Robert John Rose

Robert Rose was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 28, 1930, to Urban Henry and Maida Ann (née Glerum) Rose.[1] Rose attended St. Francis Xavier School in Grand Rapids and in 1944 entered St. Joseph's Seminary in the same city.[1] In 1950, Rose completed his final two years of college at the Grand Seminary of Montreal.[1] In 1952, Rose entered the Pontifical Urban College in Rome, where he earned a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1956.[1]

On December 21, 1955, Rose was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Grand Rapids at the Pontifical Urban College by Cardinal Clemente Micara.[2][1]Following his return to Grand Rapids, Rose became a professor at St. Joseph's Seminary in August 1956.[1] Working there for 13 years, he taught religion, Latin, Greek, French and music (chant).[1] Rose earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1962.[1]

In July 1966, Rose became dean of the college department at St. Joseph's Seminary, and served as director of the deacon program from 1969 to 1971.[1] In June 1971, he was appointed rector of St. John's Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan.[1] In August 1977, Rose was named pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Muskegon Heights, Michigan.[1]

On October 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed Rose as the second bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord.[2] He was installed and consecrated on December 6, 1981, by Archbishop Edmund Szoka, with Bishops Joseph M. Breitenbeck and Joseph McKinney serving as co-consecrators, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Gaylord.[2] Rose chose as his episcopal motto the Biblical phrase "in the Name of the Lord!",.[1]

On June 24, 1989, John Paul II appointed Rose as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids. He was installed on August 30, 1989.[2] Rose created lay leadership programs, revamped the Hispanic ministry and presented forums and events focused on racism in the diocese.[3] He established the Catholic Foundation of West Michigan among other institutions.[3]

In 2002, the Diocese of Grand Rapids acknowledged that it had paid a $500,000 settlement in 1994 to three women who were sexually abused as minors by John Thomas Sullivan, a diocesan priest, during the late 1950's. The women did not report the crimes to the diocese until 1993. Records showed that Bishop Allen Babcock, a previous bishop, had accepted Sullivan into the diocese even though Sullivan had previously fathered a child in the Diocese of Manchester in New Hampshire. Rose said that it should have never happened.[4]

On October 13, 2003, John Paul II accepted Rose's retirement as bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids.[2] He moved to St. Camillus Woods, a residence for retired priests, in Byron Township, Michigan.[1]Robert Rose died on March 2, 2022, at the age of 92.[5]