Background:
Bishop Baumgartner was born on 24 July 1899, at College Point, a section of Queens, in New York City. His parents, William Lawrence Baumgartner and the former Elizabeth Wurtz, christened him William. He attended Catholic elementary schools in College Point, and by the time he was ready for high school, had decided to become a Capuchin friar. He enrolled in a high school operated by the Capuchin Order, the St. Lawrence College at Mount Calvary, Wisconsin.
To Bishop Apollinaris W. Baumgartner belongs the honor and distinction of taking a church nearly decimated by World War II and rebuilding it out of the ashes of war into a strong and vibrant Diocese. In 1945, when Bishop Baumgartner was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Guam, most of Guam’s churches were damaged beyond repair. Only one Chamorro priest survived the war, and all the American missionary priests were still imprisoned in a war camp in Japan. There were no Chamorro nuns on the island. Finding himself in this daunting situation, Baumgartner chose as his emblem the mythical Phoenix bird, who resurrects out of the ashes of its demise.
Bishop Baumgartner was born on 24 July 1899, at College Point, a section of Queens, in New York City. His parents, William Lawrence Baumgartner and the former Elizabeth Wurtz, christened him William. He attended Catholic elementary schools in College Point, and by the time he was ready for high school, had decided to become a Capuchin friar. He enrolled in a high school operated by the Capuchin Order, the St. Lawrence College at Mount Calvary, Wisconsin.
To Bishop Apollinaris W. Baumgartner belongs the honor and distinction of taking a church nearly decimated by World War II and rebuilding it out of the ashes of war into a strong and vibrant Diocese. In 1945, when Bishop Baumgartner was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Guam, most of Guam’s churches were damaged beyond repair. Only one Chamorro priest survived the war, and all the American missionary priests were still imprisoned in a war camp in Japan. There were no Chamorro nuns on the island. Finding himself in this daunting situation, Baumgartner chose as his emblem the mythical Phoenix bird, who resurrects out of the ashes of its demise.