Francis Beckman

American prelate

His Excellency, The Most Reverend Francis Joseph L. Beckman S.T.D
Archbishop of Dubuque Titular Archbishop of Phulli

Church	Roman Catholic Church
See	Diocese of Dubuque
In office	January 17, 1930 – Titular Archbishop of Phulli November 11, 1946
Predecessor	James John Keane
Successor	Henry Rohlman
Orders
Ordination	June 20, 1902
Consecration	May 1, 1924 by Henry K. Moeller
Personal details
Born	(1875-10-25)October 25, 1875 Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Died	October 17, 1948(1948-10-17) (aged 72) Chicago, Illinois, US
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Lincoln
Education	University of Louvain Pontifical Gregorian University
Motto	Veritas Liberabit Vos (The Truth will set you free)

Ordination history of
Francis Beckman

History
Episcopal consecration
Consecrated by	Henry K. Moeller
Date	May 1, 1924

Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Francis Beckman as principal consecrator
Louis Benedict Kucera	October 28, 1930

Francis Joseph Beckman (October 25, 1875 – October 17, 1948) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Lincoln in Nebraska (1924–1930) and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dubuque in Iowa (1930–1946).

Biography

Early life

Francis Beckman was born on October 25, 1875, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Francis and Elizabeth (née Fenker) Beckman.^[1] He studied at St. Gregory's Preparatory Seminary and Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Cincinnati. He then attended the University of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium, and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.^[1]

Priesthood

He was ordained to the priesthood on June 20, 1902.^[2] Following his ordination, he received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology (1907) and later a Doctor of Sacred Theology (1908) from the Gregorian.^[1]

After his return to Cincinnati, Beckman joined the faculty of Mount St. Mary's Seminary, where he served as professor of philosophy and dogmatic theology (1908–1912).^[1] He was rector of Mount St. Mary's from 1912 to 1924.^[1] He also served as Censor Librorum and a consultor for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.^[1]

Bishop of Lincoln

On December 23, 1923, Beckman was appointed the fourth bishop of Lincoln by Pope Pius XI.^[2] He received his episcopal consecration on May 1, 1924, from Archbishop Henry Moeller of Cincinnati. Bishops Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland and Joseph Chartrand of Indianapolis were the principal co-consecrators.^[2] Beckman served the diocese for almost six years. During his time in Lincoln, he served as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Omaha from June 1926 to July 1928.

Archbishop of Dubuque

Pope Pius XI appointed Bishop Beckman Archbishop of Dubuque on January 17, 1930. Beckman shepherded the archdiocese through the Great Depression and World War II. During his tenure as archbishop, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Holy Name Societies, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, Conference on Industrial Relations, and the Catholic Youth Organization grew with his support. The Catholic Student's Mission Crusade, which he founded while in Cincinnati, held its 1935 convention in Dubuque.^[3] In 1939, the archdiocese's Columbia College in Dubuque was renamed Loras College in honor of Dubuque's first bishop, Mathias Loras.

Impressed with Catholic culture he had seen in Europe, Beckman began to collect fine art pieces. He started with a small collection of artifacts belonging to Father William Kessler at Columbia Academy in Dubuque. Beckman placed several art pieces in a museum at Columbia College. The Beckman collection, including works of Winslow Homer, Rembrandt, Rubens, and Van Dyck, was valued at $1.5 million.^[3]

In 1936, promoter Phillip Suetter sold Beckman on the idea of investing borrowed money in gold mines. Beckman perhaps thought that he could gain funds to further his art collection. Instead, he involved the archdiocese in what turned out to be a fraudulent gold mine scheme. Beckman signed promissory notes on behalf of the archdiocese. When scheme fell apart and Suetter was arrested, the archdiocese lost its investment. President Franklin Roosevelt directed the FBI to investigate Beckman to determine the extent of his involvement in the scam, not because of Beckman's opposition to the president as some believed. Soon the holders of the notes began demanding repayment. The archdiocese sold Beckman's art collection to help pay off the notes. The ultimate loss to the archdiocese was over $500,000.

As a result of all of Beckman's problems, on June 15, 1944, Pope Pius XII appointed Bishop Henry Rohlman of Davenport as coadjutor archbishop and apostolic administrator. Beckman remained archbishop of Dubuque, but it was made clear to him that actual authority rested with Rohlman.^[3]

Retirement and legacy

Beckman remained archbishop of Dubuque until Pope Pius XII named him titular archbishop of Phulli and accepted his retirement on November 11, 1946. Following his retirement, Beckman moved from Dubuque to Cincinnati, Ohio.

Francis Beckman died at the Alexian Brothers Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on October 17, 1948, at age 72. He was buried in the mortuary chapel of Saint Raphael's Cathedral in Dubuque.

Viewpoints

Popular culture

Beckman began a campaign against swing music in 1938. He made headlines when he spoke before the National Council of Catholic Women in October and openly denounced it as "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away the moral fiber of young people" which would lead one down a "primrose path to Hell."^[4]

Foreign policy

Beckman adopted a pacifist stance in the years before World War II.^[5] He wrote an open letter to Senator William Borah of Idaho encouraging him in his efforts to maintain American neutrality. At a rally on October 20, 1939, Beckman supported noted radio priest Father Charles Coughlin in his stand for peace. The next week, Beckman went on the radio with Coughlin and said that the Communists wanted the U.S. to enter the war so that, worn out by the war, Americans would become more susceptible to communist thought.^[3] He made numerous speeches against U.S. involvement in the war until Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese in December 1941.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Curtis, Georgina Pell (1961). The American Catholic Who's Who. Vol. XIV. Grosse Pointe, Michigan: Walter Romig.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Archbishop Francis Joseph Beckman". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.^{[self-published source]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "BECKMAN, Francis J.L". Archived from the original on 2011-07-26.
^ "NewspaperArchive® | 15,727 Historic Newspaper Archives".
^ Justus D. Doenecke (2003). Storm on the Horizon: The Challenge to American Intervention, 1939–1941. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-0785-8.

External links

Francis Beckman at Find a Grave

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by James Keane	Archbishop of Dubuque 1930–1946	Succeeded by Henry Rohlman
Preceded by Charles Joseph O'Reilly	Bishop of Lincoln 1923–1930	Succeeded by Louis Benedict Kucera

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque

Ordinaries

Bishops: Mathias Loras; Clement Smyth

Archbishops: John Hennessy; John Keane; James Keane; Francis Beckman; Henry Rohlman; Leo Binz; James Byrne; Daniel Kucera; Jerome Hanus; Michael Jackels; Thomas Robert Zinkula

Auxiliary bishops

Churches

Cathedral: St. Raphael's Cathedral, Dubuque

Parishes: Basilica of St. Francis Xavier, Dyersville; St. John XXIII, Cedar Rapids; Holy Ghost, Dubuque; Holy Trinity, Luxemburg; Sacred Heart, Dubuque; Sacred Heart, Fillmore; St. Boniface, New Vienna; St. Donatus, St. Donatus; St. Joseph, Elkader; St. Joseph, Key West; Saint Joseph the Worker, Dubuque; St. Martin, Cascade; St. Mary, Guttenberg; St. Patrick, Dubuque; St. Patrick, Garryowen; St. Lawrence, Otter Creek; St. Paul, Worthington; Saints Peter and Paul, Petersburg

Former parishes: Saint Joseph's Prairie Church; St. Mary, Dubuque; St. Joseph, Stone City

Education

Higher education: Clarke University; Divine Word College; Loras College; Mount Mercy University; St. Pius X Seminary, Dubuque

High schools: Beckman High School, Dyersville; Columbus High School, Waterloo; Don Bosco High School, Gilbertville; Marquette High School, Bellevue; Newman Catholic High School, Mason City; Wahlert High School, Dubuque; Xavier High School, Cedar Rapids

Primary schools: Mazzuchelli Middle School, Dubuque; Holy Family Catholic Schools, Dubuque; St. Mary's School, Guttenberg

Former schools: Sacred Heart School, Dubuque; St. Luke's School, St. Lucas

Religious orders

Priests

Miscellany

Catholicism portal

v t e Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln
Bishops	Thomas Bonacum John Henry Tihen Charles Joseph O'Reilly Francis Beckman Louis Benedict Kucera James Vincent Casey Glennon Patrick Flavin Fabian Bruskewitz James D. Conley
Churches	Cathedral Cathedral of the Risen Christ Parishes St. Martin's Church, Deweese St. Benedict's Church, Nebraska City St. Mary's Catholic Church, Nebraska City
Education	High schools Aquinas Catholic Schools, David City Sacred Heart Catholic School, Falls City Hastings Catholic Schools (incl St. Cecilia Mid-High), Hastings Lourdes Central Catholic School, Nebraska City Pius X High School, Lincoln Bishop Neumann High School, Wahoo
Priests	Robert F. Vasa Thomas Olmsted Michael Owen Jackels John Folda
Nebraska portal Catholicism portal

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati

v t e Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Bishop	Edward Fenwick
Archbishops	John Baptist Purcell William Henry Elder Henry K. Moeller John T. McNicholas Karl Joseph Alter Paul Francis Leibold Joseph Bernardin Daniel Edward Pilarczyk Dennis Marion Schnurr
Catholicism portal

v t e Churches in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Cathedral	Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains
Parishes	Cincinnati Church of the Annunciation Immaculata Church Old St. Mary's Church St. Aloysius on the Ohio St. Francis De Sales Church Saint Francis Seraph Church St. Francis Xavier Church St. Lawrence Church St. Pius X Church St. Rose Church Dayton Holy Cross Church Sacred Heart Church St. Adalbert Church St. Mary's Church Springfield St. Joseph's Church St. Raphael's Church Other Immaculate Conception Church, Botkins St. Aloysius Church, Carthagena Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Cassella Immaculate Conception Church, Celina Precious Blood Church, Chickasaw Our Lady of Victory Church, Delhi Township St. Joseph's Church, Egypt Holy Family Church, Frenchtown St. John's Church, Fryburg St. Patrick's Church, Glynwood St. John the Baptist Church, Maria Stein Sacred Heart Church, McCartyville St. Michael's Church, Mechanicsburg St. Augustine's Church, Minster St. Louis Church, North Star St. Nicholas Church, Osgood St. Anthony's Church, Padua St. Remy's Church, Russia St. Henry's Church, St. Henry Holy Rosary Church, St. Marys St. Rose's Church, St. Rose St. Sebastian's Church, Sebastian St. Joseph's Church, Wapakoneta
Former parishes	All Saints Church, Cincinnati Holy Trinity Church, Cincinnati St. Augustine Church, Cincinnati St. George's Church, Cincinnati St. Michael the Archangel Church, Cincinnati St. Paul Church, Cincinnati St. Philomena's Church, Cincinnati St. Patrick's Church, St. Patrick
Shrine	Shrine of the Holy Relics

v t e Education in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Higher education	Chatfield College University of Dayton Edgecliff College Mount St. Joseph University Xavier University
Seminary	Athenaeum of Ohio – Mount St. Mary's Seminary of the West
High schools	Cincinnati DePaul Cristo Rey High School Elder High School La Salle High School Mercy McAuley High School Archbishop McNicholas High School Purcell Marian High School Seton High School St. Ursula Academy St. Xavier High School Summit Country Day School Ursuline Academy Dayton Carroll High School Chaminade Julienne High School Other Archbishop Alter High School, Kettering Father Stephen T. Badin High School, Hamilton Catholic Central School, Springfield Bishop Fenwick High School, Franklin Lehman Catholic High School, Sidney Moeller High School, Kenwood Mount Notre Dame High School, Reading Royalmont Academy, Mason Roger Bacon High School, St. Bernard St. Rita School for the Deaf, Evendale

v t e Clergy of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Auxiliary bishops	Sylvester Horton Rosecrans Joseph H. Albers George John Rehring Paul Francis Leibold Edward A. McCarthy Nicholas Elko Daniel Edward Pilarczyk James Henry Garland Carl K. Moeddel Joseph R. Binzer
Priests	John Martin Henni Edward Fitzgerald Clarence George Issenmann Henry Damian Juncker Joshua Maria Young John Baptist Lamy James Frederick Wood John Henry Luers Caspar Henry Borgess Richard Gilmour John Quinlan Augustus Toebbe Joseph Gregory Dwenger Henry Richter Francis Beckman Urban John Vehr Francis Augustine Thill Anthony John King Mussio John Joseph Kaising Robert Daniel Conlon Michael William Warfel Earl K. Fernandes