Richard Pius Miles

Miles was born in Prince George's County, Maryland, and moved to Kentucky with his parents at age 5.[1] After joining the Dominican Order in October 1806,[1] he was ordained a priest on September 21, 1816.[2] He then worked as a missionary in Ohio and Kentucky for 22 years, also founding a community of Dominican nuns and a school under the Sisters of Charity.[3] He served as pastor at Somerset, Kentucky and Zanesville, Ohio.[4]

On July 28, 1837, Miles was appointed the first Bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, by Pope Gregory XVI.[2] He received his episcopal consecration on September 16, 1838 from Bishop Joseph Rosati, C.M., with Bishops Simon Bruté and Guy Ignatius Chabrat, P.S.S., serving as co-consecrators.[2]

Arriving alone in Nashville, Miles took up residence in a boarding house and almost immediately fell seriously ill with a fever. A priest who happened to be travelling through Nashville arrived, and with his assistance Miles recovered. His parishioners consisted of approximately 100 families scattered throughout the state. Bishop Miles traveled on horseback to meet with them.

He took part in laying the cornerstone of St. Vincent de Paul Church (Baltimore, Maryland) and in November 1845, assisted at the consecration of Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral (Cincinnati). During his tenure, he ordained the first priest in Tennessee, and established a seminary and a hospital,[1][3] run by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth from Bardstown, Kentucky, and an orphanage run by the sisters of St. Dominic. He dedicated the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin of the Seven Sorrows in 1848, to replace the Cathedral of the Holy Rosary.

He died at the age of 68. At the time of his death, the diocese comprised 12,000 Catholics, 13 priests, 14 churches, 6 chapels, and 13 missions.[1] In 1972, over 100 years after his death, his body was exhumed and he was found to be incorrupt.[5][6] A cause has since been opened for his canonization.[7]