Joseph Oliver Bowers
Joseph Oliver Bowers, SVD (28 March 1910 – 5 November 2012) was a prelate of the Catholic Church from Dominica, who served as Bishop of St. Johns–Basseterre from 1971 to 1981. He previously served as Bishop of Accra on the then Gold Coast, beginning in 1953. He was the first Black Catholic bishop to be consecrated in the United States in the 20th century, and the first ever to ordain African-American Catholic priests.
Joseph Oliver Bowers | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of St. Johns -Basseterre (Emeritus) | |
Bowers in his early days | |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
| See | St. Johns-Basseterre |
| In office | 1971–81 |
| Predecessor | New Creation |
| Successor | Donald Reece |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 22 January 1939 |
| Consecration | 8 January 1953 by Francis Joseph Spellman |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 March 1910 Massacre, British Leeward Islands (present-day Dominica) |
| Died | 5 November 2012 (aged 102) Agormanya, Eastern Region, Ghana |
| Buried | Holy Spirit Cathedral, Accra |
| Previous post(s) | Bishop of Accra, Ghana Bishop |
He is credited with having tripled the Catholic population and parishes in Ghana and for substantially increasing the number of Catholic priests and religious laity in the Diocese of Accra. At the time of his death in Ghana, aged 102, he was the second-oldest Catholic bishop and the oldest from the Caribbean.
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