Vincent Leonard

Vincent Leonard was born on December 11, 1908, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of nine children of Francis and Catherine (née Dolan) Leonard.[1] His father worked in the steel mills.[1] He was raised in the Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and received his early education at the parochial school of St. Brigid Parish.[2] After graduating from Duquesne University Preparatory School, he studied at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and then at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe.[3]

Leonard was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Pittsburgh by Bishop Hugh C. Boyle on June 16, 1935.[4] His first assignment was as assistant chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, where he remained for two years.[3] From 1937 to 1950, he was resident chaplain of Allegheny County Home and Woodville State Hospital.[2] He was later named assistant chancellor (1950), chancellor (1951), and vicar general (1959) of the diocese.[1] In addition to these duties, Boyle served as pastor of St. Patrick Parish in the Strip District (1955–1967) and of St. Philip Parish in Crafton, Pennsylvania (1967–1969).[1] He was named a domestic prelate by Pope Pius XII in 1952.[3]

On February 28, 1964, Leonard was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Titular Bishop of Arsacal by Pope Paul VI.[4] He received his episcopal consecration on April 21, 1964, from Bishop John Wright, with Bishops Richard Henry Ackerman and William G. Connare serving as co-consecrators.[4] He selected as his episcopal motto: Ut Christum Lucrifaciam ("That I may gain Christ").[5]

After Bishop Wright was named to head the Congregation for the Clergy, Leonard was appointed the ninth bishop of Pittsburgh on June 1, 1969.[4] During his tenure, he became one of the first bishops in the United States to make his diocesan financial reports public, and established a due-process system to allow Catholics to appeal any administrative decision they believed was a violation of canon law.[1] In 1974, he threatened three priests with disciplinary action for giving Communion in the hand when it was not yet permitted in the United States.[1] He also served on the Pro-Life Committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and on the Health Affairs Committee of the United States Catholic Conference.[3]

Pope Paul II accepted Leonard's resignation as Bishop of Pittsburgh on June 30, 1983, due to arthritis.[6] Vincent Leonard died on August 28, 1994, from pneumonia at the Little Sisters of the Poor Home in Pittsburgh, at age 85.[3] He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh.[7]