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Thursday, December 14, 2000
The Southern Cross, Page 3
Two bishops with a “K” usher in the twentieth century:
Bishops Benjamin J. Keiley and Michael J. Keyes, SM
Rita H.
DeLorme
B y coincidence,
the two bishops
who guided the
Diocese of Savan
nah through the
first part of the
twentieth century
were both priests
whose names began
with “K.”-Bishop
Benjamin Joseph
Keiley and Bishop
Michael Joseph
Keyes, SM.
Father Benjamin Keiley, who came
to Savannah with his predecessor,
Bishop Thomas A. Becker, in 1886,
assumed responsibility for the dio
cese in 1900 on Bishop Becker’s
death. The son of John D. Keiley, an
immigrant Irish schoolmaster, the
future seventh bishop of Savannah
was bom in Petersburg, Virginia on
October 13, 1847. As a boy of seven
teen, he had followed his older bro
ther Anthony (later a prominent
jurist) into the Confederate Army.
Following a stint in newspaper work
after the Civil War, Benjamin Keiley
entered Saint Charles College in Elli-
cott City, Maryland. He continued
his theological studies at the North
American College in Rome and was
ordained a priest on December 31,
1873, in Saint Peter’s Cathedral in
Richmond, Virginia. Father Keiley’s
posts along the way to becoming
seventh bishop of the Savannah
Bishop Benjamin J. Keiley
Diocese included the pastorate of
Saint Peter’s Church, Newcastle,
Delaware (1874-1880), the rectorate
of Saint Peter’s Pro-Cathedral,
Wilmington, Delaware (1880-1886),
the pastorate of the Church of the
Immaculate Conception, Atlanta
(1886-1896) and the rectorate of the
Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist,
Savannah, from 1896-1900.
In 1900, Cardinal James Gibbons
consecrated Benjamin J. Keiley
Bishop of Savannah at Richmond’s
Saint Peter’s Cathedral, the site of
his ordination to the priesthood
almost 27 years earlier. Acting as
Master of Ceremonies was assistant
pastor at the Cathedral of Saint John
Jubilee Memorabilia for sale!
Three videos connected with the 150th anniversary celebration of
the Diocese of Savannah are available for sale. They are: the three-
and-a-half hour video of the November 29 Rededication of the
Cathedral Mass, $20; the one-hour edited version of the service
which aired on WTOC-TV with narration by Father Jeremiah J.
McCarthy, $15; and the half-hour video, “A Symphony of the
Faithful,” which features the history of the diocese and narration by
Father McCarthy, $12. Other Jubilee memorabilia for sale are:
Coffee mug $3.00
Magnet $ 1.00
Static cling decal $0.50
Tote bag $5.00
T-shirt (S to XXL) $6.00
Olive cap $5.00
Ballpoint pen $1.00
Pencil $0.10
Lapel pin $5.00
Calendar $1.00
“One Faith ... One Family” Book $30.00
To order, call Patty Hafferman at the Catholic Pastoral Center,
912-238-2320, or send an e-mail to Diosav(a)msn.com
Bishop J. Kevin Boland will read excerpts from and sign copies of
One Faith...One Family, a new compilation of essays on the Catholic
presence in south Georgia, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on
Saturday, December 16, at Saints and Shamrocks, 309 Bull Street,
in Savannah.
the Baptist, Father Robert F.
Kennedy. It was from Father
Kennedy that The Savannah Morning
News of Sunday, June 3, 1900,
obtained much of the information
carried in its three-column spread on
the event.
The new bishop was familiar with
his diocese, having served as pastor
at Immaculate Conception Church,
as vicar general of the diocese and,
as rector of the Cathedral. He was
rector when fire ravaged that church
in 1898 and much of the task of
beginning its restoration became his
responsibility. As bishop in the open
ing decades of the twentieth century,
Bishop Keiley had to combat a cer
tain amount of bad feeling towards
Catholicism in the largely Protestant
state of Georgia. While he was bish
op, the Catholic Laymen’s Associ
ation came into being and its quarter
ly publication, The Bulletin, began to
refute widespread misconceptions
about the Church.
During the Keiley years, the long-
existing arrangement with the public
school system which involved use of
lay teachers and the optional teach
ing of Catholic doctrine at Saint Pat
rick’s School in Savannah was de
clared illegal. Marist Brothers subse
quently came to Savannah to found
Marist School for the instruction of
Catholic boys.
At the end of Benjamin Keiley’s
time as bishop, the Savannah news
paper assessed his accomplishments,
noting: “The diocese boasts of more
splendid churches, perhaps, than any
diocese of its numerical strength in
the country; flourishing schools, two
fine orphanages, two large and mod
em hospitals and a laity distin
guished for its activity” in addition to
“a zealous band of priests and reli
gious.” In 1922, because of a condi
tion which was impairing his vision,
Bishop Benjamin Keiley resigned.
On the anniversary of his ordination
late in 1923, he became one of only
three bishops in the U.S. at that time
who had been priests for fifty years.
In retirement, Bishop Keiley resided
at Saint Joseph’s Infirmary in Atlanta
and it was at Saint Joseph’s that he
died on June 17, 1925. “His life,”
said The Savannah Morning News,
“read like a romance. Few men,
either in religious or secular life,
covered a wider field of usefulness
than he did.”
Taking up the work laid down by
Bishop Keiley was Bishop Michael
J. Keyes, a native of Dingle, Ireland,
who had been ordained a Marist
priest in Washington, D.C., on June
21, 1907, and consecrated eighth
bishop of Savannah in July 1922.
The new bishop incorporated the
Bishop Michael J. Keyes
Marist order’s insignia into his offi
cial seal along with the lineage of the
Keyes family. His motto, “Star of the
Sea,” reflected his devotion to both
the Virgin Mary and to the Society of
Mary. An unprepossessing man,
Bishop Keyes concentrated on estab
lishing the faith in mral Georgia.
During his tenure, despite the loom
ing Great Depression, the bishop ear
marked funds for erection of church
buildings. Chapels appeared in
Cordele, Valdosta and Saint Simons 1
Island and churches were built in
Macon and Savannah. He began a
church in Alapaha which closed the
year this country’s economic depres
sion began. Depression or not, 13
new diocesan schools came into
being during this difficult period and
four additional rectories and con- i
vents were built. Despite the neces
sary ongoing expansion of the
Church in Georgia, the careful
Bishop Keyes managed to keep the
diocese in sound financial condition-
Bishop Keyes is characterized in •
Father William Coleman’s book, The
Church in South Georgia, as having
a “mild, friendly disposition.” The
same source pictures the bishop as
living “among his people, visiting
them, comforting them through the
disaster of the depression, which
stmck no area harder than the south.”
Bishop Michael J. Keyes retired to
the Marist House of Studies in
Washington, D.C. in 1935 and taught
moral theology at Marist College
until his death on July 31, 1959.
In a century when methods of war
would be refined into a terrible art
and when socio-economic and scien
tific advances would proliferate
bewilderingly, Bishops Benjamin J.
Keiley and Michael J. Keyes estab
lished a strong base for Catholicism
in the Diocese of Savannah.
Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer
in the Diocesan Archives.