Most. Rev. John P. Carroll

John Patrick Carroll was born in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1864. As a young priest he served on the faculty of St. Joseph College in Dubuque (now Loras College), and in 1894 was named its president. In 1904 he was named Bishop of Helena and was consecrated a bishop in Dubuque on Dec. 21, 1904. He was installed in Helena on Jan. 30, 1905. During his tenure as bishop he established numerous parishes, vastly increased the number of Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the diocese, began and completed the Cathedral of St. Helena, and established Mount St. Charles College, which was later named in his honor - Carroll College. When he built the college, he had two purposes in mind: "to provide men of high intellectual training and to provide a native priesthood." Today, the vast majority of secular priests serving in the Diocese of Helena are graduates of Carroll College. The college also can count two bishops among its alumni: Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen, formerly Bishop of Helena, and Archbishop of Seattle, and Bishop Bernard J. Topel of Spokane, now deceased. Modeled after the Votive Church of Vienna, this Cathedral of St. Helena in the See City is one of the most beautiful in the United States. Many of the contributors to its building were people of prominence in Montana and American history: Thomas Cruse, discoverer of the greatest gold mine in American history; T.C. Power, early Montana "merchant prince"; and, Senator Thomas J. Walsh, investigator of the famous Teapot Dome scandal.

Bishop Carroll also succeeded in introducing numerous religious orders into the diocese to operate schools and hospitals. The Irish Christian Brothers and the Premonstratensian Fathers also came to the diocese under the auspices of Bishop Carroll. Bishop Carroll died Nov. 4, 1925, while visiting in Switzerland.