Nicholas Elko - Transition: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Transition: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati

In 1970 Archbishop Elko started anew as Auxiliary Archbishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati (the first and only Eastern Rite Bishop to serve as Auxiliary of a Latin Rite Dicoese in the U.S.). He served in this capacity for fourteen years, and upon reaching his seventy-fifth birthday, retired.

He wrote an historical novel at this time, which was published posthumously in 1994. White Heat Over Red Fire features Thomas Christophe, a young Eastern Rite Catholic Bishop ministering in post-war Austria. The novel makes much of the intrigues of the Cold War years, the struggles of the Church in Eastern Europe, the attempts to reconcile the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and the upheaval within the Catholic Church in the wake of Vatican II.

Elko died on May 18, 1991, aged 81. He is interred in the Priest's Circle at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Montgomery, Ohio.