Joseph Vath
Joseph Gregory Vath was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first bishop of the Roman Catholic [Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama|Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama] from 1969 to 1987. He was previously an auxiliary bishop in the diocese from 1966 to 1969.
Life and ministry
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 in New Orleans on June 7, 1941.Auxiliary bishop of Mobile-Birmingham
Vath was appointed as auxiliary bishop of Mobile-Birmingham and titular bishop of Novaliciana on March 4, 1966, by Pope Paul VI. He was consecrated in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 26, 1966, by Cardinal Egidio Vagnozzi.Bishop of Birmingham in Alabama
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 Reverend 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, 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."