Early life Vincent Wehrle was born on December 19, 1855, in
Berg, St. Gallen, Switzerland to Johann Baptist and Elisabeth (née Hafner) Wehrle. He studied at the
minor seminary of St. Gallen for four years, when it was closed down by an
anti-clerical state government. He then studied at
Einsiedeln Abbey for two years. He made his
profession as a member of the
Order of St. Benedict (Benedictines) at Einsiedeln on December 3, 1876.
Priesthood Wehrle was
ordained to the
priesthood by Bishop Franz Konstantin Rampa at Einsiedeln on April 23, 1882. That same year, the Benedictines sent Wehrle to the United States, where he joined
Subiaco Abbey in
Logan County, Arkansas. He later went to
St. Meinrad Abbey in
Spencer County,
Indiana. In 1887, Wehrle was assigned to the Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota, which contained present day North and South Dakota. He was named
chancellor of the vicariate by Bishop
Martin Mary. After laboring as a
missionary among the
Native Americans in
Yankton, South Dakota, he was assigned as pastor of the mission church in
Devils Lake, North Dakota. He there founded St. Gall's Priory in 1893, and was elected as its first
prior. He later established
Assumption Abbey at
Richardton, North Dakota, where he was
abbot, in 1903. He also established new
parishes in the surrounding towns of
Mott, Richardton,
Lefor, and Strasburg, all in North Dakota
Bishop of Bismarck On April 9, 1910, Wehrle was appointed the first
bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Bismarck by
Pope Pius X. He received his
episcopal consecration on May 19, 1910, from Archbishop
John Ireland, with Bishops
James McGolrick and
James Trobec serving as
co-consecrators, at the chapel of
Saint Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. His
installation took place on June 16, 1910, and was attended by North Dakota Governor
John Burke. During his 29-year-long tenure, Wehrle presided over a period of great growth for the church. From 1910 to 1939, the number of Catholics increased from 25,000 to 55,000; and 55 churches, 115 congregations, 18
parochial schools, and four
hospitals were established. He also began construction on the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, but was forced to abandon his efforts due to the financial shortfall caused in the 1930s by the
Great Depression. By 1937, Wehrle's health had begun to fail and he became a patient at
St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck.
Retirement and legacy Pope Pius XII accepted Wehrle's resignation as resigned as bishop of Bismarck on December 11, 1939, and appointed him
titular bishop of
Teos on the same date. Vincent Wehrle died in Bismarck on November 2, 1941, at age 85. He is interred at the Assumption Abbey Church Crypt in
Richardton, North Dakota. ==References==