Pioneer Bishops of Maine

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Maine up to 1900.  For more information about Maine, see my blog of September 27, 2017.

Europeans explored the coast of Maine possibly as early as 990, but it took until 1604 for French explorers to establish a settlement on St. Croix Island, near Calais.  The first Mass in New England was celebrated here by Father Nicholas Aubry.  This French settlement was abandoned as were others.  Sir Ferdinando Gorges was awarded control of Maine by King James I of England in 1622 and permanent settlements were made at various places, including Portland, Saco, and Biddeford in the early 1630s.  Massachusetts bought Gorges’ land in 1677 and Maine became part of Massachusetts in 1691.  It remained part of Massachusetts until it became the 23rd State in 1820.

Missions were established along many of Maine’s rivers throughout the 17th Century and the early 18th Century and French missionaries, especially Jesuits, successfully converted many of Maine’s Native Americans to the Faith.  St. Ann Church in Old Town was established in 1688 and is the oldest parish in New England.  These missions were the first Catholic places of worship in New England.  The Catholic French and Protestant British were often at war at this time in history and British forces began their attempts to destroy the French missions in the 17th Century.  A major campaign of destruction by British forces from Massachusetts began in 1704 and by 1731 all of the Catholic missionaries were killed or forced out of Maine.

Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, the United States’ first Bishop, sent Father John Cheverus to Maine in 1789 to visit the Native Americans who had been without a priest for almost 60 years.  French and Irish Catholics started coming to Maine after the American Revolution and Father Cheverus established St. Patrick’s Church in Newcastle in 1796.  By 1850, there were a dozen parishes in Maine.  Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Portland in 1853 to serve Catholics in Maine (except for the Madawaska territory in Northern Maine) and New Hampshire.  The Madawaska territory became part of the Diocese of Portland in 1870 and New Hampshire became a separate diocese in 1884.  Portland had 21,000 people in 1850 and was and is the largest city in Maine.

David W. Bacon was born in New York City in 1815 and ordained a priest for the Diocese of New York in 1838.  For the next 17 years, he served in parishes in New York City, upstate New York, and northern New Jersey.  Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Portland, Maine, in 1853 to serve Catholics in Maine (except for a portion of northern Maine) and New Hampshire.  The anti-Catholic attitudes of many Protestants in Maine during the 1850s—churches were burned at Bath and Lewiston and a priest was tarred and feathered—led to the decision by Father Henry Coskery of Baltimore to decline the honor of being Portland’s first Bishop in 1853.  Two years later, Bacon, having accepted the position, arrived in Portland at night wearing non-clerical clothing to avoid trouble.  

Bacon found a Diocese with 8 churches and 6 priests.  Despite the inauspicious start, Bishop Bacon built many churches—including the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception—and other buildings, including two dozen schools.  He also recruited priests from Ireland.  Bacon was a skilled administrator and orator.  At the time of his death in 1874 (on his way back from Rome), the Diocese was well established with 75,000 Catholics served by 52 priests, 63 churches, and 22 schools.

James A. Healy was born in 1830 in Georgia to an Irish father and a mulatto slave mother.  James was the oldest of ten children and was educated in the North—his father was a successful plantation owner.  Healy was the valedictorian of the first graduating class of the College of Holy Cross in Massachusetts in 1849.  He went on to attend seminary in Montreal and Paris and was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Boston in 1854.  Although he was technically the first African American to be ordained to the priesthood, he identified as Irish American and most people did not know of his African ancestry.  He served as a pastor in Boston for the next two decades, including as pastor of St. James Church, then the largest parish in Boston.   

Healy was appointed the second Bishop of Portland in 1875 and became the first African American bishop in the United States, although again most people did not know of his ancestry.  As Bishop, Healy established many churches and schools, but was especially noted for his concern for children and the poor, for which he established several institutions and organizations for their care.  He established missions in many smaller towns and his fluency in French was helpful in ministering to Maine’s Acadian population, which increased greatly during his tenure.  Healy was a noted orator and also made significant contributions in Church law at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884.  Bishop Healy had two sisters who became nuns and two brothers who were priests, including one who served as president of what is now Georgetown University.  Bishop Healy died in 1900.

Pioneer Bishops of Louisiana

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Louisiana up to 1900.  For more information about Louisiana, see my blog of January 15, 2018.

Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, claimed all of the land drained by the Mississippi River for France in 1682 and named it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV of France.  Pierre le Moyne, Sieur I’berville, began the colonization of the Louisiana territory by building a fort and settlement at what is now Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1699, and another settlement near the mouth of the Mississippi River, in what is now Louisiana, in 1700.  This later settlement was soon abandoned.  The first permanent settlement in Louisiana was at Natchitoches in 1714.  New Orleans was established by I’berville’s brother, Jean Baptist, in 1718.  France ceded Louisiana to Spain in 1762 and England claimed the territory east of the Mississippi the following year.  France once again gained control of the colony in 1800 before selling it to the United States in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase.  Congress established the Territory of Orleans in 1804 and Louisiana became the 18th State in 1812.

The French brought Catholicism to their colony and the first Mass in Louisiana was celebrated by Father Anastase Douay near the mouth of the Mississippi River on Shrove Tuesday, 1699.  As settlements grew, churches were established—there were seven by 1729.  The Ursuline Nuns arrived in New Orleans in 1727 to establish the first convent in what is now the United States.  They also established a school for girls, a hospital, and an orphanage.  The Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, now the Archdiocese of New Orleans, was established in 1793—the second Diocese in what is now the United States (although New Orleans was not then a part of the United States).  By 1800, Louisiana had about twenty parishes.  The name of the Diocese changed to the Diocese of Louisiana in 1823 and to the Diocese of New Orleans in 1829.

Louisiana grew quickly after it became a state—its population increasing from 77,000 in 1810 to 708,000 in 1860.  New Orleans grew as well from a population of 17,000 in 1810, to 116,000 in 1850, to 216,000 in 1880.  Until the 1850s, New Orleans was one of the five largest cities in the United States and it remained one of the ten largest until the 1880s.  This growth led Pope Pius IX to raise New Orleans to an archdiocese in 1850—one of the first six in the United States—and to create the Diocese of Natchitoches in 1853 to serve Catholics in northern Louisiana.  By 1910, there were more than half a million Louisiana Catholics—about a third of the total population.  In that year, the Diocese of Natchitoches became the Diocese of Alexandria, and in 1918, the Diocese of Lafayette was established by Pope Benedict XVI to serve Catholics in southwestern Louisiana.  The Diocese of Baton Rouge was created in 1961—Baton Rouge has been the State capital since 1880.  In 1977, Pope Paul VI created the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and renamed the Diocese of Alexandria as the Diocese of Alexandria-Shreveport.  Pope John Paul II created the Diocese of Lake Charles in 1980 and split the Diocese of Alexandria-Shreveport into separate dioceses in 1986.

Luis Penalver y Cardenas was born to a wealthy family in Havana, Cuba, in 1749.  He was ordained a priest in 1772 and was appointed diocesan vicar general in 1773.  Pope Pius VI created the new Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas in 1793 and appointed Penalver as the first bishop.  [At this time, Louisiana and Florida were Spanish colonies.  Florida was divided into East Florida, which included most of the modern State, and West Florida, which basically consisted of the Florida panhandle, the southern most parts of Alabama and Mississippi, and part of the current State of Louisiana.  France claimed this area in 1800 before selling it to the United States in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase.]

Penalver arrived in New Orleans in 1795 and he found Catholics from more than a dozen countries, including some that were enslaved.  He had some success in improving morality and imposing Church discipline, which according to his reports were greatly needed.  He also established new parishes and demanded detailed record-keeping by all the parishes—many of which he visited to administer the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Penalver y Cardenas was appointed Archbishop of Guatemala in 1801 and he served there until 1806.  At that time he returned to Havana and died there in 1810, leaving $200,000 to help the poor.  

Francisco Bartolome Porro y Reinado was born in Gibraltar in 1739 and ordained a Franciscan priest in Europe.  Porro y Reinado was appointed to succeed Penalver y Cardenas in 1801, but never came to New Orleans because of the pending Louisiana Purchase.  He was appointed bishop of Tarazona, Spain in 1803 and served there until his death in 1814.  The Louisiana Diocese, which became part of the United States in 1803, continued without a permanent leader for several more years and was administered by Bishop (later Archbishop) John Carroll of Baltimore from 1805 to 1812.

Louis W. DuBourg was born in 1766 in what is now Cape Haitian, Haiti.  He was born into a prominent family in what was then a French colony.  His mother died when he was two and his father sent him to France to live with his maternal grandparents.  DuBourg entered a seminary and was ordained a priest in 1790.  Because of his vocation and his aristocratic family, he was targeted during the French Revolution and fled to Spain (where he learned Spanish).  He came to Baltimore in 1794 and became a Sulpician priest in 1795.  Bishop John Carroll assigned him to work with the increasing number of French and Spanish immigrants who had come to the United States to escape revolutions.  DuBourg learned English in the process.  Carroll appointed DuBourg as the third president of Georgetown College in 1795 and he made substantial contributions to the young college.  He also ran up a large debt, which displeased the Jesuit board of directors who forced his resignation in 1798. The following year DuBourg established St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.  DuBourg met Elizabeth Ann Seton in 1806 and was influential in her vocation.  He also raised the funds necessary to purchase the land where the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption now stands in Baltimore.

Archbishop Carroll sent DuBourg to New Orleans in 1812 as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas in 1812.  The Diocese had not had a bishop since Penalver’s departure in 1801.  DuBourg found a Diocese that covered most of the Louisiana Purchase but had few priests and little infrastructure.  Making matters worse is that the French-speaking Catholics (both clergy and laity) in New Orleans did not accept his appointment by an American bishop.  Their hostility forced him to live outside the city.  He was named Bishop of the Diocese in 1815 while he was in Europe recruiting priests and nuns for the Diocese.  While there, he also helped established an organization now known as the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.  He returned from Europe in 1817 and took up residence in St. Louis, then in the northern part of his diocese.  He was welcomed by the people of St. Louis and he accomplished many things.   He built the first cathedral west of the Mississippi River, established Native American missions, built many churches (including some in Louisiana), established a seminary and what is now St. Louis University, and invited religious orders of sisters to work in the Diocese, including the Sisters of the Sacred Heart led by Rose Philippine Duchesne, now a canonized saint.  In 1823, DuBourg decided that he should reestablish his residence in New Orleans.  (The Diocese had been renamed the Diocese of Louisiana.)  Unfortunately, the hostility had not waned and he resigned in 1826 and moved back to France.  He was soon appointed Bishop of Montauban in France and in 1833 was appointed Archbishop of Besancon.  He died the same year. 

Leo de Neckere was born in what is now Belgium in 1799.  He began his seminary training in Ghent but was recruited to come to the United States in 1817.  He completed his studies in Missouri and was ordained a Vincentian priest in 1822.  He was a missionary and seminary professor until becoming the superior of his seminary in 1826.  The 30-year-old de Neckere was appointed Bishop of New Orleans in 1829, the first to be referred to by that title.  He was well respected by the people of his Diocese—which by that time consisted of Louisiana and Mississippi.  He built New Orleans’ first English-speaking parish—St. Patrick’s—and brought in a group of French nuns to serve in the Diocese.  Never in good health, de Neckere died from yellow fever in 1833.

Antoine Blanc was born in France in 1792 and ordained to the priesthood in France in 1816.  In July 1817, he and some seminarians left France with Bishop Louis Dubourg of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas (New Orleans).  They arrived in Maryland in September, left Baltimore in late October, walked to Pittsburgh, took a flatboat to Louisville, and arrived in Bardstown, Kentucky, in early December.  Blanc was soon assigned to Vincennes, Indiana, then part of the Diocese of Bardstown.  Dubourg recalled him to New Orleans in 1820.  Blanc served at parishes in the Diocese, including those in Natchez and Baton Rouge, until he was appointed associate vicar general of the Diocese of New Orleans by Bishop Leo Raymond De Neckere in 1831.  Blanc was appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese in 1833 upon the death of de Neckere and was appointed Bishop in 1835. 

Blanc was named the first Archbishop of New Orleans in 1850.  During his 25-year tenure as Bishop and Archbishop, Blanc established 47 parishes, ordained almost 70 priests, built a seminary and many other schools, established two hospitals and several other charitable institutions, and started a French-language diocesan newspaper.  He invited several religious orders to serve in the Archdiocese and brought an end to problems with church trustees through legal action in 1844.  He traveled throughout his Archdiocese, which by the time of his death consisted of southern Louisiana, and he also led efforts to organize the Church in Texas.  He faced many problems as Archbishop including a Louisiana population that consisted of some who were anti-religious and anti-clerical, others who were hostile to immigrant Catholics, and many who opposed any kind of education for African-Americans.  In addition, the yellow fever epidemic of 1853 killed one in twenty residents of New Orleans.  Despite these problems, Archbishop Blanc, who died in 1860, was noted for his leadership and spirituality.

John M. Odin was born in France in 1800 and came to Louisiana in 1822.  He was ordained a Vincentian priest in 1823 and began working in Missouri and Arkansas.  Odin was appointed the Vice Prefect Apostolic of Texas in 1840, Vicar Apostolic of Texas in 1842, and first Bishop of Galveston, Texas, in 1847.  

Odin was named second Archbishop of New Orleans in 1861—just as the Civil War began.  Odin was sympathetic to the Southern cause but worked to achieve peace under the direction of Pope Pius IX.  Catholic priests, religious, and laity sought to alleviate the suffering caused by the war on the part of both soldiers and civilians.  Odin also made sure that the spiritual needs of the soldiers were met by providing chaplains.  Many of the Archdiocese’s churches and other buildings were damaged or destroyed during the War, and in 1867 the area suffered through a yellow fever epidemic.  Despite this, Odin established seven new parishes outside of New Orleans and increased the number of priests by 50 percent during the War years, mostly by recruiting priests from Europe.  Odin also started an English-language archdiocesan newspaper.  Archbishop Odin died in France in 1870 while attending the First Vatican Council.

Napoleon J. Perche was born in northwestern France in 1805 and was ordained to the priesthood there in 1829.  He served his local diocese until 1837 when he came to the United States.  He served the Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky (now the Archdiocese of Louisville) until 1842 when he became chaplain of the Ursuline Convent in New Orleans.  Perche established and was the editor of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ first newspaper and had been placed under house arrest during the Civil War because of his Confederate sympathies.  

Perche became Archbishop of New Orleans in 1870 and faced an immediate task of rebuilding many of the Archdiocese’s churches and schools.  He began an extensive expansion of the number of parishes and schools in the Archdiocese and brought in members of eight religious orders to assist in this effort.  Part of the building program involved schools for newly freed African American children.  Unfortunately, this building program caused the Archdiocese to amass a large debt ($600,000 or $15 million today).  The Vatican appointed Francis Leray as coadjutor archbishop in 1879 and gave him authority over the Archdioceses’ finances.  Perche also started an English language Archdiocesan newspaper—the one he established earlier was in French.  Archbishop Perche died in 1883. 

Francis X. Leray was born in northwestern France in 1825.  He came to the United States in 1844 and taught at Spring Hill College in Alabama before entering St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.  He was ordained a priest in 1852 for the Diocese of Natchez (now the Diocese of Jackson), Mississippi.  He served in Jackson and ministered to those suffering from two yellow fever epidemics—he himself almost died from the fever.  He established the first Catholic church in Vicksburg in 1857.  Leray served as a Confederate Army chaplain during the Civil War and was captured by Union forces more than once.  He was always released once he was identified as a priest.  After the War, he returned to Vicksburg and dealt with a cholera epidemic.  He served as vicar general of the Diocese from 1871 until 1877 when he was named Bishop of Natchitoches (now Alexandria), Louisiana.  Leray served as Bishop of Natchitoches for only two years.  His major contribution was the recognition that the Catholics of his Diocese mostly spoke English, but many of the priests were French, so he demanded that all of his priests communicate publicly in English.

Leray was named Coadjutor Archbishop of New Orleans in 1879 and also served as the Apostolic Administrator of both New Orleans and Natchitoches until 1883 when he became Archbishop of New Orleans.  As Archbishop, Leray worked to pay off over half of the Archdiocesan debt and was able to open several new schools, but the stress caused him to lose his health and he died in 1887 while on a visit to France.

Francis A. Janssens was born in Holland 1843 and ordained a priest in Belgium in 1867.  His interest in serving in the American missions brought him to Richmond, Virginia, in 1868.  Two years later, he was appointed rector of the Cathedral and later became vicar general for the Diocese of Richmond.

Janssens was named Bishop of Natchez, Mississippi, in 1881 and was appointed Archbishop of New Orleans in 1888.  Archbishop Janssens established St. Joseph’s Seminary and a school for the hearing impaired.  He also built several churches and 25 schools and was able to reduce the Archdiocese’s debt.  He established St. Katharine’s parish in New Orleans in 1895 for African Americans.  Some viewed this as supportive of segregation, but Janssens thought it would build African American leadership skills, just as ethnic parishes had done for other groups.  He also advocated the ordination of African American priests long before other U.S. bishops did so.  [Only a dozen African American priests were ordained in the United States prior to 1930.]  Janssens invited several religious orders to work in the Archdiocese, especially to minister to African Americans, and proclaimed Our Lady of Prompt Succor as patroness of the Archdiocese.  He died at sea in 1897 sailing from New Orleans to New York.

Placid L. Chapelle was born in France in 1842 and attended seminary in France and Belgium before coming to the United States.  He completed his seminary training at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1865.  During his early years as a priest, he served as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, St. Joseph’s in Baltimore, and St. Matthew’s in Washington, DC.  Chapelle was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Santa Fe in 1891 and became archbishop in 1894.  

Chapelle was named Archbishop of New Orleans in 1897.  Chapelle established several lay organizations in the Archdiocese, including the Holy Name Society, the Knights of Columbus, and St. Margaret’s Daughters.  A noted homilist, who spoke English, French, and Spanish, Chapelle was selected by the Vatican to also serve as Apostolic Delegate for Puerto Rico and Cuba in 1898 and Apostolic Delegate for the Philippines in 1899.  It helped that he was a friend to Presidents Arthur, Harrison, and Cleveland.  He was very successful in these positions.  During negotiations in Paris between the United States and Spain to end the Spanish-American War, he made sure that Church would not lose any of its properties in the Philippines.  He also negotiated with the new Philippine government the release of priests and religious who had been imprisoned.  He returned to New Orleans in May 1905 during a Yellow Fever epidemic.  Eager to resume his pastoral responsibilities, he began visiting parishes.  He contracted Yellow Fever and died in August 1905.

Augustus M. Martin was born in France in 1803 and was ordained a priest in France in 1825.  He served as pastor and as a college chaplain before moving to Indiana in 1839.  There he served as pastor, cathedral rector, and, from 1843 to 1846, he served as vicar general of the Diocese of Vincennes.  Either due to poor health or a deteriorating relationship with his bishop, Martin moved to Louisiana in 1846.  He served at four parishes and in 1849 was named pastor in Natchitoches.  He was named first Bishop of Natchitoches in 1853.  Martin made his parish church the new Cathedral.

Martin’s new Diocese, which covered northern Louisiana, consisted of 20,000 Catholics, served by four priests and seven churches.  He quickly began recruiting priests from France and he established a seminary to train native priests.  He also opened a school for the children of free African Americans in 1857.  He invited religious orders of priests and nuns to work in the Diocese and he attended the First Vatican Council.  Sadly, five priests died during the yellow fever epidemic of 1873.  Nevertheless, at the time of Martin’s death two years later, there were 29 priests serving 26 churches (and additional missions), plus there were 19 schools.

Anthony Durier was born in France in 1832.  While still a seminarian, he came New Orleans in 1855.  He completed his seminary training in Ohio and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1856.  He was ordained by the Archbishop of Cincinnati, and he remained in Ohio for a year to improve his ability to speak English.  He returned to New Orleans in 1857 and in 1859 he was named pastor of Annunciation parish in New Orleans.  He served there for 25 years before being named the third Bishop of Natchitoches in 1884, succeeding Bishop Leray.

Bishop Durier was a strong advocate for education.  He created a Diocesan school board in 1889 and encouraged all parishes to establish schools, which resulted in almost 20 new schools—six of which were for African American children.  Durier also invited religious orders to teach at these schools.  He also established seven new parishes and finished construction of the then-Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.  Bishop Durier died in 1904.

Pioneer Bishops of Kentucky

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Kentucky up to 1900.  For more information about Kentucky, see my blog of November 22, 2017.

Harrodsburg, established in 1774, was Kentucky’s first permanent settlement.  Among the first settlers was Dr. George Hart, a Catholic and one of the first physicians to settle in Kentucky, and William Coomes, whose wife, Jane, was the first white female settler and the first schoolteacher. Some members of Daniel Boone’s family were also Catholic.  In 1785, 25 families came to Kentucky from St. Mary’s County, Maryland, led by Basil Hayden.  They settled near the present site of Bardstown.  More Marylanders followed the following year.

Father Charles Whelan, Kentucky’s first resident priest, arrived in the Bardstown area in 1787.  He was followed by a French exile, Father Stephen Badin, the first priest ordained in the United States.  Badin, the “Apostle of Kentucky” arrived at his new post by walking from Baltimore to Pittsburgh and then by taking a flatboat down the Ohio River to what is now Maysville, Kentucky.  Kentucky became the 15th state in 1792 and by the mid-1790s there were over 300 Catholic families in Kentucky, primarily in what are now Nelson, Marion, and Washington Counties.  By the early 1800s, Catholicism was well established in Kentucky, with a Dominican priory (the first in the United States) in Washington County and an order of nuns—the Sisters of Loretto—established in Marion County.  The later had been established with the help of another pioneer priest—Father Charles Nerinckx from Belgium.

Pope Pius VI created the Diocese of Baltimore in 1789, which at the time consisted of the 13 original states of the United States.  Baltimore was raised to an archdiocese by Pope Pius VII in 1808 and four new dioceses were created—Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Bardstown, Kentucky.  At the time of its founding, the Bardstown diocese covered the states of Kentucky and Tennessee.  However, the diocese’s first bishop, Benedict Flaget, was also give jurisdiction over what few Catholics lived in an area that now consists of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, and portions of Arkansas and Minnesota.  He was relieved of this extra responsibility after the creation of the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1821 and the Diocese of Vincennes (now Indianapolis) in 1834.

Louisville was established as a town in 1780 and French priests, including the future bishop, Benedict Flaget, visited in the early 1790s.  The town attracted new residents, including native-born Americans, as well as French, Irish, and Germans.  Bishop Flaget moved his see to Louisville in 1841 due to its growing population, which in that year numbered about 21,000 people.  Among them were 4,000 Catholics in three parishes.  By this time, the diocese consisted only of the state of Kentucky.  Louisville became part of the Province of Cincinnati when it was established in 1850, at which time there were 35,000 Catholics in Kentucky.

Catholics in Eastern Kentucky tended to be Germans, who settled near Cincinnati, and Irish, who settled around Lexington and Frankfort.  Early churches included St. Mary (1834) and Mother of God (1842) in Covington, St. Francis de Sales (1790s) in White Sulphur near Lexington, and St. Peter (1818) in Lexington.  This growth in the number of Catholics in this region led Pope Pius IX to create the Diocese of Covington in 1853.  At the time, the Covington diocese consisted of the eastern third of Kentucky.  Pope John Paul II created the Diocese of Lexington in 1988.  Germans and Irish had also come to Western Kentucky, especially near towns along the Ohio River, and by 1860, there were almost 20 Catholic churches in the western third of the state.  Pope Pius XI created the Diocese of Owensboro in 1937 at the same time that he created the Province of Louisville and making Louisville an archdiocese.

Benedict J. Flaget was born in France in 1763 and ordained a Sulpician priest in 1788.  He came to the United States in 1792 and was soon sent by Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore to Fort Vincennes in the Indiana Territory to staff St. Francis Xavier Church.  He journeyed by wagon to what is now Pittsburgh and then took a flatboat to what is now Louisville before eventually reaching Vincennes.  He established a school and library at the church—the first educational institutions in Indiana.  He ministered to the settlers and Native Americans during a smallpox outbreak in 1793 and became ill himself.  He was recalled to Baltimore in 1795 and was sent to what is now Georgetown University where he taught for three years.  He was sent on a mission to Cuba in 1798 where he contracted malaria.  While there he befriended the future King of France, Louis Phillippe, who was visiting Cuba while in exile from France.  He returned to Georgetown in 1801 until he was named the first Bishop of Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1808.  Flaget served as Bishop of Bardstown until 1832, when he retired.  He once again was appointed Bishop of Bardstown in 1833 and served until 1841, when he moved the diocesan see to Louisville and served there until his death in 1850.

Flaget arrived in Kentucky in 1811 as the first Bishop of Bardstown and was accompanied by two priests and three seminarians (one of whom, Guy Chabret, became the first priest ordained west of the Alleghany Mountains).  His diocese consisted of Kentucky and Tennessee, but he had responsibility for a territory that now consists of the States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, and northern Arkansas.  (This vast territory was reduced in 1821 with the creation of the Diocese of Cincinnati.)  Although the Diocese was large in size, it had few souls.  There were about 6,000 Catholics in Kentucky, and a few others scattered in settlements such as Detroit, Vincennes (Indiana), and Kaskaskia and Cahokia (both in Illinois).  Almost all of the churches were log chapels.  Flaget made frequent pastoral visits throughout this territory and built colleges and a seminary—the first such Catholic institutions in the American West.  (Many of the early leaders of the American Catholic church received their training in these institutions—eight of Flaget’s priests would later become bishops—and he was influential in the selection of U.S. bishops.)  He built St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Bardstown and welcomed many religious congregations to his diocese including the Dominicans, the Jesuits, and the Franciscans, as well as encouraging the establishment of the Sisters of Loretto and the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.  Bishop Flaget oversaw continued growth in the Diocese and built new parishes—by 1837, the diocese, now only consisting of Kentucky, had 40 churches, 70 stations, 51 priests, and several schools.  Flaget established a weekly paper ("The Catholic Advocate") in 1836 and transferred his see to Louisville in 1841 after it became apparent that Louisville would become the principal city in Kentucky.  He began construction of the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville and, in 1848, welcomed a group of French Trappist monks who built the now-famous Abbey of Gethsemane near Bardstown.  Flaget died in 1850.

John B. David was born in France in 1761 and was ordained a priest in 1785.  He joined the Sulpicians shortly after ordination and taught at a Sulpician seminary in France from 1786 to 1790 when he had to go into hiding because of the French Revolution.  He left France in 1792 with other Sulpicians, including Benedict Flaget, and came to Baltimore.  David spent the next few years as a pastor in southern Maryland, teaching a Georgetown College and at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.  He left Maryland with Flaget in 1811 and settled in Bardstown.  He was instrumental in establishing St. Thomas Seminary in Bardstown and he founded the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and remained their Superior General almost until he died.  David was appointed coadjutor Bishop of Bardstown in 1817 but was not consecrated bishop until 1819 sue to his reluctance to become a bishop.  His consecration was the first west of the Appalachian Mountains.  David continued his work as missionary, seminary president, and cathedral rector until 1832 when Bishop Flaget retired.

Nearing 70, Bishop Flaget retired in favor of Guy Chabret, but the Vatican appointed Flaget’s coadjutor bishop, John David, as Bishop instead.  All were surprised and David immediately submitted his resignation to Rome.  David himself was over 70 and in ill health.  Pope Gregory XVI accepted David’s resignation five months later and reappointed Benedict Flaget as bishop.  Flaget had spent his temporary “retirement” tending to cholera victims.  After his retirement, David moved to the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity where he died in 1841.

Martin J. Spalding was born in Marion County, Kentucky, in 1810 and was ordained a priest (in Rome) for the then-Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1834.  Spalding served as cathedral rector, editor of the diocesan newspaper, and seminary president and professor prior to being named vicar general of the diocese in 1844.  He was named coadjutor bishop of Louisville (the Diocese had moved from Bardstown to Louisville) in 1848 and became Bishop of Louisville in 1850.  Spalding, who led a Diocese of 30,000 Catholics (in 1850), created a parochial school system and invited religious orders, such as the Xavierian Brothers (who were from Belgium and established Louisville’s St. Xavier High School in 1864) and Ursuline Sisters (from Germany), to teach in the schools.  He also completed construction of the Cathedral of the Assumption in 1852.  Spalding tended to the needs of large numbers of Irish and German immigrants—the Catholic population of the Diocese more than doubled between 1848 and 1864 despite the creation of the Diocese of Covington in 1853.  The large number of immigrants resulted in a backlash.  Nativist mobs attacked the new immigrants on August 6, 1855 and over twenty people were killed and the homes of 20 Catholic families destroyed.  Bishop Spalding urged restraint and further violence was stopped.  Bishop Spalding remained neutral during the Civil War and supplied chaplains and nurses to both sides.  Spalding was appointed Archbishop of Baltimore in 1864 and he died in 1872.

Peter J. Lavialle was born in France in 1819 and began his seminary studies there.  He came to Kentucky in 1842, completed his seminary studies, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Louisville in 1844.  As a priest, he served at the cathedral in Louisville, as theology professor at the seminary, and as a college president.  Pope Pius IX appointed Lavialle Archbishop of New Orleans in 1860, but Lavialle refused the appointment.  Pius IX appointed him Bishop of Louisville in 1865.  Bishop Lavialle built six churches and established a Catholic cemetery.  Lavialle attended the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore in October 1866, but became ill and died a few months later in 1867, serving only two years as Bishop.  

William G. McCloskey was born the youngest of five sons in Brooklyn, New York, in 1823.  Two of his brothers became priests.  McCloskey attended Mount St. Mary’s College in Maryland was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New York in 1852.  He served briefly in New York before returning to Mount St. Mary’s as a professor.  He was appointed the first rector of the North American College in Rome in 1859 and was named Bishop of Louisville in 1868. 

McCloskey was Bishop during a time of growth and in response he built over 100 new churches.  He also invited religious orders to serve in the Diocese (including the Benedictines, the Sisters of Mercy, the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the Franciscan Sisters) and established a seminary in Louisville.  He attended the First Vatican Council in 1870 and two plenary councils in Baltimore and he wrote a book about Mary Magdalen.  McCloskey was noted for his piety, but also for his authoritarian nature—he frequently feuded with his clergy, religious orders, and the laity.  At the time of his death in 1909, he was the oldest U.S. Catholic bishop.  

George A. Carrell was born in Philadelphia in 1803.  Carrell’s grandfather came from Ireland before the Revolutionary War and established a grocery business in Philadelphia.  Carrell and his seven siblings grew up in a mansion once owned by William Penn.  He was educated in Maryland and at what is now Georgetown University and later attended seminary in Maryland before being ordained a priest for the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1827.  He served at churches in Philadelphia and New Jersey before being assigned in Wilmington, Delaware, where he established a school for boys and one for girls.  Carrell spent two years in the early 1820s as a Jesuit novice and felt drawn to that order.  He received permission to join the Jesuits in 1835 in St. Louis.  As a Jesuit, he served as a professor at St. Louis University, as a pastor in St. Louis, and president of a preparatory boy’s school in Cincinnati.  Carrell was appointed first Bishop of the newly established Diocese of Covington in 1853.

When Carrell became Bishop, there were 7,000 Catholics, 10 churches, and 7 priests in the Diocese, which consisted of Eastern Kentucky.  Carrell spent much of his time organizing his new Diocese and building the churches (including a cathedral), schools, and other institutions needed to keep pace with a 200 percent growth in the number of Catholics in the Diocese during his time as bishop.  He invited several religious orders, including the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Visitation nuns, Ursuline nuns, and Benedictine priests and nuns, to work in the Diocese.  Carrell was greatly affected by the large numbers of people killed during the Civil War.  He suffered from various diseases and died 1868.

Augustus M. Toebbe was born in what is now Germany in 1829.  His father was a prominent innkeeper and he started school looking to go into business.  He pursued commercial interests until 1852 when he decided to go to America to be a priest.  Toebbe attended seminary in Cincinnati and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1854.  He served at parishes in or near Cincinnati until 1869 when he was appointed Bishop of Covington.  Like his predecessor, Bishop Toebbe built many new parishes to keep up with the growth in the number of Catholics.  Bishop Toebbe was responsible for bringing the Sisters of Notre Dame and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd to the Diocese.  He established an orphanage for boys, a hospital in Lexington, and a diocesan seminary.  Bishop Toebbe died in 1884.

Camillus P. Maes was born in Belgium in 1846 and was orphaned at the age of 16.  He entered seminary in Belgium in 1863 and was ordained a priest in 1868.  While still a seminarian, Maes had been recruited to serve in the Diocese of Detroit, so in 1869 he arrived in Michigan.  He served in parishes in Mount Clemens and Monroe and became chancellor for the Diocese in 1880.  Maes was a candidate for Bishop of the new Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1882 but was instead named Bishop of Covington in 1884.  He was the first priest from the Diocese of Detroit to be named a bishop.

Bishop Maes built the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and worked zealously to care for the people living in the mountainous areas of Eastern Kentucky, who were mostly poor and non-Catholic.  He established 3 diocesan newspapers, encouraged the establishment of The Catholic University in Washington—and served on its board—and Catholic historical groups.  He led several organizations that promoted the Eucharist and chaired the first Eucharistic Congress in the United States in 1895.  Maes died of complications from diabetes in 1915.  During his time as bishop, the number of Catholics in the Diocese rose from 38,000 to 60,000 and the number of priests from 38 to 85.

Pioneer Bishops of Kansas

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Kansas up to 1900.  For more information about Kansas, see my blog of October 21, 2017.

Spanish and French explorers visited what is now Kansas as early as 1535.  A party led by Francisco de Coronado came in 1541, accompanied by Franciscan Juan de Padilla.  Father de Padilla offered the first mass in what is now the continental United States.  Father de Padilla was later martyred while attempting to preach the Word of God to the Native Americans.  After it became part of the United States in 1803, the Army came to Kansas, establishing Fort Leavenworth in 1827, Fort Scott in 1842, Fort Riley in 1853, and Fort Dodge in 1865.  These forts served to protect settlers crossing Kansas on the Santa Fe and Chisholm trials to places further west.  Other Catholic missionaries had followed Father Padilla over the years and by the late 1830s, the Jesuits had established the St. Francis Xavier mission to the Pottawatomies at Kickapoo.  In 1841, the Sacred Heart sisters, under the leadership of Mother Rose Philippine Duchesne (who was canonized in 1988), opened a school for the Pottawatomies. This was followed by the Pottawatomie mission at St. Mary’s and the mission to the Osage Indians on the Neosho River in the late1840s.  As a result of these mission efforts, many of the Native Americans became Catholics.    

Pope Pius IX established the Vicarate Apostolic of the Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains in 1850.  This vast area consisted of all or part of the current states of Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and the two Dakotas.  The Holy Father appointed John Miege, a Jesuit priest and professor at St. Louis University as the first vicar apostolic.  The vicariate apostolic had a total Catholic population of about 5,000, most of whom were Native Americans.  In 1854, the Kansas Territory was created, and violent confrontations between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces followed.  Despite this, the population of Kansas was 107,000 in 1860, the year before Kansas became the 34th State.  The Homestead Law of 1862 encouraged the building of railroads, and this led to the influx of large numbers of European immigrants, many of whom were Catholic.  By 1880, Kansas had almost one million people, and by 1890, the population had increased to 1,427,000.

To serve the large number of Catholics, Pope Pius IX created the Vicariate Apostolic of Kansas in 1857, which became the Diocese of Leavenworth in 1877.  Pope Leo XIII created the Dioceses of Concordia and Wichita in 1887.  (Leavenworth was the largest city in Kansas in 1880 with 17,000 people—slightly larger than Atchison and Topeka.  By 1890, Leavenworth was only the fourth largest city—behind Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita.)  The Diocese of Concordia became the Diocese of Salina in 1944, the Diocese of Leavenworth became the Diocese of Kansas City in 1947, and the Diocese of Dodge City was established in 1951.  In 1952, Pope Pius XII created the new Province of Kansas City and the Diocese of Kansas City became the Archdiocese of Kansas City.

John B. Miege was born in the Duchy of Savoy, now part of France, in 1815.  He was the youngest son of a wealthy and religious family.  Miege entered the Jesuit novitiate in Milan in 1836 and was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1847.  He was sent to serve the Native American missions in 1849 and became pastor in St. Charles, Missouri, and a professor at St. Louis University.  In 1850, he was named Vicar Apostolic of the Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains.  (A vicar apostolic is bishop of a missionary territory.)  Miege’s apostolic vicariate covered most of the United States between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains and consisted of most of what are now the states of Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, and Wyoming.  There were five churches, eight priests, and 5,000 Catholics.  Miege’s initial vast Vicariate became somewhat smaller in 1857 with the creation of the Vicariate Apostolic of Kansas, which consisted of what is now Kansas and Oklahoma.

Bishop Miege traveled extensively over the Vicariate on wagon and horseback visiting towns, Army posts, and Indian villages.  He built the first Cathedral for the Diocese in Leavenworth (now the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas) and helped establish St. Benedict’s College in Atchison.  He also invited religious orders to run parishes and schools and he attended the First Vatican Council in 1869-70.  He resigned as Vicar Apostolic in 1874 at which time the Vicariate had had 71 churches served by 48 priests.  After his resignation, he became the spiritual director of the Jesuit Seminary in Woodstock, Maryland.   Miege was sent to Detroit in 1877 where he established the University of Detroit and served as the first president.  He returned to Woodstock in 1880 and died there in 1884.

Louis M. Fink was born in Bavaria as Michael Fink in 1834.  He came to the United States in 1852 and entered St. Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the same year.  In 1854, he became a Benedictine monk under the name Louis Mary.  He was ordained a priest in 1857.  Father Fink served congregations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Chicago, until he was named prior of St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, Kansas, in 1868.  He was able to reopen Benedictine College in Atchison, which had closed due to financial difficulties.  Fink was appointed coadjutor apostolic vicar of Kansas and the Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains in 1871, under John Miege.  When Miege resigned in 1874, Fink succeeded him.  In 1877, the Diocese of Leavenworth was created (now the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas) and Fink became its first bishop.

In 1877, Bishop Fink’s new Diocese had 45,000 Catholics, 60 priests, 80 churches, as well as Catholic colleges, schools, and one hospital.  Bishop Fink fostered the sodalities of the Blessed Virgin Mary and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  He bought property throughout the State of Kansas to establish settlements for Catholic immigrants.  Bishop Fink focused on the needs of rural settlers and later, as needs changed, on urban laborers.  He also increased the number of priests and parishes in the Diocese.  Fink established the first church for African Americans west of St. Louis in Leavenworth.  He attended the third plenary council of Baltimore in 1884, which begot the Baltimore Catechism, encouraged Catholic schools in each parish, established the Catholic University of America, and set six days as Holy Days of Obligation.  Bishop Fink died in 1904.

John J. Hennessy was born in Ireland in 1847 and moved with his family to St. Louis in 1850.  After seminary studies in Wisconsin and Missouri, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1869.  Only 22 at the time of his ordination, Hennessy received a dispensation from the Pope due to his age.  Hennessy was a busy priest.  He served as pastor for a large section of southern Missouri, established a Catholic railroaders union, an Ursuline convent, and an abstinence society.  He later became a pastor in St. Louis, became editor of a youth magazine, secretary of the Orphan Board, treasurer of the diocesan clergy fund, and spiritual director of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. 

Pope Leo XIII named James O’Reilly to be the first Bishop of Wichita, but O’Reilly died in 1887 prior to being consecrated.  The following year, Pope Leo appointed John Hennessy to be Bishop.  There were about 8,000 Catholics in the Diocese at that time.  In 1891, Bishop Hennessy was named apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Concordia (now Salina) and for the next seven years led both dioceses.  The people in both dioceses faced difficult economic times and Bishop Hennessy often sought financial support from Catholics on the East Coast.  When economic conditions improved, Hennessy built the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita.  Bishop Hennessy was also influential in the establishment of the Catholic Church Extension Society.  He died of a stroke in 1920.

Richard Scannell was born in Ireland in 1845 and attended seminary in Dublin.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1871.  While in Nashville, Scannell served at various times as cathedral rector, apostolic administrator of the Diocese, and vicar general of the Diocese.  He was appointed the first Bishop of Concordia, Kansas (now the Diocese of Salina) in 1887.  Bishop Scannell had only five priests to serve the Diocese.  He started to build a seminary, but difficult economic times thwarted his plans.  Nevertheless, when he was named Bishop of Omaha, Nebraska, in 1891, there were 22 priests serving 76 churches and missions.  There were also 10 parish schools.  Scannell also invited the Sisters of St. Joseph to serve the Diocese.  Scannell died in 1916.

John F. Cunningham was born in Ireland in 1842 and came to the United States in 1860.  After seminary studies in Kansas and Wisconsin, he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Leavenworth in 1865.  After ordination, he was charged with securing funds to pay off the debt on the Cathedral and to help people suffering as a result of the bad economic conditions.  He later became rector for the cathedral in Leavenworth and vicar general for the Diocese.  He was named the second Bishop of Concordia in 1898.

With improved economic conditions, Bishop Cunningham was able to build 54 churches, including the new Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Concordia (dedicated in 1902), 17 elementary schools, five high schools, and three hospitals.  He also established the Knights of Columbus in the Diocese and founded Hays Catholic College.  The Catholic population doubled to 34,000 during his time as bishop and the number of priests increased from 25 to 63.  Bishop Cunningham died in 1919.

Pioneer Bishops of Iowa

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Iowa up to 1900.  For more information about Iowa, see my blog of April 10, 2017.

A party led by the French explorer, Louis Joliet, and the French Jesuit, Father Jacques Marquette, were the first Catholics to visit what is now Iowa.  Coming down the Wisconsin River, they “discovered” the Mississippi River and saw the land that is now Iowa on June 17, 1673.  However, European and American settlement was slow in coming to Iowa.  Julien Dubuque, a French Canadian, operated lead mining operations near the present-day city of Dubuque from 1788 to 1810.  Iowa became part of the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the Army operated Fort Madison from 1808 to 1813.

It was not until the conclusion of the Black Hawk War in 1832 that eastern Iowa was opened to settlers and settlements were quickly made, including Dubuque in 1833 and Davenport in 1836.  Iowa became part of the Wisconsin Territory in 1836, became the Iowa Territory in 1838, and became the 29th State in 1846.

Catholic activity also began quickly after the conclusion of the Black Hawk War.  A Jesuit priest, Father Charles van Quickenborne, came to what is now Keokuk in 1832 and Dubuque in 1833.  St. Raphael’s Cathedral parish, the oldest Christian church in Iowa, dates to 1833 when Father C.P. Fitzmorris of Galena, Illinois, said the first Mass in Iowa at a private home in Dubuque.  A Dominican priest, Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, built the first St. Raphael’s church in 1836 and built St. Anthony’s Church in Davenport in 1837.  Many of the first Iowa settlers were French, German, or Irish Catholics attracted by the lead mines and the fertile ground.  To shepherd these Catholics, Pope Gregory XVI established the Diocese of Dubuque in 1837 and appointed Mathias Loras as the first Bishop.

There were only about 40,000 people in Iowa when the Diocese of Dubuque was established in 1837.  By 1880, the Diocese encompassed only the State of Iowa and the total population of the State had risen to 1.6 million.  The following year, Pope Leo XIII created a new diocese for southern Iowa, the Diocese of Davenport.  Pope Leo raised Dubuque to an Archdiocese in 1893 and created a new diocese for northwestern Iowa, the Diocese of Sioux City, in 1902.  By 1911, there were about a quarter million Catholics in Iowa out of a total population of 2.2 million and in that year, Pope Pius X created the Diocese of Des Moines for southwestern Iowa.  Des Moines had become the state capital in 1857 and Iowa’s largest city in 1880.

Mathias Loras was born in France in 1792.  He was from an aristocratic family and 17 family members, including his father, were executed during the French Revolution.  He attended seminary and was friends with St. John Vianney.  Loras was ordained a priest in 1815 for the Archdiocese of Lyon.  He was recruited by the newly appointed Bishop of Mobile, Alabama, and came to Mobile in 1829.  There he served as vicar general of the diocese, cathedral rector, and president of Spring Hill College.  He was appointed the first Bishop of Dubuque, Iowa, in 1837.

Loras’ diocese consisted of what are now Iowa, most of Minnesota, and the eastern halves of North and South Dakota.  When he arrived in Dubuque in 1839, after traveling to Europe, there were only three Catholic churches in the Diocese—one in Dubuque, one in Davenport, and one in Lee County, Iowa—serving about 2,500 Catholics.  There was also a Native American mission.  He brought with him two priests and six seminarians, including Lucien Galtier (who built the first church in St. Paul, Minnesota), Joseph Cretin (later the first Bishop of St. Paul), and Augustine Ravoux (missionary to the Native Americans in the Dakotas), who joined the one priest—the Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli—already in Iowa.  Loras established a seminary (now Loras College) and brought religious orders to work in the Diocese, including the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (to establish schools) and the Trappists (who established the Abbey of New Melleray).  He also established missions for the Native Americans, who he visited sometimes in a canoe.  He encouraged Germans and Irish from the East Coast and Europe to settle in Iowa and he bought property throughout Iowa to eventually build churches and schools.  (The Germans and Irish often clashed with each other and with their French bishop, and Loras had to flee Dubuque on two occasions.)  At the time of his death in 1858 after a long illness, the Diocese (which was then the State of Iowa) had 54,000 Catholics, served by 60 churches and 48 priests.  Loras’ reputation has been tarnished by the recent discovery that he may have owned a slave from 1836 to 1852, who remained in Mobile, but was hired out by Loras.

Clement Smyth was born Timothy Smyth in Ireland in 1810.  He became a Cistercian (Trappist) monk and was ordained a priest in 1841, taking the name Clement.  He initially established a monastery in Pennsylvania, but soon moved the monastery to Iowa.  He served as the first Prior of New Melleray Abbey near Dubuque from 1849 to 1857.  He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Dubuque in 1857 and became bishop in 1858 upon the death of Bishop Mathias Loras.  While serving as coadjutor bishop, he was named administrator of the Diocese of Chicago for six months.  During this time, he was shot at after publicly excommunicating an apostate priest in Kankakee.

As Bishop of Dubuque, Smyth convened a diocesan synod which established rules and procedures for the Diocese, and he recruited priests from Ireland.  He built several churches, including St. Raphael’s Cathedral, and started a school for boys.  He also saw the Diocese through the difficult days of the Civil War—made more difficult because he was pro-Union and many people in Dubuque was pro-Confederate.  His homily after the death of President Lincoln led to an arsonist destroying his coach house, carriage, and horses.  Local citizens, both Catholic and Protestant, replaced the losses.  Smyth was known for his piety and charity.  There were 90,000 Catholics in Iowa at the time of Smyth’s death in 1865.

John Hennessy was born in Ireland in 1825 and attended seminary first in Dublin, and then in Missouri.  He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1850.  He served at several Missouri parishes and as a seminary professor and president.  He also spent two years in Rome as the Archbishop’s representative.  He was appointed Bishop of Dubuque in 1866 and became Archbishop of Dubuque in 1893.

Hennessy promoted parochial schools in the Diocese, and he established several schools (and recruited nuns to operate them), as well as dozens of parishes and several charitable institutions.  He recruited priests from Germany and Ireland and was noted for his administrative and preaching abilities.  He attended the First Vatican Council in Rome and the Third Plenary Council in Baltimore.  During his time as bishop, the Diocese of Davenport was created for southern Iowa.  Hennessy died in 1900 and left his estate of $700,000 to various Catholic charities.  

John McMullen was born in Ireland in 1832.  He was one of ten children.  He and his family moved to Canada when he was one year old and later, they moved to Upstate New York and then to Chicago.  McMullen attended public and parochial schools in Chicago before entering the seminary.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Chicago in 1858.  He served at several parishes in Chicago and Northern Illinois, started orphanages boys and girls, established a home for former prostitutes, and frequently ministered to those imprisoned.  He renovated Holy Name church in Chicago only to see it burn down during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.  He rebuilt the church, which is now the Cathedral for the Archdiocese, and traveled throughout the United States and Canada raising funds to assist fire victims and rebuild Chicago’s churches.  McMullen was named vicar general of the Diocese in 1877.  McMullen was appointed first Bishop of Davenport in 1881.

McMullen’s new Diocese had 45,000 Catholics served by 70 priests.  Bishop McMullen was bishop for only a short time, but he established St. Ambrose University in 1882.  He also traveled throughout the Diocese—then consisting of southern Iowa, confirming as many as 13,000.  He established a synod to organize the Diocese and was known for his simple lifestyle.  He died of stomach cancer in 1883.

Henry Cosgrove was born in Pennsylvania in 1834 to Irish immigrant parents.  The family moved to Dubuque, Iowa, in 1845.  After attending seminary in Missouri, Cosgrove was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Dubuque in 1857.  He was appointed pastor of St. Margaret’s parish in Davenport in 1861.  In 1873, an arsonist tried to set the church on fire and in 1878 three men broke into the church hoping to steal the collection. One of the men shot at Cosgrove and missed and all three fled without the collection.  In 1881, the Diocese of Davenport was created, and Cosgrove became a priest in the new Diocese.  St. Margaret’s Church was named the Cathedral and Cosgrove became cathedral rector and later vicar general for the Diocese.  After Bishop McMullen died in 1883, a list of names of possible successors was sent by the Diocese to the Vatican.  Oddly enough, the list did not have Cosgrove’s name even though he was vicar general.  It turns out that a group of priests from Des Moines had omitted his name as they hoped the Diocese would move from Davenport to Des Moines.  Wise to the move, Pope Leo XIII appointed Cosgrove second Bishop of Davenport in 1884.

Cosgrove was the first U.S.-born bishop appointed to a diocese west of the Mississippi River.  Bishop Cosgrove built several new churches, including Sacred Heart Cathedral, and also built schools and an orphan home.  Cosgrove built St. Ambrose College at its current location in 1885.  He attended the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884 and convened a Diocesan Synod in 1904.  He was a strong supporter of the temperance movement, and he encouraged Catholic immigrants to settle in the Midwest.  He died of cancer in 1906.  While he was Bishop, the Diocese grew from 45,000 Catholics with 79 priests to 70,000 Catholics with 135 priests.

Basilicas in Asia

I blogged about the following basilica on December 9, 2019.

• Co-Cathedral and Basilica of the Twenty-Six Holy Martyrs of Japan, Nagasaki, Japan.

I blogged about the following basilica on March 3, 2020.

• Basilica of Our Lady, Help of Christians, Shanghai, China.

I blogged about the following basilica on May 28, 2021.

• Cathedral Basilica of Notre Dame, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Basilica of Our Lady of La Vang, La Vang, Vietnam

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1961.

Catholics were being persecuted by the government of Viet Nam in the late 1700s and early 1800s.  Vietnamese Catholics saw an apparition of Our Lady with the Infant Jesus.  Pilgrimages began and a chapel was built in 1820.  This chapel was destroyed during another wave of persecution and was replaced in the late 1800s.  This church—the Basilica—was destroyed in 1972 during the Vietnam War.  A new church is expected to be built in 2023.

Both pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Xuan Truong, Vietnam

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.

The Neo-Gothic Basilica is the third church on this site since 1866.  It was completed in 1933 and is administered by Spanish Dominicans.  In front of the Basilica are two monuments—one is a tomb for 83 martyrs and the other is a pillar topped with a statue of St. Dominic.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of the Immaculate Mary, Kien Khe, Vietnam

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

The Gothic church was built between 1877 and 1883 and served as the Cathedral for the Archdiocese of Hanoi until 1936.  It is the oldest Catholic church in Vietnam, can hold 4,000 to 5,000 people, and its floor is made of ironwood to keep it from sinking.  The main altar is made of carved wood lacquered in gold in a Vietnamese style.

All pictures are from local sources.

Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Wanluan Township, Taiwan

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1984.

The Basilica, also known as the Wanchin Church, began as a small mud church constructed by a Dominican priest.  An earthquake destroyed that building in 1863 and it was replaced in 1870.  20th Century renovations have resulted in the current building, which resembles a Spanish fort.

 

Pictures are from Wikipedia, Pinterest, and Flickr.

Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Rosary, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1995.

The Basilica is the Cathedral for the Diocese of Kaohsiung.  The church was originally built in 1860 by Filipinos and expanded in 1928.  It is the oldest Catholic church in Taiwan and was built using Gothic and Romanesque styles.

The first picture is from Flickr and the other two are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Anne, Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2019.

Chinese Catholics came to this area in the 1830s and were under the spiritual care of French missionaries.  A church was built in the 1830s, a second in 1865, and a third in 1888.  After the Second World War, the British, who controlled Malaysia, were concerned that the Chinese who lived in this area might be Communists.  Severe restrictions were placed on the church grounds until 1960 and activities at the church did not commence until 1977.  The current Basilica was built between 1998 and 2002.  It is made of brick and holds 2,200 people.  About 100,000 people come each year to celebrate the Feast of St. Anne.

The first picture is from the basilica website, the second from TripAdvisor, and the last two from Wikipedia.

Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka, Tewatta, Sri Lanka

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1973.

A chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes was dedicated in 1911 which was expanded into a church in the 1930s.  During the Second World War, the Archbishop of Colombo vowed that if Sri Lanka was spared major warfare, he would build a basilica to honor Our Lady of Lanka.  He died before this promise could be kept but his successors took on the mission.  The Basilica was built between 1950 and 1974. 

The first three pictures are from local sources and the last is from Wikipedia.

Pioneer Bishops of Indiana

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Indiana up to 1900.  For more information about Indiana, see my blog of September 20, 2019.

French explorers and fur traders, such as Robert Cavalier (La Salle) and Louis Jolliet, accompanied by Franciscan (e.g., Louis Hennepin) and Jesuit (e.g., Jacques Marquette) priests likely came to Indiana in the 1660s and 1670s.  A Jesuit priest, Claude Allouez, established a mission on the St. Joseph River in 1680 near what is now Niles, Michigan, to minister to the Miami tribe on both sides of the current day state line.  By 1733, the French had established outposts at current day South Bend, Fort Ouiatenon [near Lafayette], Fort Miami [Fort Wayne], and Poste au Oaubache [Vincennes].  St. Francis Xavier church was established in Vincennes in 1749 and is the oldest Christian church in Indiana.

Indiana became part of the United States in 1783 following the American Revolution.  The Northwest Territory, which included current day Indiana, was established in 1787, and a separate Indiana Territory (which included modern day Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and parts of Michigan and Minnesota) was established in 1800, with Vincennes as the capital.  Indiana became the 19th State in 1816 at which time there were about 500 Catholics in the state, mostly of French ancestry.  The original French Catholics were soon joined by English Catholics from Kentucky, and German and Irish Catholics.

Indiana came under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Bardstown, Kentucky [now the Archdiocese of Louisville] after its creation in 1808.  Pope Gregory XVI made Indiana its own diocese (the Diocese of Vincennes, now the Archdiocese of Indianapolis) in 1834.  Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Fort Wayne in 1857 to serve northern Indiana.  Francis Chatard, upon becoming Bishop of Vincennes in 1878, moved to Indianapolis, which had become the capital of Indiana in 1825 and was by this time the largest city in the state.  The name of the diocese was changed to the Diocese of Indianapolis in 1898.  Pope Pius XII, in 1944, elevated Indianapolis to an Archdiocese and created new dioceses at Lafayette and Evansville, and in 1957, created the Diocese of Gary.  In 1960, the name of the Diocese of Fort Wayne was changed to the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

Simon G. Brute was born in France in 1779 and graduated from medical school in 1803.  Upon graduation, he immediately enrolled in one of newly reopened seminaries following the French Revolution.  He was ordained a Sulpician priest in 1808.  He met Benedict Flaget, the new Bishop of Bardstown, Kentucky (now the Archdiocese of Louisville), and accompanied Flaget to the United States in 1810.  He spent many years in Maryland, including as a pastor on the Eastern Shore, as pastor and teacher at Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, where he also served as spiritual director to Elizabeth Ann Seton, and in Baltimore at St. Mary’s College where he served as president.

Bruté was appointed the first Bishop of Vincennes, Indiana (now the Archdiocese of Indianapolis) in 1834.  His diocese covered the State of Indiana and part of Illinois and he had only three priests to help him.  He became a U.S. citizen in 1835 and went to Europe and returned the following year with 20 priests and seminarians to serve the 25,000 Catholics in the Diocese.  Brute raised enough money in Europe to finish St. Xavier Cathedral, and build a seminary, school, and orphan home.  He traveled frequently throughout his vast Diocese celebrating Mass, administering the Sacraments, and meeting with his priests.  He also sent a priest to evangelize the Potawatomi people.  Bishop Brute died in 1839 and has been declared a Servant of God—the first step toward canonization.  Brute was known for his holiness and intelligence.  President John Quincy Adams said the Brute was “the most learned man…in America.”

Celestine de la Hailandiere was born in France in 1798 during the French Revolution.  He was baptized by a priest hiding in his father’s house.  He eventually became a lawyer and for a time served as a judge.  He decided to enter the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1825.  La Hailandiere met Bishop Brute in 1836 in France, and la Hailandiere accompanied Brute to the United States later that year.  The Diocese of Vincennes (now the Archdiocese of Indianapolis) included all of Indiana and eastern Illinois but had few Catholics.

La Hailandiere was appointed coadjutor bishop of Vincennes in May 1839 and became Bishop of Vincennes the next month upon Brute’s death.  La Hailandiere invited the Congregation of the Holy Cross to establish a college near South Bend (now the University of Notre Dame) and the Sisters of Providence to establish what is now St. Mary-of-the-Woods College near Terre Haute.  (The Sisters were led by Theodore Guerin, now a canonized saint.)  In 1843, the Illinois part of the Diocese was given to the new Diocese of Chicago.  For whatever reason, la Hailandiere had difficulty getting along with others including the clergy and religious in his Diocese and for this reason, he resigned as Bishop and returned to France in 1847.  He died in 1882 and his body, as he had requested, was returned to Vincennes for burial.

John S. Bazin was born in France in 1796 and ordained in Lyon in 1822.  He came to Mobile, Alabama, in 1830 and worked to instruct youth in the Faith.  He eventually became vicar general of the Diocese of Mobile and successfully brought in the Jesuits to administer Spring Hill College and the Brothers of the Christian Schools to operate an orphanage.  He was named Bishop of Vincennes in 1847.  Bishop Bazin settled relations with diocesan clergy and religious sisters that had deteriorated under Bishop la Hailandiere and improved seminary training by merging a struggling Catholic college with the diocesan seminary.  He also initiated plans to build an orphanage.  Bishop Bazin died on Easter Sunday 1848 of pneumonia, after serving only six months as Bishop.  

Maurice de Saint-Palais was born in France in 1811 and ordained a priest in Paris in 1836.  He was recruited by Bishop Simon Brute to come to America.  Within two months of his ordination, he came to Vincennes and started serving in parishes within the Diocese.

De Saint-Palais was named Bishop of Vincennes in 1848.  During his time as bishop, de Saint-Palais oversaw the growth in the Diocese from 30,000 to 80,000 Catholics and 35 to 104 priests.  This growth is even more significant given that at the time he became Bishop, his Diocese covered all of Indiana and at the time of his death, only the southern half.  He also invited Benedictine monks from the Swiss Abbey of Einsiedeln, to visit Indiana.  This led, in 1856, to the establishment of St. Meinrad Archabbey, the first Benedictine institution in the United States.  De Saint-Palais invited other religious orders to administer hospitals and parishes.  He also established a weekly Diocesan newspaper and an orphan home, but closed the Diocesan seminary.  It had become apparent to Bishop de Saint-Palais that Indianapolis had become a more important city than Vincennes, but he left the decision to move to his successor.  Bishop de Saint-Palais died in 1877.

Silas Francis Chatard was born in Baltimore in 1834.  Both his father and his grandfather, who had come to Baltimore from what is now the Dominican Republic, were physicians.  Chatard himself was a physician in Baltimore before deciding to become a priest.  He attended seminary in Rome and was ordained in 1862.  He was immediately named vice-rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome and in 1868 became Rector.  Chatard favorably impressed Pope Pius IX who sent him back to the United States as Bishop of Vincennes in 1878.  Chatard, for whatever reason, switched his first names at that time to become Francis Silas Chatard.

Chatard moved to Indianapolis shortly after being installed as Bishop of Vincennes.  Indianapolis had become the largest city in Indiana with over 100,000 people and was centrally located, whereas Vincennes only had 10,000 people.  The Vatican officially transferred the Diocese to Indianapolis in 1898.  As bishop, Chatard sent some of his seminarians to be trained in Europe and established a fund for retired priests.  He also encouraged Catholic lay organizations and chaired four diocesan synods.  Bishop Chatard suffered a stroke in 1899 which eventually led to his death in 1918. 

John H. Luers was born in what is now Germany in 1819 and moved with his family to Ohio in 1831.  His father was a store clerk and Luers was known for not being religious and leading a “wild” life.  A meeting with John Purcell, the Bishop of Cincinnati, changed the direction of Luers’ life and he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1846.  Luers was assigned to St. Joseph’s parish in Cincinnati and it soon became the largest German parish is the city.  Luers was appointed the first Bishop of Fort Wayne in 1857.

Bishop Luers traveled extensively throughout his diocese celebrating the Holy Eucharist as often as possible.  He established an orphan home (for children who lost both parents during the Civil War), a hospital, and other Catholic institutions and a fund to support elderly and infirm priests.  He built the current Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne and brought a number of German priests and nuns to serve the Diocese.  He oversaw growth in the Diocese from 20,000 Catholics and 20 churches to 50,000 Catholics in 75 churches.  He was an articulate defender of the Faith, especially in regard to Catholic schools.  Bishop Luers died from a stroke in 1871 while on a trip to Cleveland.

Joseph G. Dwenger was born in Ohio in 1837 and was given by his dying widowed Mother to the Missionaries of the Precious Blood who raised and educated him.  He later joined the Missionaries and was ordained a priest for the Missionaries in 1859.  Dwenger served as seminary rector, pastor, traveling evangelist in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, and theologian to the Archbishop of Cincinnati.  He was appointed Bishop of Fort Wayne in 1872.

Bishop Dwenger was a strong advocate of parochial schools and established a diocesan school board.  He also established several homes for orphans—as he himself was orphaned at a young age—and he improved the financial condition of the Diocese.  He led the first American pilgrimage to Lourdes (in 1874) and traveled four times to Rome.  Dwenger was partially responsible for convincing the U.S. State Department to block the planned confiscation of the American College in Rome by the Italian government.  He also helped establish St. Joseph’s College near Rensselaer.  Bishop Dwenger died in 1893, not long after his fourth trip to Rome.

Joseph Rademacher was born in Michigan in 1840 to German immigrant parents.  He attended seminary in Pennsylvania and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1863.  He served as a pastor in the Diocese for the next twenty years before being named Bishop of Nashville in 1883 and was named Bishop of Fort Wayne in 1893.  Like in Nashville, he increased the number of churches, schools, and other institutions within the Diocese, and remodeled the Cathedral in Fort Wayne.  A stroke forced Bishop Rademacher to give up the daily management of the Diocese in 1899 and he died in 1900 in a Chicago hospital.  Bishop Rademacher was noted in both dioceses for his intelligence and breadth of knowledge on many subjects, as well as for his charitable works and kindly disposition, despite being in ill-health during his time both Nashville and Fort Wayne.