Edward Francis Hoban

Edward Francis Hoban (June 27, 1878 – September 22, 1966) was an American prelate and bishop (later archbishop) of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Rockford (1928-1942) and Bishop of Cleveland (1945-1966).

Edward Hoban was born in Chicago, Illinois, to William and Bridget (née O'Malley) Hoban, who were Irish immigrants. He attended St. Columbkille parochial school and then St. Ignatius High School in Chicago. He went on St. Igantius College in Chicago, from where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (1899) and a Master of Arts (1900). He then studied at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland.

Hoban was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop James Edward Quigley on July 11, 1903. Father Hoban was assigned briefly as curate at St. Agnes Parish, Chicago, before furthering his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology in 1906.

Upon his return to the United States, he was named the assistant chancellor to Monsignor Edmund Dunne, the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1906. When Monsignor Dunne was named bishop of Peoria, Father Hoban was named chancellor for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1910. He also served as professor and treasurer of Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary. In November 1916, Pope Benedict XV named him a papal chamberlain. During his tenure as chancellor Monsignor Hoban supervised the establishment of what was then called the Associated Catholic Charities of Chicago.