History
The area's first bishop was Louis William Valentine Dubourg, who on September 24, 1815 was appointed Bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas by Pope Pius VII. DuBourg chose to set up his episcopal see in St. Louis. After his resignation and transfer to lead the diocese of Montauban, France, the Diocese of 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, equalling in extent all of the other nine dioceses.
Its first bishop, Joseph Rosati, led the Roman Catholic Church's expansion its presence in these areas, and built its first cathedral, now known as the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France.
On July 28, 1837, territory in Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas was taken from the Diocese to form the Diocese of Dubuque, Iowa.
The 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". It is dedicated to Saint Louis IX and has as its copatrons Saints Vincent de Paul and Rose Philippine Duchesne.
In January 1999, the archdiocese was host to a two-day visit from Pope John Paul II, the first time a pope had visited the city. It was not John Paul's first visit, since 30 years earlier, he had paid a visit when he was Cardinal Wojtyła, Archbishop of Kraków.
Read more about this topic: Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of St. Louis
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