 8, 1971. Roach's archiepiscopate began on May 21, 1975, when he succeeded Archbishop Leo Binz and ended with the acceptance of his retirement on September 8, 1995. He was succeeded by coadjutor Archbishop Harry Flynn, and became the archbishop emeritus.

In 1977, Roach delivered the benediction at the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter. He served as the president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference from 1980 to 1983.

Other

Roach made national news when he was arrested for drunk driving on February 21, 1985. He was discovered to have a blood alcohol count of 0.19, after driving his car into the wall of a convenience store.^[1]

Death

Roach died on July 11, 2003.^[2]

Notes

^ International, United Press (3 March 1985). "Archbishop Loses License for 90 Days for Drunk Driving". Retrieved 28 November 2017 – via LA Times.
^ "Archbishop John Robert Roach". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Leo Binz	Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis 1975–1995	Succeeded by Harry Flynn
Preceded by John R. Quinn	President of the NCCB/USCC 1980–1983	Succeeded by James W. Malone

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Ordinaries

Bishops: Joseph Crétin; Thomas Grace

Archbishops: John Ireland; Austin Dowling; John Gregory Murray; William O. Brady; Leo Binz; John Roach; Harry Joseph Flynn; John Clayton Nienstedt; Bernard Hebda

Coadjutor archbishop: Leo Christopher Byrne

Auxiliary bishops

John Jeremiah Lawler

James J. Byrne

Leonard Philip Cowley

Gerald Francis O'Keefe

James P. Shannon

John Roach

Raymond Alphonse Lucker

Paul Vincent Dudley

John Francis Kinney

William Henry Bullock

Frederick F. Campbell

Richard Pates

Lee A. Piché

Andrew H. Cozzens

Joseph Andrew Williams

Michael Izen

Churches

Cathedrals: Cathedral of Saint Paul; Basilica of Saint Mary

Parishes: Guardian Angels Church, Chaska; Saint Peter's Church, Mendota; Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Minneapolis; Church of Saint Stephen, Minneapolis; Church of St. Wenceslaus, New Prague; Church of Saint Mary, New Trier; Church of St. Michael, St. Michael; Church of the Assumption, St. Paul; Church of St. Agnes, St. Paul; Church of St. Bernard, St. Paul; Church of St. Casimir, St. Paul; Saint Mary's Church of the Purification, Marystown; Church of the Annunciation, Webster Township; Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Wheatland Township

Historic: Church of St. Hubertus, Chanhassen

Chapel: Our Lady of Victory Chapel

Education

Higher education: St. Catherine University; University of St. Thomas

Seminaries: Saint John Vianney College Seminary; Saint Paul Seminary; Nazareth Hall Preparatory Seminary (defunct)

High schools: Academy of Holy Angels, Richfield; Benilde-St. Margaret's, St. Louis Park; Bethlehem Academy, Faribault; Chesterton Academy, Edina; Convent of the Visitation, Mendota Heights; Cretin-Derham Hall, St. Paul; Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Minneapolis; DeLaSalle High School, Minneapolis; Hill-Murray School, Maplewood; Holy Family Catholic High School, Victoria; Providence Academy, Plymouth; Saint Agnes K-12 School, St. Paul; Saint Thomas Academy, Mendota Heights; Totino-Grace High School, Fridley