Francis Beckman

Most Reverend Francis J. L. Beckman, STD
Archbishop of Dubuque

Church	Roman Catholic Church
See	Dubuque
In office	January 17, 1930 – November 11, 1946
Predecessor	James John Keane
Successor	Henry Rohlman
Orders
Ordination	June 20, 1902
Consecration	May 1, 1924 by Henry K. Moeller
Personal details
Born	(1875-10-25)October 25, 1875 Cincinnati, Ohio
Died	October 17, 1948(1948-10-17) (aged 72) Chicago, Illinois
Previous post	Bishop of Lincoln

Ordination history of Francis Beckman
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecrator	Henry Moeller
Date of consecration	May 1, 1924
Bishops consecrated by Francis Beckman as principal consecrator
Louis Benedict Kucera	October 28, 1930

Francis Joseph Beckman (October 25, 1875 – October 17, 1948) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Lincoln (1924–30) and as Archbishop of Dubuque (1930–46).

Early life and Ministry

Francis Beckman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Francis and Elizabeth (née Fenker) Beckman.^[1] He studied at St. Gregory's Preparatory Seminary and Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Cincinnati, at the University of Louvain in Belgium, and at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.^[1] He was ordained to the priesthood on June 20, 1902.^[2] Following his ordination, he received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (1907) and later a Doctor of Sacred Theology (1908) from the Gregorian.^[1]

After his return to Cincinnati, Beckman joined the faculty of Mount St. Mary's Seminary, where he served as professor of philosophy and dogmatic theology (1908–12).^[1] He was rector of Mount St. Mary's from 1912 to 1924.^[1] He also served as Censor Librorum and a consultor for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.^[1]

Bishop of Lincoln

On December 23, 1923, Beckman was appointed the fourth Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, by Pope Pius XI.^[2] He received his episcopal consecration on May 1, 1924 from Archbishop Henry Moeller of Cincinnati. Bishops Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland and Joseph Chartrand of Indianapolis were the principal co-consecrators.^[2] He served the diocese for almost six years. During his time in Lincoln he served as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Omaha from June 1926 – July 1928.

Archbishop of Dubuque

Pope Pius XI appointed Bishop Beckman Archbishop of Dubuque on January 17, 1930. Beckman shepherded the church through the Great Depression and World War II. During his tenure as archbishop the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Holy Name Societies, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, Conference on Industrial Relations, and the Catholic Youth Organization grew with his support. The Catholic Student's Mission Crusade, which he founded while in Cincinnati, held its 1935 convention in Dubuque.^[3] In 1939 the archdiocese's Columbia College in Dubuque was renamed Loras College in honor of Dubuque's first bishop Mathias Loras.

Beckman began a campaign against swing music in 1938. He made headlines when he spoke before the National Council of Catholic Women in October and openly denounced it as "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away the moral fiber of young people" which would lead one down "primrose path to Hell."^[4]

Beckman adopted a pacifist stance in the years before World War II.^[5] He wrote an open letter to Senator William Borah of Idaho encouraging him in his efforts to maintain American neutrality. At a rally on October 20, 1939, Beckman supported noted radio priest Father Charles Coughlin in his stand for peace. The next week he went on the radio with Coughlin and said that the Communists wanted the U.S. to enter the war so that worn out by the war, it would be more susceptible to communist thought.^[3] He made numerous speeches against U.S. involvement in the war until Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.

Impressed with Catholic culture he had seen in Europe, Beckman began to collect fine art pieces starting with a small collection of artifiacts belonging to Father William Kessler at Columbia Academy in Dubuque. He had placed a number of art pieces in a museum that was created at Columbia (now Loras) College with the assistance of the Midwest Antiquarian Association. This collection had included works of some of the best artists over the past few centuries including Winslow Horner, Rembrandt, Rubens, and Van Dyck. The collection was estimated to be worth 1.5 million dollars.^[3]

In 1936 Archbishop Beckman was introduced to the idea of investing borrowed money in gold mines by Phillip Suetter of California. He perhaps thought that he could gain funds to further his art collection. Instead Beckman had involved the archdiocese in what turned out to be a dubious gold mine scheme. Beckman signed promissory notes on behalf of the archdiocese, which caused financial problems for the archdiocese when the scheme fell apart and Suetter was arrested. President Franklin Roosevelt directed the FBI to investigate Beckman to determine the extent of his involvement in this financial scheme, not because of Beckman's opposition to the president as some believed. Soon the holders of the notes began demanding repayment. Most of Beckman's collection was sold to pay off the notes. The cost to the archdiocese was over half a million dollars.

As a result of all of Beckman's problems, Bishop Henry Rohlman of Davenport was transferred to Dubuque to serve as coadjutor archbishop and apostolic administrator. Beckman was allowed to retain his title as Archbishop of Dubuque, but it was made clear to him that actual authority rested with Rohlman.^[3]

Later life and Death

Archbishop Beckman remained Archbishop of Dubuque until Pope Pius XII named him Titular Archbishop of Phulli and he retired on November 11, 1946. Following retirement, Beckman left Dubuque and moved to Cincinnati.

Beckman died at the Alexian Brothers Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, at age 72. He was buried in the mortuary chapel of Saint Raphael's Cathedral in Dubuque.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
1 2 3 "Archbishop Francis Joseph Beckman". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
1 2 3 4 http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=BECKMAN%2C_Francis_J.L.
↑ http://www.newspaperarchive.com/DailyPerspectiveFullView.aspx?ViewDate=10/25/2007
↑ Justus D. Doenecke (2003). Storm on the Horizon: The Challenge to American Intervention, 1939–1941. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-0785-8.

External links

Archbishop Beckman's Grave

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by James Keane	Archbishop of Dubuque 1930–1946	Succeeded by Henry Rohlman
Preceded by Charles Joseph O'Reilly	Bishop of Lincoln 1923–1930	Succeeded by Louis Benedict Kucera

Archdiocese of Dubuque

Ordinaries	Bishops Mathias Loras Clement Smyth Archbishops John Hennessy John Keane James Keane Francis Beckman Henry Rohlman Leo Binz James Byrne Daniel Kucera Jerome Hanus Michael Jackels

Auxiliary Bishops	Edward Aloysius Fitzgerald Loras Thomas Lane George Biskup Loras Joseph Watters Francis John Dunn William Edwin Franklin

Churches	Cathedral St. Raphael's Cathedral, Dubuque Parishes Basilica of St. Francis Xavier, Dyersville St. John XXIII, Cedar Rapids Holy Family, New Melleray Holy Ghost, Dubuque Holy Trinity, Luxemburg Nativity, Dubuque Sacred Heart, Dubuque Sacred Heart, Fillmore St. Boniface, New Vienna St. Donatus, St. Donatus St. Joseph, Elkader St. Joseph, Key West Saint Joseph the Worker, Dubuque St. Ludmila, Cedar Rapids St. Martin, Cascade St. Mary, Guttenberg St. Patrick, Dubuque St. Patrick, Garryowen St. Lawrence, Otter Creek St. Paul, Worthington Saints Peter and Paul, Petersburg Former Parishes Saint Joseph's Prairie Church St. Mary, Cascade St. Mary, Dubuque St. Joseph, Stone City

Education	Higher Education Clarke University Divine Word College Loras College Mount Mercy University St. Pius X Seminary, Dubuque High Schools Beckman High School, Dyersville Columbus High School, Waterloo Don Bosco High School, Gilbertville Marquette High School, Bellevue Newman Catholic High School, Mason City Wahlert High School, Dubuque Xavier High School, Cedar Rapids Primary Schools Mazzuchelli Middle School, Dubuque Holy Family Catholic Schools, Dubuque Former Schools St. Luke's School, St. Lucas

Religious Orders	New Melleray Abbey Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Priests	John George Alleman John Patrick Carroll James Vincent Casey Joseph Crétin Justin Albert Driscoll Thomas William Drumm Raymond Philip Etteldorf Daniel Mary Gorman Edward Howard Louis Benedict Kucera Mathias Clement Lenihan Thomas Mathias Lenihan J. A. M. Pelamourgues Aloysius Schmitt Joseph Clement Willging

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Diocese of Lincoln

Bishops	Thomas Bonacum John Henry Tihen Charles Joseph O'Reilly Francis Beckman Louis Benedict Kucera James Vincent Casey Glennon Patrick Flavin Fabian Bruskewitz James D. Conley

Churches	Cathedral Cathedral of the Risen Christ Parishes St. Martin's Church, Deweese St. Benedict's Church, Nebraska City St. Mary's Catholic Church, Nebraska City

Education	High Schools Aquinas High School, David City Sacred Heart High School, Falls City St. Cecilia High School, Hastings Lourdes Central Catholic High School, Nebraska City Pius X High School, Lincoln Bishop Neumann High School, Wahoo

Priests	Robert F. Vasa Thomas Olmsted Michael Owen Jackels John Folda

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Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Bishop	Edward Fenwick

Archbishops	John Baptist Purcell William Henry Elder Henry K. Moeller John T. McNicholas Karl Joseph Alter Paul Francis Leibold Joseph Bernardin Daniel Edward Pilarczyk Dennis Marion Schnurr

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Churches in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Cathedral	Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral

Parishes	Cincinnati Church of the Annunciation Immaculata Church Old St. Mary's Church St. Francis De Sales Church Saint Francis Seraph Church St. Francis Xavier Church St. Lawrence Church St. Pius X Church St. Rose Church Dayton Holy Cross Church Sacred Heart Church St. Adalbert Church St. Mary's Church Springfield St. Joseph's Church St. Raphael's Church Other Immaculate Conception Church, Botkins St. Aloysius Church, Carthagena Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Cassella Immaculate Conception Church, Celina Precious Blood Church, Chickasaw St. Joseph's Church, Egypt Holy Family Church, Frenchtown St. John's Church, Fryburg St. Patrick's Church, Glynwood St. John the Baptist Church, Maria Stein Sacred Heart Church, McCartyville St. Michael's Church, Mechanicsburg St. Augustine's Church, Minster St. Louis Church, North Star St. Nicholas Church, Osgood St. Anthony's Church, Padua St. Remy's Church, Russia St. Henry's Church, St. Henry Holy Rosary Church, St. Marys St. Rose's Church, St. Rose St. Sebastian's Church, Sebastian St. Joseph's Church, Wapakoneta

Former parishes	All Saints Church, Cincinnati Holy Trinity Church, Cincinnati St. Augustine Church, Cincinnati St. George's Church, Cincinnati St. Michael the Archangel Church, Cincinnati St. Paul Church, Cincinnati St. Philomena's Church, Cincinnati St. Patrick's Church, St. Patrick

Shrine	Shrine of the Holy Relics

Education in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Higher education	Chatfield College University of Dayton Edgecliff College Mount St. Joseph University Xavier University

Seminary	Athenaeum of Ohio – Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West

High schools	Cincinnati DePaul Cristo Rey High School Elder High School La Salle High School McAuley High School Archbishop McNicholas High School Mother of Mercy High School Purcell Marian High School Seton High School St. Ursula Academy St. Xavier High School Summit Country Day School Ursuline Academy Dayton Carroll High School Chaminade-Julienne High School Other Archbishop Alter High School, Kettering Father Stephen T. Badin High School, Hamilton Catholic Central School, Springfield Bishop Fenwick High School, Franklin Lehman Catholic High School, Sidney Moeller High School, Kenwood Mount Notre Dame High School, Reading Royalmont Academy, Mason Roger Bacon High School, St. Bernard St. Rita School for the Deaf, Evendale

Clergy of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Auxiliary bishops	Sylvester Horton Rosecrans Joseph H. Albers George John Rehring Paul Francis Leibold Edward A. McCarthy Nicholas Elko Daniel Edward Pilarczyk James Henry Garland Carl K. Moeddel Joseph R. Binzer

Priests	John Martin Henni Edward Fitzgerald Clarence George Issenmann Henry Damian Juncker Joshua Maria Young John Baptist Lamy James Frederick Wood John Henry Luers Caspar Henry Borgess Richard Gilmour John Quinlan Augustus Toebbe Joseph Gregory Dwenger Henry Richter Francis Beckman Urban John Vehr Francis Augustine Thill Anthony John King Mussio John Joseph Kaising Robert Daniel Conlon Michael William Warfel

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