The Most Reverend Donald M. Carroll, D.D.
Fifth Bishop of Rockford

Portrait of Bishop-elect Donald M. Carroll

Donald Martin Carroll was born on November 25, 1909, in Chicago, the son of John and Margaret Boland Carroll. He received a Catholic education first at Blessed Sacrament Parish school, then at Quigley Preparatory Seminary, Chicago, and finally at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois. Donald Carroll was ordained to the Sacred Priesthood by George Cardinal Mundelein on April 7, 1934, at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary.

The newly ordained Father Carroll was assigned to pursue post-graduate studies in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he obtained a doctorate in Canon Law in 1937. Upon his return to the United States, Father Carroll was appointed to serve in the ArchdiocesanMatrimonial Tribunal and he was appointed at the same time the Assistant for Visitation Parish in Chicago. Father Carroll faithfully and ably fulfilled the responsibilities of both assignments for the next five years.

In 1942, he was appointed to be a secretary at the Apostolic Delegation in Washington, D.C., and while serving in this post, he also served as a chaplain at St. Ann’s Infant Home in Washington, D.C. His appointment by Pope Pius XII to be the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Rockford was announced in Washington, D.C. and in Rockford on June 27, 1956.

Bishop-elect DonaldM. Carroll’s consecration had been scheduled for August 30, 1956, but due to his illness was delayed. The nature of Monsignor Carroll’s illness made it necessary for him to resign the See of Rockford on September 25, 1956. Monsignor Carroll was appointed Pastor of St. Edmund Parish, Oak Park, Illinois, where he served until January 1967, when he was appointed the Chaplain for Columbus Hospital in Chicago where he remained until his retirement.

The Right Reverend Monsignor Donald M. Carroll, Bishop-elect as the fifth Bishop of the Diocese of Rockford, died on Thursday, January 3, 2002, at age 92. Francis Cardinal George,OMI, Archbishop of Chicago, celebrated his funeral Mass on Wednesday, January 9, 2002, at St. Timothy Parish, Chicago, with several auxiliary bishops of Chicago concelebrating.