Egidius Junger

Egidius Jünger, also spelled Aegidius Junger (April 6, 1833 – December 26, 1895), was a German-born clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Nesqually from 1879 until his death in 1895, the only bishop of Western Washington born in Europe.

His Excellency, the Right Reverend Egidius Jünger
Bishop of Nesqually
Province	Oregon City
Diocese	Nesqually
Appointed	August 6, 1879
Term ended	December 26, 1895
Predecessor	Augustin-Magloire Blanchet
Successor	Edward John O'Dea
Orders
Ordination	June 27, 1862
Consecration	October 28, 1879 by François Norbert Blanchet
Personal details
Born	April 6, 1833 Burtscheid, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia (present-day Germany)
Died	December 26, 1895 (aged 62) Vancouver, Washington, United States
Nationality	Prussian
Education	Catholic University of Leuven

Biography

Junger was born in Burtscheid in Rhenish Prussia. He received his early education at the schools of his native city and made his classical studies at the gymnasium of Aachen. In 1853, he entered the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. He was later ordained to the priesthood in Mechelen on June 27, 1862.[1] He came to the United States as a missionary in October of that year, being stationed at Walla Walla, Washington. He became rector of St. James Cathedral (now a proto-cathedral) in Vancouver in 1864.

On August 6, 1879, Junger was appointed the second Bishop of Nesqually by Pope Leo XIII.[1] He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 28 from Archbishop François Norbert Blanchet in Oregon City, Oregon.[1] The diocese experienced considerable growth under his administration, including an increase in the number of priests and parishes and the number of women religious in the region increased from about 60 to 286. Under his leadership, a large cathedral was built in Vancouver, Washington in 1888 to replace the old wooden church built in 1846 by Bishops François Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers, but the $50,000 financial debt the project created weighed upon him.[2]

He died at Vancouver, at the age of 62, on the Feast of St. Stephen, 1895.

References

1. "Bishop Egidius Junger". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
2. O'Connel Killen, Patricia. Abundance of Grace: The History of the Archdiocese of Seattle, 1850 to 2000 (1st ed.). Strasbourg, France: Éditions du Signe. pp. 30–34.