James Augustine Healy | |
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Bishop of Portland | |
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Church | Catholic Church |
Diocese | Diocese of Portland |
Appointed | February 12, 1875 |
Term ended | August 5, 1900 (his death) |
Predecessor | David William Bacon |
Successor | William Henry O'Connell |
Orders | |
Ordination | June 10, 1854 by Marie-Dominique-Auguste Sibour |
Consecration | June 2, 1875 by John Joseph Williams |
Personal details | |
Born | Jones County, Georgia, U.S. | April 6, 1830
Died | August 5, 1900 Portland, Maine, U.S. | (aged 70)
Education | College of the Holy Cross Saint-Sulpice Seminary Sulpican Seminary |
Signature | ![]() |
James Augustine Healy (April 6, 1830 – August 5, 1900) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the first known African American to serve as a Catholic priest or bishop. With his predominantly European ancestry, Healy passed for a white man and identified as such.
Born into slavery in the Healy family of Georgia, James Healy was the son of a White plantation owner and a mixed-race enslaved woman. He was later freed, educated overseas, and ordained a priest in 1854. He served as Bishop of Portland in Maine from 1875 until his death in 1900.