Bishop Leroy Matthiesen, Emeritus (deceased)

Region: Panhandle

Topics: Radioactive Waste, Weapons, Pantex, Faith
 

Bishop Matthiesen was ordained to the priesthood in 1946. Following ordination, Matthiesen became an editor and columnist for the West Texas Register in 1948, and from the 1940s through 1980, served as pastor to the St. Mary's, St. Laurence and St. Francis congregations in Amarillo as well as rector to St. Lucien's Minor Seminary and principal of Alamo Catholic High School. In 1980, he was named Bishop of the Diocese of Amarillo, a 26-county area of the Texas Panhandle, where he continued until his retirement in 1997.

Bishop Matthiesen was outspoken in his ministry for peace and in his public opposition to nuclear arms for their threat to humans and all God's Creation. He offered counseling to workers at Pantex, the final assembly point for nuclear weapons in the US, and promised financial support to those willing to leave their jobs. As a member of the Catholic Press Association and columnist for the West Texas Register, he challenged our own complicity in the arms race.

Interviewed

October 3, 2002
Amarillo, Texas
Reels 2210 and 2211