James Whyte (bishop)
| James Whyte third Catholic Bishop of Dunedin 1920–1957 |
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|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
12 October 1868 County Kilkenny  Ireland
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| Died |
26 December 1957 (aged 89) Dunedin  New Zealand
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James Whyte (12 October 1868 – 26 December 1957) was the third Roman Catholic Bishop of Dunedin (1920–1957).
Whyte was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1868. He spent six years (from 1886–1892) in ecclesiastical training for the priesthood at St Kieran's College, Kilkenny. He was ordained a priest in Kilkenny on 3 July 1892.
Whyte went to Sydney in 1892 and was appointed a professor at St Patrick's College, Manly. The rector there at the time was Dr Michael Verdon, later second Bishop of Dunedin. Among Whyte's students were Matthew Brodie later second Bishop of Christchurch and James Michael Liston later seventh Bishop of Auckland.
After leaving that position he was assistant priest at St Benedict's Church and at St Mary's Cathedral. In Sydney, he also held the positions of Archdiocesan Inspector of Schools, Chancellor of the Sydney archdiocese and Director of the Catholic Press. He was also the first resident priest of Stanmore. Whyte was very learned and he spoke three foreign languages, French, German and Italian.
In 1920 Whyte was appointed Bishop of Dunedin and on the 12th day of December in that year he was consecrated by Archbishop Redwood in St. Joseph's Cathedral, Dunedin with James Michael Liston who had been appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Auckland. During Whyte's episcopate the number of priests in the diocese doubled from 40 to 81; there was a similar increase in the children attending Catholic schools, from 3060 to 6120. In 1927 he founded St. Kevin's College, Oamaru. He added 14 new parishes to the 22 existing in 1920. Religious orders commencing work in the Dunedin diocese over the same period were the Vincentians (who took over Holy Cross seminary in 1934), the Dominican Fathers, the Redemptorist Fathers, the Presentation Sisters, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny and the Sisters of the Assumption.
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