Joseph Raphael John Crimont
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Joseph Raphael John Crimont | |
|---|---|
| Vicar Apostolic of Alaska | |
 | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| See | Vicariate Apostolic of Alaska |
| Appointed | February 15, 1917 |
| Term ended | May 20, 1945 (his death) |
| Predecessor | Office established |
| Successor | Walter James Fitzgerald |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | August 26, 1888 by James Gibbons |
| Consecration | July 25, 1917 by Alexander Christie |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 2, 1858 Ferrières, Hauts-de-France, France |
| Died | May 20, 1945 (aged 87) |
Joseph Raphael John Crimont SJ (February 2, 1858 – May 20, 1945) was a French-born Catholic bishop and Jesuit missionary. He was the first Vicar Apostolic of Alaska (now the Diocese of Fairbanks), serving from 1917 until his death in 1945.
Crimont was born in Ferrières, to Joseph and Alexandrine (née Niquet) Crimont.[1] The family later moved to Amiens, where he received his early education. After graduating from Lycée la Providence, he entered the Society of Jesus at the college of Saint-Acheul in August 1875 and professed his first vows in September 1877.[1]
When the 1881 Jules Ferry laws led to the expulsion of the Jesuits in France,[2] Crimont continued his studies at Victoria College in St Helier, Jersey and Collège Saint-Servais in Liège, Belgium. At Liège he also served as a prefect and teacher of catechism (1882–83). Taking ill and given only weeks to live, he traveled to Lille and there met the Italian priest John Bosco, whose prayers Crimont claimed restored him to health.[3]
In 1886 he volunteered for missionary work with fellow Jesuit Joseph Cataldo and came to the United States, where entered Woodstock College. He was ordained to the priesthood at Woodstock on August 26, 1888, by Cardinal James Gibbons.[4] Following his ordination, he spent a few years as a missionary among the Crow people in Montana.[1]
Crimont briefly returned to Europe to finish his Jesuit formation at Drongen Abbey in Ghent,[3] and made his solemn vows as a Jesuit on his thirty-sixth birthday, February 2, 1894.[4]
