Louis Sebastian Walsh

Born on January 22, 1858, Louis Sebastian Walsh was appointed on August 3, 1906 and was consecrated as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Portland on October 18, 1906. Bishop Walsh attended seminaries in Canada and France before studying in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood in1882. Before arriving in Maine, Louis Sebastian Walsh served as Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston. Bishop Walsh’s tenure was marked by a new wave of immigrants from Poland, Italy, Slovakia and Lithuania to Maine. He was a supporter of the National Catholic Welfare Conference and established several new parishes and schools throughout the diocese. An avid historian, Bishop Walsh acquired the site of the French Capuchin mission at Castine, marking the tri-centennial of the founding of Saint Sauveur mission on Mount Desert Island, and started the Maine Catholic Historical Magazine. He remained Bishop of Portland until his death on May 12, 1924.