George Avis Fulcher


George Avis Fulcher
Bishop of Lafayette in Indiana
Titular Bishop of Morosbisdus
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
SeeDiocese of Lafayette in Indiana
PredecessorRaymond Joseph Gallagher
SuccessorWilliam Leo Higi
Other postsAuxiliary Bishop of Columbus
1976 to 1983
Titular Bishop of Morosbisdus
Orders
OrdinationFebruary 28, 1948
by Michael Joseph Ready
ConsecrationJuly 18, 1976
by Edward John Herrmann
Personal details
BornJanuary 30, 1922
DiedJanuary 25, 1984(1984-01-25) (aged 61)
MottoGod is light
Styles of
George Avis Fulcher
Reference styleReverend
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleBishop
Posthumous stylenone

George Avis Fulcher (January 30, 1922 – January 25, 1984) was an American Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Lafayette in Indiana from 1983 until his death in 1984.[1] He previously served as an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Columbus in Ohio from 1976 to 1983.

Biography

Early life

George Fulcher was born in Columbus, Ohio, on January 30, 1922, to George and Mary (Lennon) Fulcher.[2] He was baptized at Saint Patrick Church and briefly attended primary school there, before his family moved to the Hilltop and began attending St. Aloysius. He graduated from Saint Charles Preparatory School in Columbus 1940 and entered seminary studies at the Athenaeum of Ohio in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1944.

Priesthood

Fulcher was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Columbus by Bishop Michael Ready on February 28, 1948 in Columbus.[2] In addition to parish pastoral work, he served as the editor-in-chief of the diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Times, from 1958 to 1963.[3][4]

Auxiliary Bishop of Columbus

Fulcher was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Columbus and titular bishop of Morosbisdus by Pope Paul VI on May 24, 1976. Fulcher was consecrated at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Columbus by Bishop Edward John Herrmann on July 18, 1976.[2] He served as the rector of St. Joseph Cathedral from 1975 to 1983, and also served on the NCCB committee that drafted the Pastoral Letter on Peace.[5]

Bishop of Lafayette in Indiana

On February 8, 1983, Fulcher was appointed by Pope John Paul II as bishop of Lafayette in Indiana.[2] He was later appointed to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops committee for the implementation of the Pastoral Letter on Peace.

While returning from a conference with religious superiors in Terre Haute, Indiana, on January 25, 1984, George Fulcher died in a car crash on US-41 near Rockville, Indiana.[6] He was 62 years old.

References

  1. ^ "Bishop George Avis Fulcher". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "Bishop George Avis Fulcher [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
  3. ^ "Catholic News Service - Newsfeeds 1 April 1963 — The Catholic News Archive". thecatholicnewsarchive.org. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  4. ^ Schlegel, Donald (November 1998). "The Bishops of Columbus: Most Rev. George Avis Fulcher, S.T.D." (PDF). The Bulletin of the Catholic Record Society of Columbus. XXIII (11): 183–185.
  5. ^ Prosen, Anthony Joseph (2006). A History of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana. Éditions du Signe.
  6. ^ "Bp. Fulcher Dies in Crash". The St. Louis Review. 3 February 1988. p. 2.

Episcopal succession