Daniel Austin Dowling (April 6, 1868 – November 29, 1930) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the second archbishop of what was then the Archdiocese of Saint Paul in Minnesota from 1919 until his death.

[citation needed] Dowling was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Matthew A. Harkins on June 24, 1891, for the Diocese of Providence.

[2] After his ordination, Dowling was sent to Washington, D.C. to work on his graduate studies in theology and church history at the Catholic University of America.

[4] On January 31, 1912, Pope Pius X appointed Dowling as bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines.

In his address at his installation on March 25, 1919, Dowling described himself as "the unknown, the unexpected, [and] the undistinguished successor of the great Archbishop Ireland.

"[5][2] In the decade that followed, Dowling established the Archbishop Ireland's Education Fund, improved St. Paul Seminary, and was on the board of Education of the National Catholic Welfare Council (or "NCWC," now known as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or USCCB).

[5] During the summer of 1929, he collapsed while on a confirmation tour and became critically ill. For a time he recovered to the point that he was able to walk on his own, but pneumonia developed.

"[7] Dowling described the challenge for Catholics in the post-World War I era as follows: The old order passeth, giving place to the new.

So far, the Church in this country has been singularly sustained by the momentum of spiritual agencies that were derived from other lands and other times.

Dowling summarized it best saying, "as they progress in wealth and station they frequently strive to hide their origins, to change their names and affect manners that do not belong to them.

The National Catholic War Council was established to coordinate programs for chaplains and refugees, and develop ecumenical and interfaith relations.

[5] Reardon describes Dowling's relationship with Nazareth Hall: Nazareth Hall was the apple of his eye and woe betide the priest or layman who dared to utter an uncomplimentary syllable about the institution, its architecture, location, purpose, faculty, or product.

[1] To create the strong theological factory he desired, Dowling appointed Humphrey Moynihan as rector of the Saint Paul Seminary.