Leo Christopher Byrne

Byrne was born in Saint Louis, Missouri on March 19, 1908, the youngest of eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Byrne. He was the executive director of Catholic Charities St. Louis from 1944 to 1950. On October 21, 1953, he was named a monsignor. ==Episcopacy==

On May 21, 1954, Pope Pius XII appointed Byrne auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis, and he was consecrated on June 29, 1954. Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter was the consecrator, with Bishop Mark Carroll and Bishop John Cody as primary co-consecrators. Upon Mark Carroll's retirement on February 15, 1963, Byrne became the apostolic administrator sede plena (), with Carroll retaining the office of archbishop. The episcopal advisor of the National Laywomen's Retreat Movement, he was seen as a "staunch defender" and proponent of the rights of women in the church. In 1971, he began service as the vice-president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. He attended the Second Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 1971. His funeral was on October 25, 1974, at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, and he was buried at Resurrection Cemetery. ==References==