With his episcopal ordination on July 20, Bishop Donald J. Hying will become the sixth priest who served as rector of Saint Francis Seminary to become a bishop.
According to information provided by Saint Francis Seminary, in 1845, Archbishop John M. Henni appointed Fr. Michael Heiss, a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville, to serve as the first rector of Saint Francis Seminary. He served 1845-1868 when he was appointed bishop of La Crosse. Bishop Heiss became coadjutor archbishop of Milwaukee in 1880, and succeeded Archbishop Henni as archbishop in 1881.
The future Cardinal Aloysius J. Muench, ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1913, served as the eighth rector of the seminary, 1929-1935. He later served as bishop of Fargo, North Dakota, and then as apostolic nuncio to Germany. He was named a cardinal in 1959.
Another priest ordained for the archdiocese in 1913, Fr. Francis J. Haas, served as the ninth rector of the seminary, 1935-1937. He was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1943.
The future Cardinal Albert G. Meyer, ordained a priest of the archdiocese in 1926, served as the 10th rector of the seminary, 1937-1945. He later became bishop of Superior, archbishop of Milwaukee and archbishop of Chicago. He was named a cardinal in 1959.
Then-Fr. Richard J. Sklba, ordained a priest for the archdiocese in 1959, was serving as the 13th rector of the seminary when Pope John Paul II named him auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee in 1979. He had been rector since 1976.
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