Overview
John Power (June 19, 1792 – 1849) was an Irish-born American Catholic priest who served as the pastor of St Peter's Roman Catholic Church in New York City as well as the Vicar General for the Diocese of New York. He administered the Catholic Diocese of New York during interregnum between the death of Bishop John Connelly and the appointment of Bishop John Dubois.
Life
Power was born near Rosscarbery, County Cork, in the Kingdom of Ireland, in June 1792. He was educated in Cork and at St Patrick's College, Maynooth. Following his ordination, he served as a professor at the seminary in Cobh, and as curate at Youghal. After emigrating to the United States, in 1819 he was appointed as the pastor of St Peter's in New York and as the Vicar General of the diocese under Bishop John Connelly, O.P. St. James' Church in Brooklyn opened in 1823. Power was an early and stanch friend of the new congregation and used to cross the river frequently to minister to them.
After Connelly died in 1825, Power took control of the diocese until the appointment of John Dubois, S.S., as bishop (November 1826). Power had been the popular choice for this position, and although he was capable and qualified, his youth was against him. In the summer of 1827, Irish immigrants working the Enfield Falls Canal at Windsor Locks, Connecticut, sent to New York for a priest to tend to one of their number who had fallen grievously ill. It was Monsignor Power who responded. Learning of the large number of Catholics in the area, he returned again in October. From there he went to New Haven, and having missed the boat for New York, stayed over and said Sunday Mass for a group of Catholics at a building on the Long Wharf. In 1829 he again found himself in charge of the diocese (with fellow cleric Felix Varela) when Dubois travelled to Europe to gather funding and support for his restructuring plans - a mission that lasted 2 years.
On Easter Monday, April 20, 1835, he laid cornerstone of St. Nicholas Kirche, dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Myra, the first national church for German-speaking Catholics. In 1837 the 73-year-old Dubois successfully petitioned for the appointment of a coadjutor bishop to assist him in his duties. Power, the popular choice was again overlooked, this time in favour of John Hughes, who had once been a pupil of Dubois.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).