Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines

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 Cathedral parish for the Diocese is St. Ambrose's Cathedral. The Bishop of Des Moines is currently Bishop Richard E. Pates. On April 10, one year to the day after the retirement of Bishop Joseph L. Charron, who is a member of the Society of Precious Blood, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Bishop Pates to the position. Charron resigned in April 2007 due to health reasons. Bishop Pates was installed on May 29, 2008 at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines.

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. Bishop John Hennessey soon came to believe that the southern half of the state would be better served by its own Diocese. While he envisioned Des Moines as the See City for this new Diocese, on June 14, 1881 the southern half 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 to form the Davenport Diocese is the current territory of the Diocese. When the Des Moines Diocese was established, Saint Ambrose Parish became the Cathedral parish for the new Diocese.

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 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 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 - April 10, 2007 (Resigned)
• Richard Pates (10 April 2008–present)

Diocesan Priests who became Bishops

• John Joseph Boylan, Bishop of Rockford

High schools

• Dowling Catholic High School, West Des Moines
• Saint Albert High School, Council Bluffs

See also

• Archdiocese of Dubuque
• Diocese of Davenport
• Diocese of Sioux City

External links

• The Diocese of Des Moines Web Site