The Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, Monsignor Francis Joseph Gossman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 1, 1930, to Frank M. Gossman and Genevieve Steadman. He attended St. Charles College and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1952. He pursued further studies at the North American College in Rome, obtaining a licentiate in sacred theology from the Gregorian University, in 1956. He was ordained to the priesthood there on December 17, 1955. The following year, he began graduate studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., earning a doctorate in canon law in June 1959.
Assistant pastor at Baltimore's Basilica of the Assumption until July 1968, at which time he was appointed administrator of the Cathedral of Mary, Our Queen in Baltimore, he also served as vice-chancellor of the archdiocese from 1959 till 1968. He was made Honorary Prelate to His Holiness Pope Paul VI with the title of Monsignor June 27, 1965.
At 38 years of age, Gossman was named Auxiliary for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Pope Paul VI, receiving his episcopal consecration with the Titular See of Aguntum on September 11, 1968, from Cardinal Lawrence Shehan, assisted by Bishops Thomas Austin Murphy and Thomas Joseph Mardaga. In mid-1970, Bishop Gossman was named urban vicar, with the inner city of Baltimore and its people becoming his special area of ministry.
On April 8, 1975, he was appointed the Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, vacated the previous year following the death of Bishop Vincent Stanislaus Waters. During his 31 years in Raleigh, Bishop Gossman faced the challenge of extensive growth of the Catholic population of the Diocese, which comprises the 54 eastern-most counties of North Carolina. At the time of his appointment, Catholics numbered approximately one percent of the statewide population. At the time of his retirement, the registered Catholic population in the Diocese of Raleigh was 192,000, with an additional 200,000 Hispanics residing in the diocese, many of whom were Catholic.
Retiring from the pastoral government of his see on June 8, 2006, Monsignor Gossman passed away following a long illness on Monday, August 12, 2013, aged 83.
Assistant pastor at Baltimore's Basilica of the Assumption until July 1968, at which time he was appointed administrator of the Cathedral of Mary, Our Queen in Baltimore, he also served as vice-chancellor of the archdiocese from 1959 till 1968. He was made Honorary Prelate to His Holiness Pope Paul VI with the title of Monsignor June 27, 1965.
At 38 years of age, Gossman was named Auxiliary for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Pope Paul VI, receiving his episcopal consecration with the Titular See of Aguntum on September 11, 1968, from Cardinal Lawrence Shehan, assisted by Bishops Thomas Austin Murphy and Thomas Joseph Mardaga. In mid-1970, Bishop Gossman was named urban vicar, with the inner city of Baltimore and its people becoming his special area of ministry.
On April 8, 1975, he was appointed the Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, vacated the previous year following the death of Bishop Vincent Stanislaus Waters. During his 31 years in Raleigh, Bishop Gossman faced the challenge of extensive growth of the Catholic population of the Diocese, which comprises the 54 eastern-most counties of North Carolina. At the time of his appointment, Catholics numbered approximately one percent of the statewide population. At the time of his retirement, the registered Catholic population in the Diocese of Raleigh was 192,000, with an additional 200,000 Hispanics residing in the diocese, many of whom were Catholic.
Retiring from the pastoral government of his see on June 8, 2006, Monsignor Gossman passed away following a long illness on Monday, August 12, 2013, aged 83.
The Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, Monsignor Francis Joseph Gossman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 1, 1930, to Frank M. Gossman and Genevieve Steadman. He attended St. Charles College and St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1952. He pursued further studies at the North American College in Rome, obtaining a licentiate in sacred theology from the Gregorian University, in 1956. He was ordained to the priesthood there on December 17, 1955. The following year, he began graduate studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., earning a doctorate in canon law in June 1959.
Assistant pastor at Baltimore's Basilica of the Assumption until July 1968, at which time he was appointed administrator of the Cathedral of Mary, Our Queen in Baltimore, he also served as vice-chancellor of the archdiocese from 1959 till 1968. He was made Honorary Prelate to His Holiness Pope Paul VI with the title of Monsignor June 27, 1965.
At 38 years of age, Gossman was named Auxiliary for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Pope Paul VI, receiving his episcopal consecration with the Titular See of Aguntum on September 11, 1968, from Cardinal Lawrence Shehan, assisted by Bishops Thomas Austin Murphy and Thomas Joseph Mardaga. In mid-1970, Bishop Gossman was named urban vicar, with the inner city of Baltimore and its people becoming his special area of ministry.
On April 8, 1975, he was appointed the Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, vacated the previous year following the death of Bishop Vincent Stanislaus Waters. During his 31 years in Raleigh, Bishop Gossman faced the challenge of extensive growth of the Catholic population of the Diocese, which comprises the 54 eastern-most counties of North Carolina. At the time of his appointment, Catholics numbered approximately one percent of the statewide population. At the time of his retirement, the registered Catholic population in the Diocese of Raleigh was 192,000, with an additional 200,000 Hispanics residing in the diocese, many of whom were Catholic.
Retiring from the pastoral government of his see on June 8, 2006, Monsignor Gossman passed away following a long illness on Monday, August 12, 2013, aged 83.
Assistant pastor at Baltimore's Basilica of the Assumption until July 1968, at which time he was appointed administrator of the Cathedral of Mary, Our Queen in Baltimore, he also served as vice-chancellor of the archdiocese from 1959 till 1968. He was made Honorary Prelate to His Holiness Pope Paul VI with the title of Monsignor June 27, 1965.
At 38 years of age, Gossman was named Auxiliary for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Pope Paul VI, receiving his episcopal consecration with the Titular See of Aguntum on September 11, 1968, from Cardinal Lawrence Shehan, assisted by Bishops Thomas Austin Murphy and Thomas Joseph Mardaga. In mid-1970, Bishop Gossman was named urban vicar, with the inner city of Baltimore and its people becoming his special area of ministry.
On April 8, 1975, he was appointed the Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, vacated the previous year following the death of Bishop Vincent Stanislaus Waters. During his 31 years in Raleigh, Bishop Gossman faced the challenge of extensive growth of the Catholic population of the Diocese, which comprises the 54 eastern-most counties of North Carolina. At the time of his appointment, Catholics numbered approximately one percent of the statewide population. At the time of his retirement, the registered Catholic population in the Diocese of Raleigh was 192,000, with an additional 200,000 Hispanics residing in the diocese, many of whom were Catholic.
Retiring from the pastoral government of his see on June 8, 2006, Monsignor Gossman passed away following a long illness on Monday, August 12, 2013, aged 83.
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