1875. He was also given the titular see of Alia and resigned as abbot on May 4. He received his episcopal consecration on May 30 from Bishop Michael Heiss, with Bishops Joseph Dwenger and Louis Mary Fink serving as co-consecrators. After his consecration, Seidenbusch traveled across the vicariate by buggy, wagon, and rail and continued to solicit donations from Europe. He used Saint Mary's Church as his temporary cathedral, where he administered confirmation for the first time in June 1875. He performed his first priestly ordinations at Saint John's College the following August. In 1879 part of the vicariate was divided into the Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota (later the Diocese of Sioux Falls). He oversaw the completion of Holy Angels Cathedral in 1884, and attended the third Plenary Council of Baltimore that same year. Due to ill health, Seidenbusch submitted his resignation on October 19, 1888 and it was accepted by Pope Leo XIII on November 15. By the end of his tenure, the vicariate had a Catholic population of more than 45,000 people, as well as 70 priests, 90 churches, 50 chapels, and 14 convents. He died at the Benedictine priory in Richmond, Virginia, on June 3, 1895, at age 64. He was buried in the cemetery of Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville. Notes External links Saint John's University Archives Presentation on the First Abbot, Rupert Seidenbusch created by the University Archivist, Peggy Roske, 2012. Mentions of Rupert Seidenbusch in the Saint John's University newspaper, The Record, which began in 1888 German emigrants to the United States Roman Catholic bishops of Saint Cloud 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 1830 births 1895 deaths