Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines
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The Diocese of Des Moines is the Roman Catholic diocese for the southwestern quarter of the state of Iowa.
Dioecesis Desmoinensis is the Latin title of the diocese, and the Diocese of Des Moines is the corporate title of the diocese. The current Bishop of this diocese is Bishop Joseph Leo Charron, who is a member of the Society of Precious Blood.
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[edit] History
Like other American dioceses, the area that makes up the present diocese was under the jurisdiction of a number of prelates. Most of these were purely academic because of no actual Catholic presence in the area. In the 19th century, the area came under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Saint Louis Joseph Rosati. It was under his jurisdiction that the first permanent Catholic presence came to what would be the state of Iowa.
In 1838, the Diocese of Dubuque was founded. Initially the area of the Dubuque Diocese included all of Iowa, as well as a large part of the western United States. By 1850 the Diocese's territory came to cover the state of Iowa. On June 14, 1881 the southern half of the state of Iowa was taken from the Dubuque Diocese, and formed into the new Diocese of Davenport. For just over 30 years the area that now makes up the Des Moines Diocese was part of the Diocese of Davenport.
Territory was then taken from the Diocese of Davenport on August 12, 1911 to form the Diocese of Des Moines. The territory that was taken is the current territory of the Diocese.
[edit] Ordinaries of the Diocese
The following men have served as Bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines. Their dates of service are also included.
- Austin Dowling - January 31, 1912 - January 31, 1919 (Reassigned as Archbishop of Saint Paul)
- Thomas William Drumm - March 28, 1919 - 24 October 24, 1933 (His death)
- Gerald Thomas Bergan - March 24, 1934 - February 7, 1948 (Reassigned as the Archbishop of Omaha)
- Edward Celestin Daly, O.P. - March 13, 1948 - November 23, 1964 (His Death)
- George Joseph Biskup - January 30, 1965 - July 20, 1967 (Reassigned as the Coadjutor Archbishop of Indianapolis)
- Maurice John Dingman - April 2, 1968 - October 14, 1986 (His retirement)
- William Henry Bullock - February 10 1987 - April 13, 1993 (Reassigned as the Bishop of Madison)
- Joseph Leo Charron, C.Pp.S. - November 12, 1993 - (Current Bishop)
