Bishop emeritus F. Joseph Gossman, the fourth bishop of the Raleigh Diocese, died August 12, 2013, at the age of 83, following a long illness. Bishop Gossman served as Bishop of Raleigh from May 19, 1975, until June 8, 2006, when Pope John Paul II accepted his retirement due to age. He was appointed Bishop of Raleigh at the age of 45 by Pope Paul VI on April 8, 1975, succeeding Bishop Vincent S. Waters, who died December 1974.
During his 31 years as shepherd of the Raleigh Diocese, Bishop Gossman faced the challenge of extensive growth of the Catholic population of the Diocese, which comprises the 54 eastern-most counties of North Carolina. At the time of his appointment, Catholics numbered approximately one percent of the statewide population. At the time of his retirement, the registered Catholic population in the Diocese of Raleigh was 192,000, with an additional 200,000 Hispanics residing in the Diocese, many of whom were Catholic.
During his tenure, Bishop Gossman blessed and dedicated more than 60 parishes, schools and all-purpose buildings, most of them in his last 12 years.
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