Henry Damian Juncker

Who was Henry Damian Juncker?

Henry Damian Juncker was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Alton, Illinois, serving between 1857 and his death in 1868.

Juncker was born Fénétrange, Lorraine, and while a young student at the Pont-à-Mousson seminary he decided to devote his life to the American missions, attaching himself to the Diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was ordained a priest by Bishop John Baptist Purcell on March 16, 1834. He then served as pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Cincinnati until 1836, when he became pastor of St. Mary's Church in Canton. In 1846 he was named pastor of the Church of Emanuel in Dayton.

On January 9, 1857, Juncker was appointed the first Bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Alton, Illinois, by Pope Pius IX. He received his episcopal consecration on the following April 26 from Bishop Purcell, with Bishops John Henni and Joshua Maria Young serving as co-consecrators. At the time of his arrival, the diocese contained 58 churches, 18 priests, and 50,000 Catholics; by the time of his death, there were 125 churches, over 100 priests, and 80,000 Catholics. He completed the first cathedral in 1859, and founded two men's colleges, six girls' academies, a seminary, two hospitals, and one orphanage.