Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, the founding bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi, Miss., and the first black bishop in the 20th century to head a U.S. diocese, died Jan. 9. He was 95.

As head of the Biloxi Diocese, 1977-2001, he served on several U.S. bishops’ committees focusing on justice, peace, interreligious and ecumenical affairs, and black Catholic ministry.