Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis
The Archdiocese of Saint Louis is the
Roman Catholic archdiocese that covers the
City of St. Louis as well as the following
Missouri counties: Franklin, Jefferson,
Lincoln,
Perry, Saint Charles,
Saint Francois,
Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis,
Warren, and
Washington.
Encyclopedia
The
Archdiocese of Saint Louis is the
Roman Catholic archdiocese that covers the
City of St. Louis as well as the following
Missouri counties: Franklin, Jefferson,
Lincoln,
Perry, Saint Charles,
Saint Francois,
Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis,
Warren, and
Washington. It is currently led by
Archbishop Raymond Burke.
Bishop Robert J. Hermann serves as
auxiliary bishop.
History
The area's first bishop was Louis William Valentine Dubourg, who on September 24, 1815 was appointed Bishop of
Louisiana and the
[East and
West] Floridas by
Pope Pius VII. DuBourg chose to set up his episcopal see in St. Louis. After his resignation and transfer to lead the diocese of Montauban, France, the Diocese of Saint Louis was erected on July 18, 1826 by
Pope Leo XII. When founded, it included the state of
Missouri, the western half of
Illinois, and all American territory west of the
Mississippi River and north of the state of
Louisiana. It was the largest American diocese, equalling in extent all of the other nine dioceses.
Its first bishop,
Joseph Rosati, led the Roman Catholic Church's expansion its presence in these areas, and built its first cathedral, now known as the
Basilica of St. Louis, King of France.
On July 28, 1837, territory in Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas was taken from the Diocese to form the
Diocese of Dubuque, Iowa.
The Saint Louis Diocese was elevated to an Archdiocese on July 20, 1847 by
Pope Pius IX.
Because of its strong Catholic identity and having been the mother diocese of many dioceses in the midwest, the archdiocese was oftentimes referred to as "the Rome of the west". It is dedicated to
Saint Louis IX and has as its copatrons Saints
Vincent de Paul and Rose Philippine Duchesne.
In January 1999, the archdiocese was host to a two-day visit from
Pope John Paul II, the first time a pope had visited the city. It was not John Paul's first visit, since thirty years earlier, he had paid a visit when he was Cardinal Wojtyła, Archbishop of
Kraków.
Residential bishops
The following is a list of the bishops and archbishops of Saint Louis and their terms of service.
- Bishop Joseph Rosati, C.M.
- Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick
- Archbishop John Joseph Kain
- Archbishop John Joseph Cardinal Glennon
- Archbishop Joseph Elmer Cardinal Ritter
- Archbishop John Joseph Cardinal Carberry
- Archbishop John L. May
- Archbishop Justin Francis Rigali
- Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke
Eastern Rites
There are three
Eastern Rite churches within the archdiocese's boundaries:
- St. Raymond's Cathedral, Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles
- St. Louis Byzantine Church, Byzantine Eparchy of Parma
- St. Mary's Assumption Ukrainian Catholic Church, Eparchy of Saint Nicolas of Chicago for the Ukrainians
External links
- , including an and the
- , the weekly newspaper of the archdiocese
- Eastern rites in the Archdiocese:
