Leo Haid
Leo Haid OSB (July 15, 1849 – July 24, 1924) was an American Benedictine abbot and Catholic bishop, who served as the Abbot of the Abbey of Mary Help of Christians, in Belmont, North Carolina, from 1885 to 1924 and as Vicar Apostolic of North Carolina from 1888 to 1910 and Territorial Abbot from 1910 to 1924.[1]
Leo Haid | |
|---|---|
| Abbot nullius of Belmont Abbey & Vicar Apostolic of North Carolina | |
| Church | Latin Church |
| Other post(s) | Titular bishop of Messene |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | December 21, 1872 by Michael Domenec |
| Consecration | July 1, 1888 by James Gibbons |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael Haid July 15, 1849 |
| Died | July 24, 1924 (aged 75) Belmont, North Carolina, US |
| Buried | Belmont Abbey Cemetery, Belmont, North Carolina, US |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Biography
He was born Michael Haid on July 15, 1849, near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, to German immigrants John and Mary A. Stader Haid. He studied at Saint Vincent Seminary in Latrobe and there became a novice of the Benedictine Archabbey of Saint Vincent in 1868. He made first profession as a monk on September 17, 1869, and was ordained a priest by bishop Michael Domenec, C.M on December 21, 1872, serving the monastery college thereafter as professor and chaplain.[2][3]
On July 13, 1885 he became elected the first abbot of Mary Help of Christians Abbey[3] --to that point never having set eyes on the abbey[3] -- in what was then Garibaldi, North Carolina, and in 1886 founded there a seminary. On February 4, 1888 he was appointed Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina and was consecrated bishop at the Baltimore Cathedral by Baltimore Archbishop Cardinal James Gibbons on July 1, 1888,[2] becoming the first American abbot-bishop. Co-Consecrators were John Joseph Kain, Bishop of Wheeling, West Virginia, and Thomas Albert Andrew Becker, Bishop of Savannah, Georgia
Haid served as president of the American Cassinese Congregation from 1890-1902[2] and was a prominent authority on monastic life in the United States. He helped establish and supervise Benedictine foundations in Virginia (Benedictine College Preparatory), Georgia (Savannah Priory), and Florida (St Leo University).
On August 27, 1899, Haid dedicated St. Nicholas' Catholic Church (Zanesville, Ohio), as Bishop John Ambrose Watterson had died the previous April, 1899. In 1909 he laid the cornerstone of the St. Mary Catholic Church in Wilmington, North Carolina.
On June 8, 1910 Pope Pius X erected Belmont Abbey as a territorial abbey and appointed Haid abbot nullius with canonical jurisdiction over eight counties in North Carolina (Gaston, Catawba, Cleveland, Burke, Lincoln, McDowell, Polk, and Rutherford).
Haid died at Belmont Abbey July 24, 1924, aged 75, and was buried in the abbey cemetery.
References
- ^ "Bishop Leo Michael Haid, O.S.B." Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
- ^ a b c Bennington, Catherine Myers. "Haid, Leo", Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press. 1988
- ^ a b c Baumenstein, Paschal (1995). My Lord of Belmont: A Biography of Leo Haid. Belmont Abbey, North Carolina: Archives of Belmont Abbey. p. 25. ISBN 9780961497651.
- Territorial Abbey of Belmont-Mary Help of Christians on Catholic-Hierarchy.org
- Anthony D. Andreassi "Leo Michael Haid" in Michael Glazier and Thomas J. Shelley (eds.) The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History The Liturgical Press: Collegeville, Minnesota 1997.
- Paschal Baumstein My Lord of Belmont: A Biography of Leo Haid Belmont, NC 1985.