Robert Francis Joyce

Who was Robert Francis Joyce?

Robert Francis Joyce was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Burlington from 1956 to 1971.

Joyce was born in Proctor, Vermont, to Patrick Joseph and Ellen Joyce. After graduating from Proctor High School, he studied at the University of Vermont and the Grand Seminary of Montreal, Canada. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Joseph John Rice on May 26, 1923.

He then did pastoral work in the Diocese of Burlington until 1927, when he became principal of the Cathedral High School. After resuming his pastoral ministry in 1932, he was a chaplain in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946. He later served as a pro-synodal judge and diocesan director of the Holy Name Society.

On July 8, 1954, Joyce was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Burlington and Titular Bishop of Citium by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following October 28 from Bishop Edward Francis Ryan, with Bishops Matthew Francis Brady and Bernard Joseph Flanagan serving as co-consecrators. After the death of Bishop Ryan, Joyce was named the sixth Bishop of Burlington on December 29, 1956, being installed as such on February 26, 1957.