Ignatius Jerome Strecker

Styles of Ignatius Strecker

Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	none

Ignatius Jerome Strecker (November 23, 1917—October 16, 2003) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas from 1969 to 1993.

Early life

Ignatius Strecker was born in Spearville, Kansas, to William and Mary (Knoeber) Strecker. He was baptized at St. John the Baptist Church, where his parents were also the first couple to be married. He had a brother, Henry; and four sisters, Agnes, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Wilhelmina. Strecker was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Christian Winkelmann on December 19, 1942, celebrating his first Mass in his native Spearville on the following December 21. He then studied canon law at the Catholic University of America, and was later made chancellor of the Diocese of Wichita in 1948.

Episcopal ministry

On April 11, 1962, Strecker was appointed the second Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri, by Pope John XXIII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following June 20 from Archbishop Edward Hunkeler, with Bishops Charles Helmsing and Marion Forst serving as co-consecrators, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. From 1962 to 1965, Strecker attended the Second Vatican Council, during which he sat next to Archbishop Karol Wojtyła of Kraków; the Bishop was extremely dedicated to the Council's implementation in his diocese as well.

Pope Paul VI later named him the second Archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas on September 10, 1969. At age 51, Strecker was the second youngest prelate of that rank in the United States. He was later elected president of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference twice. Widely known as an advocate for small family farms, as well as the poor in the inner city and Hispanics, the Archbishop urged Congress to work toward a comprehensive food and agricultural policy. He once testified before the House Agriculture Committee in 1984, during hearings in preparation for comprehensive farm policy legislation, and stated, "The fate of our family farmers is not an abstract concern...What happens to them will determine whether or not a land-owning elite will increasingly control our food and the price of that food."

In 1992 he denounced the pro-choice views of then-State Rep. Kathleen Sebelius (future Governor of Kansas and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services), accusing her of leading "the death-march of the unborn to the abortion clinics in the House of Representatives" and "attempting to make the 'death-marches' to the abortion clinics as legal as the death-marches to the gas chambers of the World War II Holocaust."^[1]

Retirement

After reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, Strecker resigned his post as Archbishop on June 28, 1993, following twenty-three years of service. During that time, he earned the nickname of "Gracious Ignatius".

Death

Strecker, after a series of strokes and a fall, died in Kansas City, at age 85.

References

↑ Strecker, Ignatius (1992-03-27). "The Silent and Suffering Church in Kansas". The Leaven.

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Charles Herman Helmsing	Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau 1962–1969	Succeeded by William Wakefield Baum
Preceded by Edward Joseph Hunkeler	Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas 1969–1993	Succeeded by James Patrick Keleher

Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas

Ordinaries	Vicars John Baptiste Miège Louis Mary Fink Bishops Louis Mary Fink Thomas Francis Lillis John Chamberlain Ward Francis Johannes Paul Clarence Schulte George Joseph Donnelly Edward Joseph Hunkeler Archbishops Edward Joseph Hunkeler Ignatius Jerome Strecker James Patrick Keleher Joseph Fred Naumann

Auxiliary Bishop	Marion Francis Forst

Churches	Cathedral Cathedral of Saint Peter Parishes St. Patrick's Church, Atchison St. Benedict's Church, Bendena St. Mary's Church, Purcell Church of the Assumption, Topeka St. Joseph's Church, Topeka Former St. Bridget Church, Axtell St. Mary's Mission, St. Marys

Education	Higher Education Benedictine College Donnelly College St. Mary's College, St. Marys University of Saint Mary, Leavenworth High Schools Bishop Miege High School, Roeland Park Bishop Ward High School, Kansas City Hayden High School, Topeka Immaculata High School, Leavenworth Maur Hill – Mount Academy, Atchison St. James Academy, Lenexa St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Overland Park

Priests	John Francis Cunningham

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Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau

Bishops	Charles Herman Helmsing Ignatius Jerome Strecker William Wakefield Baum Bernard Francis Law John Joseph Leibrecht James Vann Johnston, Jr.

Churches	Cathedrals St. Agnes Cathedral Cathedral of St. Mary of the Annunciation Parishes St. Vincent De Paul Church, Cape Girardeau St. Peter the Apostle Church, Joplin

Education	High schools McAuley Catholic High School, Joplin Notre Dame High School, Cape Girardeau Springfield Catholic High School, Springfield

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Diocese of Wichita

Bishops	Ordinaries James O'Reilly John Joseph Hennessy Augustus John Schwertner Christian Herman Winkelmann Mark Kenny Carroll David Monas Maloney Eugene John Gerber Thomas Olmsted Michael Owen Jackels Carl A. Kemme Coadjutor Leo Christopher Byrne

Churches	Cathedral Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Parishes St. Mark Church, Colwich St. Teresa's Church, Hutchinson

Education	Higher Education Newman University, Wichita High Schools Bishop Carroll Catholic High School, Wichita Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School, Wichita St. Mary's-Colgan High School, Pittsburg Trinity Catholic High School, Hutchinson

Priests	John Balthasar Brungardt Paul Stagg Coakley James D. Conley Ronald Michael Gilmore Emil Kapaun Ignatius Jerome Strecker John Henry Tihen

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