History
Early history
The first parish of Saint Louis was established in 1770 by French settlers to the region. The parish was then part of the Diocese of San Cristobal de la Habana, based in Havana, Cuba. It was later incorporated into the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas when it was erected on April 25, 1793, which originally encompassed the entire Louisiana Purchase as well as the Florida peninsula and the Gulf Coast. The oldest parish in the diocese is St. Genevieve parish founded in 1759 in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri[2]
Pope Pius VI erected the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas encompassing the pioneer parishes of St Louis, New Orleans, and Louisiana and both Florida colonies on April 25, 1793, taking its territory from the Diocese of San Cristobal de la Habana, based in Havana, Cuba. The diocese originally encompassed the entire territory of the Louisiana Purchase, from the Gulf of Mexico to British North America, as well as the Florida peninsula and the Gulf Coast.[3] This date of erection makes the present Archdiocese of St Louis and the Archdiocese of New Orleans the second oldest Catholic dioceses in the present United States after the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which the same pope had erected as the Diocese of Baltimore on November 6, 1789. The new diocese encompassed the area under the Spanish crown as Luisiana, which was all the land draining into the Mississippi River from the west, as well as Spanish territory to the east of the river in modern-day Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
In April 1803, the United States purchased Louisiana from France, which had in 1800 forced Spain to retrocede the territory in the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. The United States took formal possession of St Louis, then part of Upper Louisiana, on March 10, 1804. John Carroll, the Bishop of Baltimore, served as apostolic administrator of the diocese from 1805 to 1812.[citation needed]
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] Two Floridas by Pope Pius VII. He was the Bishop of the Louisiana Territory from 1815 to 1826.[2] DuBourg chose to set up his episcopal see in St. Louis. In 1823, Pope Pius VII appointed Joseph Rosati to the office of coadjutor bishop of the diocese.[citation needed]
On August 19, 1825, Pope Leo XII erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Alabama and the Floridas, taking its territory from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas. Although the two Florida territories were no longer part of the diocese, he did not change its title. But soon after, Bishop Rosati abruptly resigned the office of coadjutor bishop during a trip to Rome after which the Vatican decided to split the diocese again, making St. Louis a separate see. On July 18, 1826, the same pope
- Erected the Diocese of St. Louis, taking its territory from the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas and the Diocese of Durango,
- Erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Mississippi, taking its territory from the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas,
- Erected the Diocese of New Orleans, taking its territory from the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, and
- Appointed Bishop Rosati as apostolic administrator of both the Diocese of New Orleans and the Diocese of St. Louis.[citation needed]
Diocese
After Bishop Dubourg's resignation and transfer to lead the diocese of Montauban, France, the diocese of Louisiana was split, giving New Orleans a bishop again, and the Diocese of St. 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, equaling in extent all of the other nine dioceses.[citation needed]
Its first bishop, Joseph Rosati, led the Catholic Church's expansion of its presence in these areas, and built its first cathedral, now known as the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France. He was the Bishop of St. Louis from 1826 to 1843.[2]
On July 28, 1837, territory in Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas was taken from the Diocese to form the Diocese of Dubuque, Iowa.
Until 1840, the "Old Cathedral" was the only church in the city. By 1850, there were 10: Cathedral of St. Louis, St. Mary of Victories, St. Francis Xavier, St. Patrick, St. Joseph, St. Vincent de Paul, St. John the Apostle, Sts. Peter and Paul, Holy Trinity, and St. Michael.[2]
Archdiocese
The St. 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 often referred to as the Rome of the West.[citation needed] It is dedicated to Saint Louis IX and has as its copatrons Saints Vincent de Paul and Rose Philippine Duchesne.[citation needed]
The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis contains the largest collection of mosaics in the world.[citation needed] The Cathedral of St. Louis was dedicated in 1926 on the 100th anniversary of the establishment of St. Louis as a diocese, and was built under the direction of Archbishop John Glennon – the last Irish-born Bishop of St. Louis – and completed under the leadership of Archbishop John May. Work on the cathedral mosaics would not be completed for 60 years. The Cathedral of St. Louis was designated a "Basilica" in 1997 on the 150th anniversary of the archdiocese.[2]
St. Louis Preparatory Seminary in the countryside which is now the St. Louis suburb of Shrewsbury was completed in 1931. Later it became Cardinal Glennon College. Today it is the archdiocesan seminary Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.[citation needed]
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 30 years earlier, he had paid a visit when he was Cardinal Wojtyła, Archbishop of Kraków.[citation needed]
Closing of Parishes
Facing a shortage of priests and decreased Mass attendance, the Archdiocese of St. Louis announced in May 2023 it was closing 44 parishes in a reorganization. In making the announcement, Archbishop Rozanski said "The church experience in our parishes today is not the same as it was 50 years ago, yet we are still functioning in many ways out of the same mode of evangelization with the same structures. We have inherited a great treasure of Catholic institutions from previous generations, but many of them are no longer as effective or sustainable as they once were.”
Under the plan, thirty-five parishes will be taken over, or subsumed, by neighboring ones and fifteen will merge with others to create five new parishes by 2026.[4]
Sexual Abuse of Children
In 2004, the Archdiocese paid $1.7 million to settle claims that it could have intervened to prevent the abuse of children, but failed to do so.[5]
In 2018, then-Archbishop Robert Carlson testified that he was unsure whether he knew in the 1980s that sexual assault of a minor was a crime, and was unable to say when he came to believe that sexual abuse of a minor was a crime.[6]
In July 2019, the Archdiocese of St. Louis released the names of 64 clergy who were "credibly accused" of committing acts of sexual abuse while serving in the Archdiocese.[7][8]
On August 16, 2019, "sexually violent priest" Frederick Lenczycki, who had previously served prison time in Illinois between 2004 and 2009 for acts of sexual abuse,[9] was sentenced to 10 years in prison 2+1⁄2 months after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a boy in St. Louis County.[7]
In June 2023, the Archdiocese agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit by a man who alleged he was abused when an altar boy from 4th through 6th grade.[5]
Cancellation of free lunch program for schoolchildren
In April 2022, the Archdiocese directed local Catholic schools to cease participation in free lunch programs, which journalists cautioned could potentially result in thousands of schoolchildren going without free daily lunches. The Archdiocese reportedly advised its schools that if they offered free lunches, they would have to adhere to the Civil Rights Act, which it described as "problematic."[10][11]
Before its withdrawal of the federal program went into effect, the archdiocese allegedly claimed that it would provide its own free lunch program.[12]
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