MOST REVEREND JOSEPH LAWSON HOWZE, FIRST BISHOP OF BILOXI

Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, D.D., (August 30, 1923 – January 9, 2019), was the first bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi.  He was born Lawson Howze and took the name Joseph when he converted to Catholicism in 1948.

He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Alabama State University in 1948.  After religious training at Christ the King Seminary, St. Bonaventure University in New York, Howze was ordained a priest for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina in 1959.

He was named an auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Natchez-Jackson, Mississippi on November 14, 1972, and was installed on January 28, 1973.  When the Diocese of Biloxi was created in 1977, Howze was appointed as its first bishop.  He was the first African American bishop in the 20th century to head a diocese in the United States. Bishop Howze retired June 6, 2001.  He entered eternal life on January 9, 2019 at the age of 95.

MOST REVEREND THOMAS J. RODI
ARCHBISHOP OF MOBILE

Bishop Thomas J. Rodi, a native of New Orleans, graduated from De La Salle High School in 1967.  He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University in 1971.  He returned to New Orleans where he earned a law degree from the Tulane University Law School in 1974, after which Rodi entered Notre Dame Seminary, where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1978.

Bishop Rodi was ordained to the priesthood on May 20, 1978 and served as associate pastor at St. Ann and St. Christopher the Martyr parishes in Metairie and at St. Agnes in Jefferson.

In 1983 he was appointed judge for the Metropolitan Tribunal which handles marriage cases.  He earned a licentiate in canon law from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1986 and served as professor of canon law at Notre Dame Seminary from 1986 to 1995.

Bishop Rodi served as director of the Office of Religious Education from 1988 to 1989, and as executive director of the Department of Pastoral Services from 1989 to 1996.  In addition to his other duties, Rodi was named Archdiocesan Chancellor in 1992 and in 1996 was named Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia.  In 1992, he was named a prelate of honor (a monsignor) by Pope John Paul II.

Bishop Rodi also served as administrator of St. Matthew the Apostle Parish in River Ridge, ministered in Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Pius X parishes in New Orleans, and was pastor of St. Rita Church, in New Orleans.

He was ordained a bishop and installed as Bishop of Biloxi on July 2, 2001.
Bishop Rodi was appointed Archbishop of Mobile by Pope Benedict XVI on April 2, 2008 and was installed on June 6, 2008.

MOST REVEREND ROGER MORIN

Bishop Roger Morin was named vicar general and moderator of the curia in the New Orleans Archdiocese June 15, 2001.  His episcopal ordination was April 22, 2003 at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans.

A native of Dracut, Massachusetts, he was born on March 7, 1941, the son of Germain J. and Lillian E. Morin.  After high school and college studies, he earned a bachelor degree in philosophy in 1966 from St. John's Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, and continued theology studies at St. John's for two years of graduate school.

Bishop Morin visited New Orleans in 1967 to work in its new summer Witness program, conducted by the archdiocesan Social Apostolate.  When he returned to New Orleans in 1968, he became director of The Center, a neighborhood social service organization run by the Social Apostolate.  He enrolled at Notre Dame Seminary, studying in the evenings and on Saturdays in addition to his full-time position at The Center.

Bishop Morin was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Hannan on April 15, 1971 in his home parish of St. Therese in Dracut, Massachusetts.  His first parish assignment was at St. Henry Parish in New Orleans.

In 1973, he was appointed associate director of the Social Apostolate and in 1975 became the director, responsible for the operation of nine year-round social service centers sponsored by the archdiocese.

Bishop Morin held a master of science degree in urban studies from Tulane University and completed a program in 1974 as a community economic developer.  He was in residence at Incarnate Word Parish beginning in 1981 and served as pastor there from 1988 through April 2002.

In 1981, he assumed the full-time position of vicar for community affairs, with responsibility over nine agencies:  Catholic Charities, Social Apostolate, human relations, alcoholics' ministry, Apostleship of the Sea, cemeteries, disaster relief, hospitals, and prisons.  He was named a monsignor by Pope John Paul II in 1985.

In 1995, Bishop Morin received the Weiss Brotherhood Award presented by the National Conference of Christians and Jews for his service in the field of human relations.  He was a member of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

He was installed as Bishop of Biloxi on Monday, April 27, 2009 at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral in Biloxi.  Bishop Morin entered into eternal life on October 31, 2019.