Emmanuel Boleslaus Ledvina
Emmanuel Boleslaus Ledvina was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi in Texas from 1921 to 1949.
Biography
Early life
Emmanuel Ledvina was born on October 28, 1868, in Evansville, Indiana, to George Emmanuel and Mary Ledvina. His father was a native of Bohemia, and worked as an architect and construction engineer. After attending parochial schools in Evansville and St. Louis, Missouri, Emmanuel Ledvina returned to Indiana and entered St. Meinrad's College in St. Meinrad, Indiana, in 1883.Priesthood
Ledvina was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Vincennes by Bishop Silas Chatard on March 18, 1893. Ledvina then served as a curate at Holy Trinity Parish in Evansville and afterwards at St. John's Pro-Cathedral in Indianapolis, Indiana. From 1895 to 1907, he was pastor of St. Joseph's Parish in Princeton, Indiana. Ledvina became vice-president and general secretary of the Catholic Church Extension Society in Chicago, Illinois, in 1907. The Vatican named Ledvina as a domestic prelate in 1918 and an honorary canon of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City in 1919.Bishop of Corpus Christi
On April 30, 1921, Ledvina was appointed the second bishop of Corpus Christi by Pope Benedict XV. He received his episcopal consecration at St. Mary Church in St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana, on June 14, 1921, from Bishop Joseph Chartrand, with Bishops Cornelius Van de Ven and Joseph Lynch serving as co-consecrators. He was installed at Corpus Christi on July 12, 1921.During his tenure as bishop, Ledvina increased the number of priests in the diocese from 32 to 160, and erected over 50 churches, 53 mission chapels, and 47 rectories. The Vatican elevated Ledvina to the rank of assistant at the pontifical throne in 1931. He constructed Corpus Christi Cathedral in 1940, and a chancery office in 1947. He invited the Benedictine monks of Subiaco Abbey to establish a community in the diocese and staff a new high school. He also became known for his efforts among Mexican-American Catholics in South Texas and for his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan.