MCCARTYLgMost Reverend William T. McCarty, CSSR

Fourth Bishop of the Diocese

Motto: DEUS DET NOBIS SUAM PACEM (“Give Us Your Peace”)

Personal:

  • Born August 11, 1889, in Crossingville, Pennsylvania
  • Ordained to the priesthood in June, 1915
  • Installed as coadjutor bishop of Rapid City with the right of succession, May 8, 1947
  • Installed as the fourth bishop of Rapid City after the death of Bishop Lawler, March 11, 1948
  • Retired, September, 17, 1969; served 22 years as bishop
  • Died September 14, 1972

History:

A Redemptorist priest, McCarty taught in various colleges and at his seminary in New York. After he became bishop in 1948, one of his major concerns was pastoral care for the Native American Catholics in the diocese. In 1950, he established the Mother Butler Center to serve the spiritual, physical, and health needs of Native Americans living in Rapid City. The Perpetual Help Grade School opened in the fall of 1961. Under his leadership, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was built in 1962 and dedicated in 1963. The chapel at the new St. Martin Monastery, which had been established at the edge of Rapid City by Benedictine Sisters, was also dedicated in 1963.