Late Rt. Rev. Haid was only " Abbot Nullius" U.S. Ever had.
by VP
Posted on Monday December 12, 2022 at 11:00PM in From the Past
"Belmont, NC July 25.
The Rt. Rev. Leo Haid, OSB, Abbot of Belmont Abbey and Vicar Apostolic of North Carolina, died at the abbey here last night. He was 75 years old and one of the oldest and best known members of the Catholic hierarchy in the United States. For the past thirty-six years he had presided over the vicariate of North Carolina.
The venerable abbot was known chiefly as a result of his labors in the cause of Catholic education. He either founded or had a prominent part in the establishment of the following institutions: Belmont abbey and the college in connection with it; St. Leo's abbey and college, Fla; the Benedictine school, Savannah, GA; Benedictine college, Richmond, VA; and St. Joseph's industrial school, Bristow, VA.
Abbot Leo was a native of Latrobe, Pa, and received his early education under the direction of the Benedictines. He joined that order in 1860 at St. Vincent's abbey, PA, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1872. During the thirteen years immediately following his ordination he spent most of his time at St. Vincent's college as chaplain and professor. When, in 1885, the Benedictines undertook the establishment of Belmont abbey, Father Haid was chosen as superior of the new community. Under his guidance the abbey has become one of the great centers of Catholicity in the South. His appointment as Titular Bishop of Messene and Vicar Apostolic of North Carolina was announced December 7, 1887. He was consecrated July 1, 1888, in the Cathedral of Baltimore with the late Cardinal Gibbons as the consecrating prelate. Two weeks later the Cardinal went to Wilmington, NC, where the newly consecrated prelate was solemnly enthroned in St. Thomas' Pro-Cathedral.
Abbot Leo was the only prelate in the United States to whom the Pope has ever granted the distinction of presiding over an "Abbatia Nullius," or Cathedral-Abbey. Such an abbey is one "having its own domain and jurisdiction therein, subject only to the Holy Father himself. " He was also made an assistant to the Pontifical throne, a distinction which carried with it a title of Papal nobility.
In 1919 the abbot celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his affiliation with the Benedictine order and in April, 1923, another celebration marked his golden sacerdotal jubilee."
Denver Catholic Register July 31, 1924
