Background
John Boylan was born in New York City to Edward Lawrence and Bridget Anne (née Morrissey) Boylan.
bishop priest university professor
John Boylan was born in New York City to Edward Lawrence and Bridget Anne (née Morrissey) Boylan.
He studied at Louisiana Salle Academy in Providence, Rhode Island (1904-1908) and Mount Saint Mary"s College in Emmitsburg, Maryland (1908-1910).
He entered Saint Bernard"s Seminary in Rochester, New York in 1910, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Des Moines on July 28, 1915. He earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Licentiate of Canon Law from the Catholic University of America at Washington, District of Columbia in 1917. Returning to Iowa, he served as a curate at Saint Francis Church in Council Bluffs until 1918.
He was a professor (1918-1922) and later president (1922-1943) at Dowling College.
In 1923 he earned a Doctor of Philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He also served as director of Catholic Charities, superintendent of Catholic schools (1924-1934), and vicar general (1934-1942) in the Des Moines Diocese.
He was named a Domestic Prelate in October 1933 and a protonotary apostolic in November 1940. On November 21, 1942, Boylan was appointed Bishop of Rockford, Illinois, by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on February 17, 1943 from Bishop Gerald Bergan, with Bishops Edmond Heelan and Henry Rohlman serving as co-consecrators.
He remained as bishop until his death ten years later, at Narragansett, Rhode Island, aged 63.