Lambert Anthony Hoch
Encyclopedia
Lambert Anthony Hoch was an American
prelate
of the Roman Catholic Church
. He served as Bishop of Bismarck
(1952-1956) and Bishop of Sioux Falls
(1956-1978).
, South Dakota
, to George and Philomena (née Kniest) Hoch. After graduating from Elkton High School, he entered Creighton University
at Omaha
, Nebraska
in 1920. He earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree from Creighton in 1924, and then studied theology
at St. Paul Seminary
in St. Paul
, Minnesota
. He was ordained
to the priesthood
by Bishop Bernard Joseph Mahoney
on May 30, 1928.
Hoch then served as a professor
of philosophy
at Columbus College until 1929, when he became a curate
at Immaculate Conception Church in Watertown
. In 1933 he was named chancellor
of the Diocese of Sioux Falls
. In addition to his duties as chancellor, he served as chaplain
of McKennan Hospital for eleven years. He was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness
in 1943.
On January 23, 1952, Hoch was appointed the third Bishop of Bismarck
, North Dakota
, by Pope Pius XII
. He received his episcopal
consecration
on the following March 25 from Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, with Bishops William O. Brady and Francis Joseph Schenk
serving as co-consecrators
. He was the first native South Dakotan to become a Catholic bishop. Hoch was installed
by Archbishop John Murray
at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on April 2, 1952. During his four-year-long tenure, he worked to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life
; between 1952 and 1960, 29 priests were ordained for the diocese and 13 for Assumption Abbey in Richardton
.
Following the promotion of Bishop William O. Brady to Coadjutor Archbishop
of St. Paul
, Hoch was named the fifth Bishop of Sioux Falls
, South Dakota
, on November 27, 1956. He was installed on the following December 5. He attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council
between 1962 and 1965, and dedicated much of his administration to implementing the Council's reforms. He fostered ecumenical
relations with other faiths and helped establish the South Dakota Association of Christian Churches. In 1963 he baptized
and confirmed
the Fischer quintuplets
, who were the first known surviving set of American quintuplets.
After reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, Hoch resigned as bishop on June 13, 1978. He later died after a long illness at McKennan Hospital, aged 87.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. He served as Bishop of Bismarck
Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck is a Roman Catholic diocese in North Dakota. It was founded on December 31, 1909. It is part of the ecclesiastical province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, which is headquartered in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St...
(1952-1956) and Bishop of Sioux Falls
Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls is a Roman Catholic diocese in the U.S. state of South Dakota. It was founded on November 12, 1889 by Pope Leo XIII and comprises that part of South Dakota east of the Missouri River. The architect for the St...
(1956-1978).
Biography
Lambert Hoch was born in ElktonElkton, South Dakota
Elkton is a city in Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 736 at the 2010 census. Some of Elkton's population also have Minnesota addresses since the city is located so close the state line.-Geography:...
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, to George and Philomena (née Kniest) Hoch. After graduating from Elkton High School, he entered Creighton University
Creighton University
Creighton University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The university is accredited by...
at Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
in 1920. He earned a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Creighton in 1924, and then studied theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
at St. Paul Seminary
Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity
The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, was founded by Archbishop John Ireland in 1894, to provide ordained priests for the ever-increasing Catholic population of the Upper Midwest. The seminary now sits on the south campus of the University of St. Thomas,...
in St. Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. He was ordained
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
to the priesthood
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
by Bishop Bernard Joseph Mahoney
Bernard Joseph Mahoney
Bernard Joseph Mahoney was the third Roman Catholic Bishop of Sioux Falls .Bernard Mahoney was born in Albany, New York, to Daniel and Honora Mahoney, who were Irish immigrants. After attending St. John's Academy in Rensselaer, he studied at Mount St...
on May 30, 1928.
Hoch then served as a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Columbus College until 1929, when he became a curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
at Immaculate Conception Church in Watertown
Watertown, South Dakota
Watertown is a city in and the county seat of Codington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 21,482 at the 2010 census. It is also the principal city of the Watertown Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Codington and Hamlin counties...
. In 1933 he was named chancellor
Chancellor (ecclesiastical)
Two quite distinct officials of some Christian churches have the title Chancellor.*In some churches, the Chancellor of a diocese is a lawyer who represents the church in legal matters....
of the Diocese of Sioux Falls
Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls is a Roman Catholic diocese in the U.S. state of South Dakota. It was founded on November 12, 1889 by Pope Leo XIII and comprises that part of South Dakota east of the Missouri River. The architect for the St...
. In addition to his duties as chancellor, he served as chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
of McKennan Hospital for eleven years. He was raised to the rank of Domestic Prelate of His Holiness
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
in 1943.
On January 23, 1952, Hoch was appointed the third Bishop of Bismarck
Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck is a Roman Catholic diocese in North Dakota. It was founded on December 31, 1909. It is part of the ecclesiastical province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, which is headquartered in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St...
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
, by Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
. He received his episcopal
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
consecration
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
on the following March 25 from Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, with Bishops William O. Brady and Francis Joseph Schenk
Francis Joseph Schenk
Francis Joseph Schenk was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Crookston and Bishop of Duluth .-Biography:...
serving as co-consecrators
Consecrator
Consecrator is a term used in the Roman Catholic Church to designate a bishop who ordains a priest to the episcopal state. The term is often used in Eastern Rite Churches and in Anglican communities. The term "Principal Consecrator" is used to designate the primary bishop who ordains a new bishop...
. He was the first native South Dakotan to become a Catholic bishop. Hoch was installed
Enthronement
An enthronement is a ceremony of inauguration, involving a person—usually a monarch or religious leader—being formally seated for the first time upon their throne. This ritual is generally distinguished from a coronation because there is no crown or other regalia that is physically...
by Archbishop John Murray
John Murray (archbishop)
John Gregory Murray was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Saint Paul from 1931 until his death in 1956, having previously served as Auxiliary Bishop of Hartford and Bishop of Portland .-Early life and education:John Murray was born in Waterbury,...
at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on April 2, 1952. During his four-year-long tenure, he worked to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life
Consecrated life (Catholic Church)
In the Roman Catholic Church, the term "consecrated life" denotes a stable form of Christian living by those faithful who feel called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way recognized by the Church...
; between 1952 and 1960, 29 priests were ordained for the diocese and 13 for Assumption Abbey in Richardton
Richardton, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 619 people, 251 households, and 168 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,686.7 people per square mile . There were 285 housing units at an average density of 776.6 per square mile...
.
Following the promotion of Bishop William O. Brady to Coadjutor Archbishop
Coadjutor bishop
A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches who is designated to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese, almost as co-bishop of the diocese...
of St. Paul
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by the prelature of an archbishop which administers the archdiocese from the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis...
, Hoch was named the fifth Bishop of Sioux Falls
Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls is a Roman Catholic diocese in the U.S. state of South Dakota. It was founded on November 12, 1889 by Pope Leo XIII and comprises that part of South Dakota east of the Missouri River. The architect for the St...
, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, on November 27, 1956. He was installed on the following December 5. He attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...
between 1962 and 1965, and dedicated much of his administration to implementing the Council's reforms. He fostered ecumenical
Catholic Church and ecumenism
The Catholic Church has been heavily involved in the ecumenical movement since the Second Vatican Council .- Before the Second Vatican Council :...
relations with other faiths and helped establish the South Dakota Association of Christian Churches. In 1963 he baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
and confirmed
Confirmation (Catholic Church)
Confirmation is one of the seven sacraments through which Catholics pass in the process of their religious upbringing. According to Catholic doctrine, in this sacrament they receive the Holy Spirit and become adult members of the Catholic Church....
the Fischer quintuplets
Multiple birth
A multiple birth occurs when more than one fetus is carried to term in a single pregnancy. Different names for multiple births are used, depending on the number of offspring. Common multiples are two and three, known as twins and triplets...
, who were the first known surviving set of American quintuplets.
After reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, Hoch resigned as bishop on June 13, 1978. He later died after a long illness at McKennan Hospital, aged 87.