Victor Hermann Balke

Victor Hermann Balke (September 29, 1931) was the Roman Catholic bishop of Crookston, Minnesota, from 1976–2007.[1]

His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Victor Herman Balke
Bishop Emeritus of Crookston
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
ArchdioceseSaint Paul and Minneapolis
DioceseCrookston
AppointedJuly 7, 1976
InstalledSeptember 2, 1976
Term endedSeptember 28, 2007
PredecessorKenneth Joseph Povish
SuccessorMichael Joseph Hoeppner
Orders
OrdinationMay 24, 1958
by William Aloysius O'Connor
ConsecrationSeptember 2, 1976
by John Roach, Joseph Alphonse McNicholas, and William Aloysius O'Connor
Personal details
Born (1931-09-29) 29 September 1931
Meppen, Illinois
MottoBless the Lord my soul
Styles of
Victor Hermann Balke
Reference style
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleBishop

Born in Meppen, Illinois (in Calhoun County), his parents were Elizabeth Knese and Bernard Balke, Sr. He attended St. Joseph Grade School in Meppen as well as the Monterey Grade School, and graduated from Hardin Community High School in 1949. In September 1949, he entered the seminary and was ordained a priest on May 24, 1958, by Bishop William A. O’Connor for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.

Following his ordination in Springfield, Balke served as assistant pastor at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for four years and was chaplain at St. Joseph Home for the Aged. Later he was named procurator, and then rector of the diocesan Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield. He served on the Matrimonial Tribunal as synodal judge and defender of the bond. He was also the chairman of the Diocesan Commission on Ecumenism and secretary-treasurer of the Priests’ Council.

He was appointed Bishop of Crookston by Pope Paul VI on July 3, 1976, and was consecrated the sixth bishop of that diocese on September 2, 1976. After being the Bishop of Crookston for 31 years and one day before his 76th birthday, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Michael Joseph Hoeppner as the new Bishop of Crookston. Bishop Balke remained at the helm of the diocese as apostolic administrator until Bishop-elect Hoeppner was installed on November 30, 2007.[2]

See also

References
  1. Victor Hermann Balke
  2. "Diocese of Crookston". Archived from the original on 2009-10-02. Retrieved 2009-07-21.

Episcopal succession
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Kenneth Joseph Povish		 Bishop of Crookston
September 2, 1976 – September 28, 2007		 Succeeded by
Michael Joseph Hoeppner
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