ST. LOUIS, ARCHDIOCESE OF

Metropolitan see, comprising 5,968 square miles in the east central part of Missouri. The diocese (S. Ludovici) was established July 14, 1826; the archdiocese, July 20, 1847. The suffragan sees include the dioceses of Jefferson City, Kansas City-St. Joseph, and Springfield-Cape Girardeau, all in Missouri. In 2001 the archdiocese numbered 555,000 Catholics in a total population of 2,064,548.

Early History. The Missouri bank of the Mississippi River was probably first seen by Catholics in 1683. Forming the eastern boundary of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, as it did of the diocese when erected in 1826, this perimeter of the present state was passed by Jacques marquette and Louis Joliet on the Frenchmen's voyage of discovery. More than a century before, Coronado's expedition had penetrated into the territory originally in the diocese. The Spaniards made no permanent settlement there; one of their number, the Franciscan Juan de padilla, later became the protomartyr of the U.S. French fur traders, and settlers along the Mississippi were accompanied by missionaries whose evangelization of the Native Americans followed a sequence that proved to be a pattern before and after the erection of the diocese. Initial gratifying success gradually gave way to discouraging disappointment as the Native Americans fell victim to the diseases of the Europeans or the more devastating plague of hard liquor. Rich deposits of lead in the state attracted also miners, and Jesuits from across the river at Kaskaskia probably attended to their spiritual needs from the very beginning, although the first sacramental record extant is for 1749. However, with the suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1763, the area was left with only a few Franciscans.

That same year Pierre Laclède Liguest, partner in a New Orleans, La., trading firm, selected a site for a trading post near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The following Feb. 15, 1764, young Auguste Chouteau made the actual foundation, which Laclède named St. Louis after the patron of the reigning French monarch. The first baptism recorded in St. Louis was in 1766 by Sébastian meurin, a former Jesuit who was then the only priest in the area. Two years later assistance came in the person of the newly ordained Pierre gibault, who blessed a log cabin as the first church in St. Louis in 1770. The Capuchin Bernard de Limpach became the first resident pastor of St. Louis in 1776 and remained until 1789. A month before his arrival a palisaded church replaced the log cabin, and the following year a stone rectory was completed. After the transfer of Friar Bernard, settlements on both sides of the river in upper Louisiana were dependent upon itinerant members of religious orders. Gibault, who had moved to the Spanish or Missouri side of the river, was joined in 1796 by a Spanish-trained Irish priest, James Maxwell. Maxwell was assigned to Ste. Genevieve by the first bishop of Louisiana and the Floridas, Luis peÑalver y cÁrdenas. However, when the United States acquired the Louisiana Territory, Peñalver was sent to Guatemala and not replaced. With the hoisting of the stars and stripes in St. Louis in 1804, an influx of Americans served to weaken and then to replace the French predominance. Among the newcomers in that year were Irish-born John Mullanphy and his family, whose wealth (he became Missouri's first millionaire) and strong religious influence benefited the Church.

Diocese. Shortly after the outbreak of the War of 1812, Abp. John Carroll of Baltimore, Md., dispatched the Sulpician Louis William Valentin dubourg to the Louisiana Territory as administrator. Dubourg, finding there only a few priests, and some of them reluctant to acknowledge his authority, left for Rome in 1815, determined either to secure assistance or to resign from the administration of the diocese. Plus VII's response was to name Dubourg bishop of Louisiana and to assign the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) to help him.

Dubourg (1815–26). While in France, Dubourg encouraged the foundation of the Society for the propagation of the faith, and was promised nuns of the Society of the Sacred Heart for his frontier diocese. After returning to Baltimore in September 1817, he journeyed over the mountains to Bardstown, Ky., where his first European recruits awaited him. On Jan. 5, 1818, accompanied by Benedict Joseph flaget, the first bishop of that Kentucky see, Dubourg entered St. Louis. In the first year he supervised a number of enterprises. South of St. Louis, at the Barrens, a seminary was founded under the direction of Rev. Joseph rosati, who with his fellow Italian Vincentian, Felix de Andreis, had volunteered for the U.S. mission. A brick cathedral was started in St. Louis. Five religious of the Sacred Heart, led by Philippine duchesne, opened the first Catholic girls' school in Missouri at St. Charles. Dubourg started St. Louis Academy for boys, which later developed into st. louis university. Although episcopal help was needed for a diocese covering half a continent, Dubourg's own indecision delayed the appointment of a coadjutor. Finally, however, Rosati was named coadjutor to Dubourg, and consecrated by him March 25, 1824. But two years later, discouraged by the opposition to him that persisted in New Orleans, Dubourg left for Europe, where he resigned from the Diocese of Louisiana and later, in 1826, was appointed ordinary of Montauban, France.

Rosati (1827–43 ). When the Diocese of Louisiana was divided in 1826, Rosati was reluctant to assume responsibility for the See of New Orleans because of his greater familiarity with the northern part of the territory. In 1827, therefore, he was named first bishop of the Diocese of St. Louis, although he continued to administer New Orleans for a time. His jurisdiction extended from the southern boundary of Arkansas to the Great Lakes, and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. Moreover, the diocese became even larger before it began to contract, for in 1834 approximately half of the state of Illinois was annexed to St. Louis and remained part of it until Chicago was erected as a diocese ten years later. Under Rosati, a hospital was founded in St. Louis in 1828 by the Sisters of Charity from Emmitsburg, Md.; the hospital was the recipient of liberal benefactions from John Mullanphy, and later from his daughter Ann Biddle. Dubourg's cathedral had never been completed—primarily because of the lack of funds—so another was started in 1831 and formally dedicated Oct. 26, 1834.

Although conversion of the Native American populations had been almost universally the intention of the early missionaries, only sporadic attempts had been possible because of shortage of personnel. In 1840 Rosati authorized the Jesuit Pierre Jean de smet to embark on the mission that eventually made him one of the most famous of missionaries. In 1841 Rosati, while visiting Philadelphia, Pa., consecrated Peter Richard kenrick his coadjutor; Kenrick succeeded to the see following Rosati's death in Rome, Sept. 25, 1843.

Kenrick (1843–95 ). Almost immediately after his consecration, Kenrick set out for Missouri, arriving Dec. 28, 1841, in St. Louis, his residence for the next 55 years. The two principal problems confronting the second ordinary involved finances and nationalities. The accumulated debt was surmounted by Kenrick's energetic methods, help from Europe, and successful appeals to the wealthy. Dissension between Irish and German immigrants was quieted if not silenced, as Kenrick directed the Americanization of the many Catholics of diverse nationalities that immigration had brought to his diocese, even acting as banker for many of the newcomers, to their profit and the benefit of the Church.

Archdiocese. When St. Louis was elevated to an archbishopric on July 20, 1847, Kenrick became its first archbishop. Three years later the extent of his jurisdiction was contracted to the state of Missouri. Before his death in 1896, some 16 new sees had been erected out of the original Diocese of St. Louis. Kenrick's long episcopate was beset by many hardships, including a disastrous fire on the riverfront and a severe cholera epidemic late in the 1840s. During the Civil War, Kenrick, although sympathetic to the South, prudently refrained from direct comment. When radical Republicans in control of the state after the war sought to impose a censorship on all clergymen, the archbishop quietly but adamantly refused to conform. Several priests were arrested for failing to take the so-called test oath of the Drake constitution. Although rebuffed in the local and state supreme tribunals, Kenrick carried the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the constitution was declared null and void.

In 1866, the archbishop took a prominent part in the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore. At Vatican Council I (1869–70), he opposed the definition of papal infallibility, publishing his views in his famous Concio. Once the council had been prorogued, Kenrick returned to St. Louis and gave his acceptance of the doctrine of infallibility. Thereafter the archbishop went into virtual seclusion, refraining from public appearances and sermons, while his coadjutor John Patrick Ryan handled the external affairs of the archdiocese for more than a decade until he was named archbishop of Philadelphia in 1884. Despite his age Kenrick then resumed all the episcopal functions of the archdiocese, and in 1891 was honored as the first to complete 50 years as a bishop in the United States. After his jubilee, however, he declined rapidly and in 1893, Bp. John Joseph Kain of Wheeling, W. Va., was named his coadjutor. In December of the same year Kain became administrator of the archdiocese and succeeded to the see when Kenrick died on March 4, 1896.

Kain (1895–1903). Although Kain's tenure was the briefest thus far for the archdiocese, a major accomplishment of his administration was the reactivation of the archdiocesan seminary. Called Kenrick Seminary, it was entrusted to the priests of the Congregation of the Mission, who continued to direct it in its several locations. Kain also selected the site for a new cathedral, established the parish, and began the collection of funds. Recognizing that his health was failing, he requested a coadjutor, and on April 27, 1903, John Joseph glennon, whom he had consecrated coadjutor of Kansas City, Mo., in 1896, was appointed. Soon after Glennon's arrival in St. Louis, the archbishop departed for Baltimore, where he died Oct. 13, 1903.

Glennon (1903–46). Glennon's first major project was the erection of the new cathedral. In 1908 the cornerstone was laid by Diomede Falconio, then apostolic delegate to the United States. Six years later the first Mass was offered in the edifice, which was finally completed in 1926 and consecrated at a ceremony attended by four cardinals and most of the bishops and archbishops of the United States. Under Glennon's direction two Catholic colleges for women were added to the archdiocese's educational system, and quality teaching was ensured by the archbishop's insistence on full academic training for the sisters conducting them. St. Louis University, a comparatively small institution at the beginning of the twentieth century, developed and expanded under his episcopal encouragement. The parochial school system was strengthened and diocesan high schools, inaugurated before World War I, were increased in number, five new ones being provided in 1944. During World Wars I and II many priests of the archdiocese entered service as chaplains. The archbishop himself was a founder of the National Catholic War Council, predecessor of the National Catholic Welfare Conference.

During the pioneer era help from Europe had come to the Diocese of St. Louis from European organizations designed to assist foreign missions of that time. Inspired by Dubourg, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith from its foundation in 1822 manifested a lively interest in this diocese. In 1926 a reversal of contributions commenced from the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and under the active encouragement of the respective ordinaries, the donations steadily increased. Reports for 1960 listed St. Louis as first in the nation in per capita contributions, outranked only by the more populous centers of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Chicago, Ill., in the aggregate amount given. Early in Glennon's regime two priests were trained at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., to form a preachers' institute, which did excellent work in and outside the diocese. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, new national groups were constantly added to the mixture of peoples in the Church, and Glennon was successful in directing their assimilation. To give the German-speaking Catholics a voice unimpeded by language barriers, Kenrick provided a separate vicargeneral for them, but under Glennon the two offices again became one without protest.

Glennon carried out all episcopal functions by himself until 1933, when he consecrated Christian H. Winkelmann first auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese. Upon Winkelmann's transfer to Wichita, Kans., in 1940, Glennon consecrated his last bishop and his second auxiliary in the person of George J. Donnelly. In 1946, shortly after he had received the cardinalitial honor, Glennon died in the presidential palace of Eire; his remains were interred in a crypt in the Cathedral of St. Louis, beside those of the first bishop of St. Louis, Joseph Rosati.

Ritter (1946–67). On July 20, 1946, the Holy See announced the choice of Joseph E. ritter, first archbishop of Indianapolis, Ind., as St. Louis's fourth archbishop. Ritter had been ordained in 1917; consecrated March 28, 1933; and had served as auxiliary and then ordinary of Indianapolis, until his transfer to St. Louis. Under him, diocesan synods were held regularly at the intervals prescribed by Canon Law. St. Louis, already blessed with a high percentage of priests for its Catholic population, experienced an increase in vocations under the new ordinary, and a third seminary was added to the two constructed during the previous episcopacy. Not long after his arrival, Ritter announced that the archdiocesan schools would be fully integrated. Although this was some years before segregation was discontinued in the public schools, opposition was comparatively minor. As the proportion of African Americans in the total population increased, expanded efforts were made to care for the Catholics among them and to attract others to the Church.

In 1956 the archdiocesan boundaries were again adjusted, leaving only the ten counties surrounding the city of St. Louis within the archdiocese's territory. At the same time, the diocesan boundaries were completely realigned, with the third suffragan see of Jefferson City added in the state of Missouri. The same year Pius XII named Ritter assistant at the pontifical throne, and St. Louis became the first U.S. archdiocese to undertake a mission in another country when the archbishop dispatched three volunteer priests to the Archdiocese of La Paz in Bolivia. Although the priests remained incardinated in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, which supplied financial support for them and their mission, their work was subject to the local ordinary. Additions were made periodically to the clerical personnel, with consequent amplification of operations. Since the first hospital west of the Mississippi River was a Catholic institution in St. Louis, it is not surprising that the Church's interest in the sick was expanded. An excellent medical school developed at St. Louis University; and Catholic hospitals continually increased their bed capacity, even in the decade after the mid-century when there was a general decline elsewhere in this respect.

After Ritter's advent, there was an average of one new high school constructed each year, as well as an increase of four new parishes annually after 1950. Most of these achievements were facets of the increased participation by the laity in the operation of the archdiocese, mainly through the archdiocesan Councils of Catholic Men and Catholic Women. Each spring laymen directed and conducted a campaign for capital and operational funds beyond those of the individual parish units. Each fall the lay people invited their non-Catholic friends to learn the truth about the Catholic Church through information forums and other means. When, on Jan. 16, 1961, Ritter was elevated to the College of Cardinals, non-Catholics joined enthusiastically in celebrating the event.

Carberry (1968-79 ). Paul VI named John Joseph Carberry, bishop of Columbus, as archbishop of St. Louis on Feb. 17, 1968. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Carberry was ordained to the priesthood in 1929 and served as bishop of Lafayette in Indiana from 1957 to 1965, in which capacity he attended the Second Vatican Council. He was created cardinal in 1969, and participated in both conclaves of 1978. Carberry continued the high school and parish expansion programs begun by Ritter. After the Supreme Court's rulings on abortion in 1973, Carberry established an archdiocesan pro-life committee, the first such in the United States. He was influential in the founding of several organizations concerned with the state of the Church in the United States after the council, including the Institute on Religious Life and the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars. He retired in 1979, at the age of 75, and died on June 17, 1998.

May (1980-92 ). John L. May, bishop of Mobile since 1969, was appointed archbishop of St. Louis on Jan. 24, 1980. He was born in Evanston, Illinois, on Mar. 31, 1922. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 3, 1947, and appointed auxiliary bishop of Chicago in 1967. Like Carberry, he gained a reputation as a national leader, and served from 1986 to 1989 as president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. As archbishop, he advocated the restoration of an archdiocesan pastoral council and the formation of deanery and parish councils. He also called for expansions in the ministries of Catholic Charities and the pro-life office. In 1987, the undergraduate program of Cardinal Glennon College was combined with Kenrick Seminary to form Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. May resigned in 1992 and died two years later.

Rigali (1994– ). Justin Francis Rigali, a native of Los Angeles, was appointed archbishop on Jan. 25, 1994. Ordained a priest in 1961 and consecrated a bishop in 1985, he served in a number of positions in the Roman Curia from 1985 till his appointment to St. Louis. From the beginning of his tenure Rigali emphasized the need for youth ministry, making major changes to the programs available in the archdiocese. Part of this effort was a campaign for the relocation and construction of Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School, a move meant to serve the needs of the inner-city African-American community. In 1999, Pope John Paul II visited St. Louis after issuing his post-synodal apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in America in Mexico City, the only time the pontiff visited a single U.S. city in his travels. While in St. Louis, the pope asked the governor of Missouri for clemency for a convicted murderer who was scheduled to be executed a few weeks later. The governor granted the pope's request. The event sparked a renewed attention on the part of Catholics in the archdiocese and throughout the U.S. to the pope's reiterated appeals for an end to the death penalty.

Bibliography: Archives, Archdiocese of St. Louis. Archives, University of Notre Dame. r. baudier, The Catholic Church in Louisiana (New Orleans 1939). r. bayard, Lone-Star Vanguard: The Catholic Reoccupation of Texas, 1838–1848 (St. Louis 1945). g. j. garraghan, Catholic Beginnings in Kansas City, Missouri (Chicago 1920). j. e. rothensteiner, History of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, 2 v. (St. Louis 1928). p. c. schulte, The Catholic Heritage of Saint Louis: A History of the Old Cathedral Parish (St. Louis 1934). f. g. walker, The Catholic Church in the Meeting of Two Frontiers: The Southern Illinois Country, 1763–1793 (Catholic University of America Studies in American Church History 19; Washington 1935).

[p. j. rahill/eds.]