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| Bishop John Edward Gunn |
Portrayed by Father David O’Connor
Born in Ireland in 1863, Bishop Gunn attended Gregorian University in Rome where he was awarded his Doctorate of Theology. After a brief time as a Priest, then a Professor he became Pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Atlanta Georgia, where he served for 13 years.
The Archbishop James Blenk of New Orleans, with the endorsement of Cardinal James Gibbons, promoted Gunn to Bishop of the Diocese of Natchez, which included all of Mississippi, making him Natchez’ 6th Bishop on June 29, 1911.
Bishop Gunn soon found traveling his Diocese was very stressful and difficult because it covered some 47,000 square miles, bigger than Ireland and Belgium combined. It was a very poor area with very bad roads.
The size of his Diocese and the arduous traveling took a toll on Bishop Gunn’s health, which began to deteriorate. However, Bishop Gunn dedicated himself to building more chapels and churches and during his tenure the Diocese grew from 75 to 149 churches, and membership grew from 17,000 to just over 31,000. He became known as the “Chapel Builder.”
In 1915, while attending the ordination of Archbishop George Mundelein, a German spy laced the soup at a banquet with arsenic, poisoning Bishop Gunn, along with 4 other dignitaries, but he survived.
Bishop Gunn was very patriotic and traveled the state in support of the war effort. After the war he was considered for the Archbishopric of New Orleans but he refused the efforts.
By late 1924 his health was failing and he died of a massive heart attack at the age of 61, having worked himself to death.
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