In the 16th and early 17th century, the Wisconsin area was part of the French colony of New France. During this time, the French bishops in Quebec, which became a diocese in 1674, had jurisdiction over Canada and North America east of the Mississippi River.
When the British took control of New France in 1763, the bishops in Quebec continued to have jurisdiction in the region. In 1791, soon after the conclusion of the American Revolution, Pope Pius VI erected the Diocese of Baltimore.[1] It covered all the American states and the Northwest Territory, which included part of present-day Wisconsin. The rest of Wisconsin became part of the territory after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.
In 1843, Pope Leo XIII erected the Diocese of Milwaukee, which included all of present-day Wisconsin.[2] The La Crosse area would remain part of this diocese for the next 25 years.
1868 to 1892
PopePius IX erected the Diocese of La Crosse on March 3, 1868, with territory from the Diocese of Milwaukee.[3] The new diocese covered all of Wisconsin north and west of the Wisconsin River. The pope named Reverend Michael Heiss of the Diocese of Louisville as the first bishop of La Crosse.[4]
When the diocese was erected, it had 22 priests, 23 churches and about 50 stations. Along with the English and German congregations, provisions were also made for Poles and Italians. Franciscan sisters and lay teachers were in charge of six parish schools. As bishop, Heiss built several churches, including the cathedral, and the episcopal residence. In 1880, Pope Leo XIII named Heiss coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.[5]
Heiss was succeeded by Reverend Kilian Flasch of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, appointed by Leo XIII in 1881.[6] An outspoken supporter of Catholic education, he established 36 new schools during his tenure and, at the Plenary Council, unsuccessfully sought to require Catholic parents to send their children to parochial schools.[7] In 1890, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration founded the St. Rose Normal School in La Crosse to prepare nuns to serve as teachers.[8] Flasch died in 1891.[9]
1892 to 1948
To replace Flasch, Leo XIII appointed Monsignor James Schwebach, the vicar general, in 1892 as the third bishop of La Crosse.[4] He founded St. Michael's Home for orphans.[7] In 1905, Pope Pius X erected the Diocese of Superior, with part of its territory taken from the Diocese of La Crosse.[10]
Pope Pius XI appointed Auxiliary Bishop Alexander McGavick of the Archdiocese of Chicago to succeed Schwebach as bishop of La Crosse in 1921.[11] During McGavick's tenure as bishop, the Catholic population grew from 116,000 to 140,000.[12] When he first arrived, there were 156 parishes, 78 mission churches, 90 parochial schools, and 189 secular priests with 51 religious.[13] By his first 20 years, he had established more than 20 parishes and 41 schools.[12] He founded Aquinas High School in La Crosse in 1928.[14] St. Rose Normal School in 1939 was transformed into Viterbo University.
When McGavick died in 1948, Treacy automatically succeeded him as bishop of La Crosse. During his 16-year tenure, Treacy founded Holy Cross Seminary, oversaw the construction of the Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Workman in La Crosse, and established 47 churches, 43 convents, and 42 schools.[17][18] McGavick ordered the closing of the Necedah Shrine of Mary Van Hoof in Necedah, in 1950. Van Hoof had claimed to experience religious visions, but the Vatican had determined her claims to be false.[19] Treacy died in 1964.
The next bishop of La Crosse was Bishop Frederick Freking from the Diocese of Salina, named by Pope Paul VI in 1965.[20] During his tenure in La Crosse, he reduced the diocese's debt from $11 million to $4 million between 1965 and 1981.[21] He established a diocesan commission on Christian renewal in 1965, and the first lay ministry training program in the United States in 1975.[21] Freking also oversaw construction of 14 churches, 15 rectories, seven elementary schools, 22 religious education centers, five convents and the Newman Center. Freking also supervised 36 church renovations and expansions, and 59 priests were ordained while he was bishop. He was instrumental in the founding of the Bethany-St. Joseph Care Center for the elderly by the diocese and the Lutheran Church in La Crosse. Freking retired in 1983.
To replace Freking, Pope John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop John Paul as bishop in 1984.[22] In 1986, Paul convened the fourth diocesan synod following the revised Canon Law of 1983; in 1987, the decrees of the fourth diocesan synod were published as: The Bishop With His People.[23] In 1992, Paul founded the Aquinas Middle School in La Crosse. Paul retired in 1994.
1994 to present
Monsignor Raymond Leo Burke succeeded Bishop John Joseph Paul in La Crosse, named by John Paul II in 1994.[24] Some critics said that construction of the $25 million Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe was wasteful of on money that should have gone to the poor[citation needed]. Burke defended the shrine as being a fruitful way to raise spiritual devotion. Another controversy was the diocese's withdrawal from Church World Service's annual Crop Walk because some of the money raised was being used to purchase condoms in developing countries. Burke also welcomed numerous traditional orders, including the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP), whose priests offer exclusively the Tridentine Mass, to his diocese. Two priests left the diocese as a result of his policies.[25][26] Burke closed a number of schools while also raising teachers' salaries. His style was noted by some of his aides to be more formal than that of his predecessor Paul, although his aides described him as warm and approachable in private.[26]
After two years in La Crosse, John Paul II named Burke as archbishop in 2006 of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The pope replaced Burke in La Crosse with Auxiliary Bishop Jerome Listecki of the Archdiocese of Chicago.[27] At La Crosse, he initiated a $50 million fundraising campaign, a planning process to restructure ministry and parishes in the diocese,[28] and was instrumental in the development of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In 2009, after three years, Pope Benedict XVI named Listecki as archbishop of Milwaukee.
William P. Callahan, a former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, was named Bishop of La Crosse by Benedict XVI in 2010.[29][30]
Bishop Gerard W. Battersby, auxiliary bishop of Detroit, was named Bishop of La Crosse on March 19, 2024.[31]
Statistics
As of 2021, the Diocese of La Crosse had 144 diocesan priests, 61 permanent deacons and 197 nuns serving 159 parishes. The Catholic population of the diocese was approximately 163,600.[3] The diocese hosts the following religious orders:
Reverend Bruce Ball was charged in Jackson County in June 1992 of causing a child to expose a sex organ. He had dared two boys to walk around with their genitals exposed. That same month, he was charged in Clark County of indecent touching, his victim a 12 year old boy.[32] During a police interview, he admitted to sexual abuse of four boys. In July 1992, as part of a plea bargain, the Jackson charges were dropped and Ball pleaded guilty to sexual contact with a client.[33] He was sentenced to five years in prison.[34]
In January 2002, Reverend Timothy E. Svea from the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign in Wausau was charged with false imprisonment and exposing a child to harmful material. The abuse began when the victim, a church volunteer, was 15 years old. During one incident in 1999, Svea handcuffed the victim to a bed and fondled him.[35] Other victims were soon added to the case. Svea pleaded guilty in February 2002 to second-degree sexual assault of a child under age 16 and exposing himself to a child; he received a year and a half in prison.[36]
In May 2019, Monsignor Bernard McGarty was charged with fourth degree sexual assault for allegedly groping a woman outside the La Crosse Public Library.[37] The district attorney later dismissed the case, citing "McGarty’s age [95] and his current health problems indicate he is not likely to repeat this behavior and given the lengthy delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic the State feels it is not necessary to pursue this case".[38]
In June 2020, Reverend Charlie Richmond, a high school chaplain at McDonell Area Catholic School in Chippewa Falls, was charged with sexually assaulting a female minor between September 2016 and May 2017.[39] Richmond was then suspended from active ministry.[39] The victim said that Richmond would inappropriately touch her and have her sit on his lap. In December 2021, Richmond pleaded no contest to fourth degree sexual assault, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to one year of probation.[40]
Bishops
Bishops of La Crosse
Michael Heiss (1868–1880), appointed Archbishop of Milwaukee
Pacelli Catholic Schools is supported by seven parishes: St. Bronislava, St. Joseph, St. Stanislaus Kostka, St. Stephens, St. Peters, Newman and St. Mary (Immaculate Conception) of Torun.[45]
The Diocese of La Crosse published a bi-weekly newspaper, The Catholic Times, until 2015. The Diocese continues to publish the Catholic Life magazine in print and online.[46]
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in southeast Wisconsin in the United States.
The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by an archbishop who 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 of Louisville a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in central Kentucky in the United States. The cathedral church of the archdiocese is the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville, Kentucky. The archdiocese is the seat of the metropolitan see of the Province of Louisville, which encompasses the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. The archdiocese is the second-oldest diocese west of the Appalachian Mountains, after the Archdiocese of New Orleans. As of 2023, the archbishop of Louisville is Shelton Fabre.
The Diocese of Winona–Rochester is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in Southern Minnesota in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
Jerome Edward Listecki is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since 2010.
The Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman is the mother church of the Diocese of La Crosse. The cathedral, designed by architect Edward J. Schulte, was completed in 1962. Built of limestone, it has a tall clock tower which rises above the surrounding buildings in downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Michael Heiss was a German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin (1868–1880) and the second archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in Wisconsin (1881–1890).
Kilian Caspar Flasch was a German-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin from 1881 until his death in 1891.
Alexander Joseph McGavick was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of La Crosse from 1921 until his death in 1948.
James Schwebach was a Luxembourgian-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin from 1892 until his death in 1921.
John Patrick Treacy was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin from 1948 until his death in 1964.
Frederick William Freking was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Salina, in Kansas (1957–1964) and bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse in Wisconsin (1964–1983).
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay is a Latin church diocese in the northeast region of Wisconsin in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Its mother church is the Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier in Green Bay.
The Diocese of Salina is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northern Kansas in the United States.
Frederick Xavier Katzer was an Austrian-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay in Wisconsin (1886–1891) and archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in Wisconsin (1891–1903).
Augustine Francis Schinner was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Superior in Wisconsin from 1905 to 1913 and as the first bishop of the Diocese of Spokane in Washington State from 1914 to 1925.
William Patrick Callahan, OFM Conv. is an American Catholic prelate served as Bishop of La Crosse from 2010 to 2024. He is a member of the Conventual Franciscans.
Donald Joseph Hying is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Madison in Wisconsin since 2019. Hying previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Gary in Indiana from 2015 to 2019 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in Wisconsin from 2011 to 2015.
David J. Malloy is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as the bishop of the Diocese of Rockford in Illinois since 2012.
James Thomas Schuerman is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in Wisconsin since 2017.
References
↑ "Our History". Archdiocese of Baltimore. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
↑ "Home". Catholic Life - The Roman Catholic Diocese of La Crosse. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
Further reading
Fisher, Gerald Edward. 257 Things You Should Know About the Diocese of La Crosse: A Celebration of the Diocese of La Crosse: 125 Years - 1968-1993: Bishop John J. Paul 50th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination: 1943-1993, 1993.
Fisher, Gerald Edward. Dusk Is My Dawn: The First Hundred Years of the Diocese of La Crosse, 1969.
Ludwig, M. Mileta. Right Hand Uplifted: A Biography of Archbishop Michael Heiss, Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 1968.
Brickl, Frank. Brickbats & Bouquets: Memories of a Parish Priest. 1990. (Information about the personalities of the Bishops of La Crosse from Bishop McGavick to Bishop Freking.)
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