Francis Joseph Christian
Francis Joseph Christian is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Manchester in New Hampshire from 1996 to 2018.
Biography
Early life
Francis Christian was born on October 8, 1942, in Peterborough, New Hampshire. He attended primary school in the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District, graduating from Conant High School in Jaffrey, New Hampshire.Christian studied at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, for two years before entering Saint Paul Seminary in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1962. In 1964, he graduated from Saint Paul with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He received a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from the University of Ottawa in 1964. That same year, Christian travelled to Leuven, Belgium, to attend the American College at the University of Louvain, earning a Master of Theology degree in 1968.
Priesthood
On June 28, 1968, Christian was ordained into the priesthood for the Diocese of Manchester by Bishop Ernest Primeau at Saint Patrick Church in Jaffrey.After his ordination, Christian served three years as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Merrimack, New Hampshire, then a year with the same position at Saint Joseph Cathedral Parish. In 1973, Christian returned to the American College, earning a Doctor of Theology degree in February 1975.
In March 1975, Christian came back to Manchester to serve as assistant chancellor of Manchester. He was promoted to chancellor in June 1977. In 1986, Pope John Paul II named Christian a prelate of honor.