The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis (Latin: Archidioecesis Paulopolitana et Minneapolitana) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by the prelature of an archbishop which administers the archdiocese from the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The archbishop has both a cathedral and co-cathedral: the mother church, the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Saint Paul and the co-cathedral, the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis.
The archdiocese has 188 parish churches in twelve counties of Minnesota. It counts in its membership an approximate total of 750,000 people. It has two seminaries, the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity and Saint John Vianney College Seminary. Its official newspaper is The Catholic Spirit.
History
Prior to the founding of the diocese, the territory that made up the diocese at the time of its founding was under the jurisdiction of a number of different Catholic prelates. Most of these were purely academic as there was no Catholic presence in the area. Among the more notable of these was the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and the Dubuque Diocese. During this later period the church first came into the area with the arrival of missionaries and European settlers.
The original see was canonically erected by Pope Pius IX on July 19, 1850 as the Diocese of Saint Paul of Minnesota, a suffragan episcopal see of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The Diocese's territory was taken from that of Dubuque, and its authority spread over all of Minnesota Territory, which consisted of the area which now composes the states of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota and also comprises the modern archdiocese's ecclesiastical province. Its first Ordinary was Bishop Joseph Crétin, whose name, along with that of another notable early bishop, John Ireland, has since become embedded into the culture of the region.
In February 1875 it was transferred from the ecclesiastical province of St. Louis to that of Milwaukee. Pope Leo XIII elevated the see to the rank of archdiocese on May 4, 1888 and its name was changed to reflect this. Pope Paul VI once again instituted a name change for the see on July 11, 1966. Reflecting the growth of the Catholic Church in the region, it became the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the name it retains today. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt, succeeded to the post on the retirement of his predecessor, Archbishop Harry Flynn, on May 2, 2008. However, in an effort to help the Archdiocese recover from criticisms he had faced for the handling of cases of sexual abuse of minors, in particular, the case of a now-laicized priest, and in the wake of unproven accusations against him that were found to not be substantial enough to proceed to trial, he resigned, along with one of his Auxiliary Bishops, Lee Piche, on Monday, June 15, 2015. Coadjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Newark was named as the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese by Pope Francis the same day, while retaining his other duties, until the appointment of Archbishop Emeritus Nienstedt's successor by the Pope. On March 24, 2016, it was announced that Hebda was named as Archbishop of the Archdiocese and would cease as Coadjutor of Newark.
In January 2015, the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy. With the filing of bankruptcies by also the Diocese of Duluth and the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota set the record for having more Catholic bankruptcies than any other state in the United States of America.
Bishops of the Archdiocese
This is a list of the bishops who have served the Archdiocese through its history.
†= deceased
Ordinaries
Bishops of Saint Paul
- †Bishop Joseph Crétin (July 23, 1850 Appointed â€" February 22, 1857 Died)
- †Bishop Thomas Langdon Grace, O.P. (January 21, 1859 Appointed â€" July 31, 1884 Resigned)
Archbishops of Saint Paul
- †Archbishop John Ireland (July 31, 1884 Succeeded â€" September 25, 1918 Died) (was elevated to archbishop on May 4, 1888, when the Diocese was elevated to Archdiocese status)
- †Archbishop Austin Dowling †(January 31, 1919 Appointed â€" November 29, 1930 Died)
- †Archbishop John Gregory Murray (October 28, 1931 Appointed â€" October 11, 1956 Died)
- †Archbishop William Otterwell Ignatius Brady (October 11, 1956 Succeeded â€" October 1, 1961 Died)
Archbishops of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
- †Archbishop Leo Binz (December 16, 1961 Appointed â€" May 28, 1975 Retired) (was Archbishop of Saint Paul when the name of the Archdiocese was changed on July 11, 1966)
- †Archbishop John Robert Roach (May 28, 1975 Appointed â€" September 8, 1995 Retired)
- Archbishop Harry Joseph Flynn (September 8, 1995 Succeeded â€" May 2, 2008 Retired)
- Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt (May 2, 2008 Succeeded â€" June 15, 2015 Resigned)
- Archbishop Bernard Hebda (May 13, 2016 â€" present)
Coadjutor archbishop (who did not become archbishop)
- †Archbishop Leo Christopher Byrne (June 30, 1967 Appointed â€" October 21, 1974 Died)
Auxiliary bishops
- †Bishop John J. Lawler (February 8, 1910 - January 29, 1916) appointed Bishop of Lead
- †Bishop James J. Byrne (May 10, 1947 - June 16, 1956) appointed Bishop of Boise; Archbishop of Dubuque (1962)
- †Bishop Leonard P. Cowley (November 28, 1957 - August 18, 1973) died
- †Bishop Gerald F. O'Keefe (May 5, 1961 - October 20, 1966) appointed Bishop of Davenport
- †Bishop James P. Shannon (February 8, 1965 â€" November 22, 1968) resigned
- †Bishop John R. Roach (July 12, 1971 - May 28, 1975) appointed Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
- †Bishop Raymond A. Lucker (September 8, 1971 â€" December 23, 1975) appointed Bishop of New Ulm
- †Bishop Paul V. Dudley (November 9, 1976 - November 6, 1978) appointed Bishop of Sioux Falls
- Bishop John J. Kinney (November 9, 1976 - June 28, 1982) appointed Bishop of Bismarck, Bishop of Saint Cloud (1995)
- †Bishop William H. Bullock (June 3, 1980 - February 10, 1987) appointed Bishop of Des Moines, Bishop of Madison (1993)
- †Bishop James R. Ham, M.M. (October 7, 1980 - October 30, 1990) retired
- Bishop Robert J. Carlson (January 11, 1984 â€" January 13, 1994) appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Sioux Falls (succeeded 1995), Bishop of Saginaw (2004), Archbishop of St. Louis (2009)
- Bishop Joseph L. Charron, C.Pp.S. (January 25, 1990 - January 21, 1994) appointed Bishop of Des Moines
- †Bishop Lawrence H. Welsh (November 5, 1991 - January 13, 1999) died
- Bishop Frederick F. Campbell (May 14, 1999 â€" October 14, 2004) appointed Bishop of Columbus
- Bishop Richard Pates (December 22, 2000 â€" April 9, 2008) appointed Bishop of Des Moines
- Bishop Lee A. Piché (June 29, 2009 â€" June 15, 2015) resigned
- Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens (December 9, 2013 â€" present)
Other bishops who were priests of this diocese
- †Joseph Francis Busch appointed Bishop of Lead in 1919
- Peter F. Christensen appointed Bishop of Superior in 2007
- †Alexander Christie appointed Bishop of Vancouver Island in 1898
- †James Louis Connolly appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Fall River in 1945
- †Timothy J. Corbett appointed Bishop of Crookston in 1910
- †Louis de Goesbriand appointed Bishop of Burlington in 1853
- †Patrick Delany appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Hobart, Australia in 1893
- †James Albert Duffy appointed Bishop of Kearney in 1913
- †Patrick Richard Heffron appointed Bishop of Winona in 1910
- †James John Keane appointed Bishop of Cheyenne in 1902
- John M. LeVoir appointed Bishop of New Ulm in 2008
- †John Loughlin appointed Bishop of Brooklyn in 1853
- †James McGolrick appointed Bishop of Duluth in 1889
- †Thomas O'Gorman appointed Bishop of Sioux Falls in 1896
- †Francis Joseph Schenk appointed Bishop of Crookston in 1945
- †Alphonse James Schladweiler appointed Bishop of New Ulm in 1957
- Paul David Sirba appointed Bishop of Duluth in 2009
- †John Stariha appointed Bishop of Lead in 1902
- †James Trobec appointed Bishop of Saint Cloud in 1897
- †Nicolas Eugene Walsh appointed Bishop of Yakima in 1974
- †Thomas Anthony Welch appointed Bishop of Duluth in 1915
High schools
Independent Catholic school
- Chesterton Academy, Edina
Seminaries
- St. John Vianney College Seminary
- Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity
Significant parishes
- Cathedral of Saint Paul, Saint Paul, MN, Mother Church of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
- Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis, MN, First American Basilica
- Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, the oldest church building in continuous use in Minneapolis
- Saint Peter's, Mendota, MN, Oldest active parish
Ecclesiastical Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis
Suffragan sees:
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Bismarck
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Crookston
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo
- Roman Catholic Diocese of New Ulm
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Cloud
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona
See also
Notes
External links
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Official Site
- Cathedral of Saint Paul
- The Catholic Spirit, the Archdiocese's official newspaper
- Information and population statistics kept by www.catholic-hierarchy.org (Unofficial)