No doubt ya'll have heard that Archbishop-designate Robert Carlson was named the new Archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri.
So lets take the opportunity to look over the past ordinaries of this Archdiocese. It began as a diocese in 1826 (a suffragan of Baltimore) and was elevated to an Archdiocese just 21 years later.
In the last 183 years it has only had 9 ordinaries - making the average reign an amazing 20 years.
Of course the average is a bit misleading since just 2 of those ordinaries account for more than half of the archdiocese's history.
Those two, if you hadn't guessed, are Cardinals Kenrick and Glennon. Peter Richard Cardinal Kenrick was the 2nd Bishop and 1st Archbishop of St. Louis. He served as ordinary for more than 51 years. He was named Coadjutor Bishop before he turned 35. He retired at age 88 and died less than a year later.
The second long reigning ordinary was John Joseph Cardinal Glennon. He served as ordinary for 42 years. He also began as a Coadjutor, at the age of 40. He died in office at the age of 83.
Let us hope and pray that Archbishop-designate Carlson will have a long and fruitful reign in St. Louis.
