Joseph Gregory Vath
{{Short description|American Roman Catholic prelate}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type =
| honorific_prefix = His Excellency, The Most Reverend
| name = Joseph Gregory Vath
| honorific_suffix =
| title = Bishop of Birmingham
titular bishop of Novaliciana
| image = Photo- Bishop Joseph Gregory Vath.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| church = Roman Catholic Church
| archdiocese =
| diocese = Diocese of Birmingham
| see =
| elected =
| term =
| predecessor =
| successor = Raymond James Boland
| other_post =
| ordination = June 7, 1941
| ordained_by = Joseph Francis Rummel
| consecration = May 26, 1966
| consecrated_by = Egidio Vagnozzi
| birth_date = March 12, 1918
| birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1987|07|14|1918|03|12}}
| death_place = Birmingham, Alabama, US
| buried =
| nationality =
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}}Joseph Gregory Vath (March 12, 1918 – July 14, 1987) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama from 1969 to 1987. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham in Alabama from 1966 to 1969.
Biography
= Early life =
Joseph Vath was born on March 12, 1918, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of New Orleans by Archbishop Joseph Francis Rummel on June 7, 1941.{{Cite web |title=Bishop Joseph Gregory Vath [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bvath.html |access-date=2022-12-15 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}
Vath was appointed as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham and titular bishop of Novaliciana on March 4, 1966, by Pope Paul VI. Vath was consecrated on May 26, 1966 by Cardinal Egidio Vagnozzi.
= Bishop of Birmingham =
Vath was appointed Bishop of Birmingham in Alabama, on September 29, 1969, by Paul VI. At that time, the Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham was split into the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama and the Diocese of Mobile.
In the 1980s, after the Catholic priest Edward Markley vandalized a clinic providing abortion services, Vath issued a statement supportive of Markley. He stated that "if we are convinced that abortion is the taking of innocent life according to God’s revealed word, [Markley] is not acting unjustly according to God’s Law in defending the innocent unborn one... The right to life certainly supersedes the right to property or to privacy."{{cite news|title=Priest who attacked abortion clinic with sledgehammer dies|url=https://www.al.com/news/2019/01/priest-who-attacked-abortion-clinic-with-sledgehammer-dies.html|work=AL.com|date=14 January 2019}}
Joseph Vath died in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 14, 1987, at age 69.
References
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Episcopal succession
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{{succession box | title=Bishop of Birmingham in Alabama | before=None | after=Raymond James Boland | years=1969–1987}}
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{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama|state=collapsed}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vath, Joseph Gregory}}
Category:Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama
Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
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