Henry Conwell

Henry Conwell.
Henry Conwell (c. 1748 – 1842) was an Irish-born Catholic bishop in the United States. After serving as a priest in Ireland for more than four decades, he was installed as the second bishop of Philadelphia in 1819. He took up the post at an advanced age, and spent much of his time there feuding with the lay trustees of his parishes, especially those of St. Mary's Church in Philadelphia. When he removed and excommunicated William Hogan, a controversial priest at St. Mary's, the parish trustees instead rejected Conwell's authority, creating a minor schism. The two sides partially reconciled by 1826, but the Vatican hierarchy believed Conwell had ceded too much power to the laymen and recalled him to Rome. Although he retained his position, he was compelled to relinquish actual control to his coadjutor bishop, Francis Kenrick. He remained in Philadelphia and performed some priestly duties, but for all practical purposes no longer ran the diocese.