Early life and education Thomas Becker was born on December 30, 1832, in
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, to Irish
Protestant parents. After attending the Allegheny Institute, he entered the
Western University of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh and then the
University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. In Virginia, he met Bishop
John McGill, who persuaded him to convert to Catholicism. After his conversion, Becker decided to enter the
priesthood. He travelled to Rome in 1854 to study at the
Urban College of Propaganda, receiving a
Doctor of Sacred Theology degree.
Ordination and ministry On July 18, 1859, Becker was
ordained a priest for the
Archdiocese of Baltimore by Cardinal
Costantino Naro at the
Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. Following his return to the United States, Becker was assigned to a
mission including
Martinsburg and
Berkeley Springs in what was then
Virginia. At that time, the Diocese of Wilmington comprised the
Delmarva Peninsula, including all of
Delaware and several counties of Maryland and Virginia. Becker oversaw a three-fold increase in the number of priests and a doubling of the number of churches. He established an orphanage and academy for boys, an academy for girls, and two additional parochial schools. He wrote a series of articles on the idea of a Catholic university, which attracted wide attention. Becker was an outspoken supporter of the
temperance movement, a national initiative against
alcohol abuse.
Bishop of Savannah On March 26, 1886, Becker was appointed the sixth bishop of Savannah by
Pope Leo XIII. He was installed on May 16. 1886. During his tenure, Becker added an episcopal residence to the
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, which he completed with the building of spires in 1896. After the cathedral was nearly destroyed by a fire in 1898, he solicited funds for its rebuilding.
Death Thomas Becker died on July 29, 1899, at age 66, in
Washington, Georgia. == Racism ==