Ignatius A. Reynolds

Who is Ignatius A. Reynolds?

Ignatius Aloysius Reynolds was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Charleston from 1844 until his death in 1855.

Reynolds was born in Bardstown, Kentucky, and enrolled at the theological seminary there at an early age. In December 1821 he entered St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was later ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Ambrose Maréchal, P.S.S., on October 24, 1823. Following his return to Kentucky, Reynolds served as president of St. Joseph's College until 1830, when he succeeded Francis Kenrick as professor of theology at the Bardstown seminary. He later became superior of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, pastor of Louisville, and vicar general of the diocese.

On November 28, 1843, Reynolds was appointed the second Bishop of Charleston, South Carolina, by Pope Gregory XVI. He received his episcopal consecration on March 19, 1844 from Archbishop John Baptist Purcell, with Bishops Michael O'Connor, S.J. and Richard Pius Miles, O.P., serving as co-consecrators, at Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral in Cincinnati, Ohio. During his tenure Reynolds conducted visitations of the entire diocese, which then included both Carolinas and Georgia. However, these areas were dominated by Episcopalians, Baptists, and Methodists; there were only about 12,000 Catholics in the diocese in 1846. He also published a five-volume work on his popular predecessor John England, erased the $14,000 debt the same England had incurred, and dedicated the Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar in April 1854.