Elliot Griffin Thomas

Elliot Griffin Thomas (15 July 1926 – 28 February 2019) was an African-American Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Thomas.[1]

His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Elliot Griffin Thomas
Bishop Emeritus of Saint Thomas
ArchdioceseWashington
DioceseSaint Thomas
AppointedOctober 30, 1993
InstalledDecember 12, 1993
Term endedJune 29, 1999
PredecessorSeán Patrick O'Malley
SuccessorGeorge V. Murry
Orders
OrdinationJune 6, 1986
by Seán Patrick O'Malley
ConsecrationDecember 12, 1993
by James Aloysius Hickey, Seán Patrick O'Malley, and Donald James Reece
Personal details
Born(1926-07-15)July 15, 1926
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
DiedFebruary 28, 2019(2019-02-28) (aged 92)
Timonium, Maryland, United States
MottoEmitte spiritum tuum
Styles of
Elliot Griffin Thomas
Reference style
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleBishop

Life

Thomas was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on July 15, 1926. His family had lived in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, and returned there in 1934. Thomas was enrolled in the Methodist Day School in Road Town and as a teenager attended Charlotte Amalie High School, St. Thomas, where he graduated in 1945.

Following his graduation, Thomas served as a Clerk of the Municipal Homestead Commission and Clerk of the Adult Evening School in St. Thomas. In 1945, he enrolled in the College of Pharmacy at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1950. After qualifying as a registered pharmacist in Detroit, Michigan, he joined the United States Army and was assigned to FranMort-Hoechst and to Munich. After returning to the Virgin Islands, he became a pharmacist in St. Thomas. From 1954 to 1959, Thomas worked as a pharmacist with the Veterans Administration in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he also studied part-time at Gannon College, majoring in Business Administration.

On October 2, 1957, Thomas converted to Catholicism and was received into the Catholic Church at St. Peter's Cathedral in Erie, Pennsylvania. He began his studies for the priesthood in 1982 at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands on June 6, 1986, and was appointed Episcopal Vicar for the diocese and Pastor of Holy Family Church.

Thomas served as pastor of St. Ann's Church on St. Croix, pastor of Holy Family Church, Dean of the Diocese and the Vicar General. The Diocesan Consulters of the Diocese of St. Thomas unanimously elected Thomas to serve as Diocesan Administrator, a post he filled from August 11, 1992, until he was named as the Third Bishop of the Virgin Islands on October 30, 1993. He was consecrated and installed at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Saint Thomas on December 12, 1993. Thomas resigned in June 1999.[2]

See also

References
  1. "Bishop Elliot Griffin Thomas Obituary – Visitation & Funeral Information". www.hurleydavisfuneralhome.com.
  2. "Diocese of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands". GCatholic.

Episcopal succession
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Seán Patrick O'Malley		 Bishop of Saint Thomas
1993-1999		 Succeeded by
George V. Murry
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