Robert Emmet Tracy

Robert Emmet Tracy (September 14, 1909—April 4, 1980) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Baton Rouge from 1961 to 1974.

Robert Tracy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Robert Emmet and Margaret Agnes (née Cahill) Tracy. He studied at Saint Joseph Seminary College and Notre Dame Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 12, 1932, at age 22. He then served as a curate at St. Leo Church in New Orleans (1932–1946) and archdiocesan director of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (1937–1946). He was chaplain of the Newman Centers at Tulane University (1941–1946) and at Louisiana State University (1946–1959). He was named a Papal Chamberlain in 1947 and a Domestic Prelate in 1949. From 1954 to 1955, he was national chaplain of the Newman Club Federation.

On March 13, 1959, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Lafayette in Louisiana and Titular Bishop of Sergentza by Pope John XXIII. Tracy receivied his episcopal consecration on the following May 19 from Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi, with Bishops Maurice Schexnayder and Louis Caillouet serving as co-consecrators. He was later named the first Bishop of Baton Rouge on August 10, 1961, being installed as such on the following November 8.