History of the Monstrance

This monstrance originally belonged to Most Rev. Francis X. Krautbauer, who was the second bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin. The German inscription at base of the Monstrance appears to have belonged to Bishop Krautbauer. The dates and history connect with his biography, and Fr. Luis Iglesias, who served in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, is believed to have received this monstrance from the bishop.

Born in Mappach, Bavaria, Bishop Krautbauer received his early education in Regensburg, and afterward studied theology in the Ducal Georgianum in Munich.

He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Buffalo, New York on June 16, 1850 in Regensburg. After a short assignment in Buffalo, he was appointed in 1851 pastor of St. Peter's Church, Rochester, where he also erected schools for boys and girls.

In 1859 he went to Milwaukee to become spiritual director of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, at the same time attending the Church of Our Lady of the Angels. He remained in this post for over ten years, and the mother house of the sisterhood was built under his direction.

In 1873 Fr. Krautbauer was shipwrecked on Lake Michigan and narrowly escaped drowning.

On February 12, 1875, Pope Pius IX appointed him Bishop of the Green Bay Diocese, for which he was ordained bishop on June 29, 1875. He found the administration of his diocese a work of great difficulty, as his flock embraced people from every country in Europe. He devoted special attention to the work of education, and in 1884 had 44 parochial schools, attended by 5,292 children. The number of churches increased from 92 to 126, and the number of priests from 63 to 96. Under his bishopric the Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier in Green Bay was planned and erected between 1876 and 1881.

Bishop Krautbauer is buried at one of the entrances of his beloved Cathedral.