Joseph McShea

He received his episcopal consecration on March 19, 195 2, from Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, with Bishops Eugene J. McGuinness and William O'Brien serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of SS.

McShea was appointed the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Allentown by Pope John XXIII on February 11, 1961.

McShea founded "Operation Rice Bowl" which began in the form of a small cardboard box in the parishes of the diocese to receive alms directed to relieving a famine in Africa.

[6] McShea helmed the founding of Holy Family Manor, a nursing and rehabilitation center at the former Eugene Grace mansion in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

[8] On February 3, 1983, Pope John Paul II accepted McShea's resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Allentown.

[4] McShea, long ill from diabetes and other ailments, died on November 28, 1991, at age 84, and is buried on the cathedral grounds.