Jump to content

Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville

Coordinates: 38°31′18″N 89°59′43″W / 38.52167°N 89.99528°W / 38.52167; -89.99528
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Manannan67 (talk | contribs) at 22:56, 24 October 2022 (exp History). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Diocese of Belleville

Diœcesis Bellevillensis
Cathedral of Saint Peter
Coat of arms
Location
Country United States
Territory28 counties in southern Illinois
Statistics
Area11,678 sq mi (30,250 km2)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2012)
902,000
118,900 (13.2%)
Parishes101
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedJanuary 7, 1887 (137 years ago)
CathedralSt. Peter's Cathedral
Patron saintImmaculate Heart of Mary
Secular priests98 (45 active)
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopMichael G. McGovern
Metropolitan ArchbishopBlase J. Cupich
Bishops emeritusEdward Braxton
Map
Website
diobelle.org

The Diocese of Belleville (Template:Lang-la) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the southern Illinois region of the United States. It comprises the southern counties of the state of Illinois and the See city for the diocese is the City of Belleville. It is a suffragan see in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Chicago. The cathedral parish for the diocese is the Cathedral of Saint Peter. Following the resignation of Edward Braxton on April 3, 2020, Michael G. McGovern was installed as the current Bishop of Belleville.

History

In this diocese are some of the oldest missions of the West. Father Claude-Jean Allouez S.J. was at Kaskaskia for eight weeks from early June to the middles of August 1673, before returning to St. Francis Xavier Mission near Green Bay.[1] The records of the church of Kaskaskia date from the year 1695 and give the name of the Rev. Jacques Gravier, S.J., as the missionary priest. In 1768 Rev. Pierre Gibault was appointed Vicar General of the Archbishop of Quebec for the Illinois country. [2]

French missionaries from Quebec opened the Cahokia mission of Holy Family in 1699.[3] At that time the religious wants of the Catholics of Cahokia and the surrounding territory, including St. Louis across the river, were attended to by Father De Saintpierre.

The organization of the congregation of Prairie du Rocher coincides with the building of the first Fort de Chartres on the banks of the Mississippi in 1720. The Rev. Jen Le Boullenger, chaplain of the militia stationed at the Fort, was placed in charge of the congregation. The church, built by the people, was placed under the protection of St. Anne. In 1743 the Rev. J. Gagnon, S.J., took charge of the mission and laboured there until his death in 1755. His remains were interred by the side of the altar in the chapel in the cemetery. This chapel was built in 1734, and placed under the patronage of St. Joseph.[4]

When in 1843 the Diocese of Chicago was erected, Cahokia, Prairie du Long, Belleville, Shoal Creek, Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Shawneetown were the only parishes in the territory now comprised by the Diocese of Belleville.[4]

The Diocese of Belleville was created on January 7, 1887 by Pope Leo XIII. Its territory was taken from the Diocese of Alton.[5][6]

Bishops

Bishops of Belleville

  1. John Janssen (1888–1913)
  2. Henry J. Althoff (1913–1947)
  3. Albert Rudolph Zuroweste (1947–1976)
  4. William Michael Cosgrove (1976–1981)
  5. John Nicholas Wurm (1981–1984)
  6. James Patrick Keleher (1984–1993), appointed Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas
  7. Wilton Daniel Gregory (1993–2004), appointed Archbishop of Atlanta
  8. Edward Kenneth Braxton (2005–2020)
  9. Michael McGovern (2020–Present)

Auxiliary bishop

Other priest of this diocese who became Bishop

High schools

Summer camps

See also

References

  1. ^ Reyling, August. Historical Kaskaskia, St. Louis, Missouri. 1963, p. 5
  2. ^ O'Brien, John. "Pierre Gibault." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 24 October 2022 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ "About the diocese", Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville
  4. ^ a b Hagen, Henry. "Belleville." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 24 October 2022 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ "Diocese of Belleville". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  6. ^ "Diocese of Belleville". GCatholic.org. Retrieved 2013-05-28.

Media related to Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville at Wikimedia Commons

Wikisource has the text of a 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article about Diocese of Belleville.


38°31′18″N 89°59′43″W / 38.52167°N 89.99528°W / 38.52167; -89.99528

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roman_Catholic_Diocese_of_Belleville&oldid=1118048566"