Natchez On-Top-of-the-Hill Historic District-464

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Natchez was the predecessor of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson The Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson is a diocese in the ecclesiastical province of Mobile, in the southern United States of America. Its ecclesiastical jurisdiction includes the northern and central parts of the state of Mississippi, an area ...

. It served all of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

until the state was split into two dioceses, Jackson and

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

. The cathedral in

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, N ...

is now a minor basilica and has retained much of its historical architectural splendor. The Diocese was under the patronage of

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows ( la, Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows ( la, Mater Dolorosa, link=no), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names ...

History

Spanish rule began in the area of Natchez in 1779 and in 1788, a Spanish wood-frame church dedicated to the Holy Savior (San Salvador) was built in the center of the city. San Salvador burned down in 1832."Diocesan History", Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson
/ref> The Roman Catholic

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of Natchez, (in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''Natchesium''), was founded on July 28, 1837, and originally covered the entire state of Mississippi. Rev. Thomas Heyden of the Diocese of Pittsburgh was appointed the first bishop of the diocese in 1837, but he respectfully declined. Bishop

Antoine Blanc Antoine Blanc (11 October 1792 – 20 June 1860) was the fifth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. His tenure, during which the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese, was at a time of growth in the city, ...

of New Orleans served as administrator. The first bishop of the diocese, John Mary Chanche, S.S. (1795–1852), president of St. Mary's College in Baltimore, was appointed three years later, in 1840. He was consecrated bishop on 14 March, 1841. Chanche sailed to New Orleans and traveled by steamboat to Natchez, where he arrived near midnight on May 18, 1841. On his arrival, he met the only priest in the new diocese, Father Brogard, who was there only temporarily. In the role of a missionary, Bishop Chanche began to contact the Catholics and organize the new diocese. Three of his nieces opened the first Catholic school in Mississippi. The Cathedral of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary was designed by Baltimore architect

Robert Cary Long Jr. Robert Cary Long Jr. (1810–1849) was the son of a late 18th Century - early 19th Century famous architect Robert Cary Long Sr. of Baltimore, Maryland and was himself a well-known 19th Century architect. Like his father, Cary was based in Baltim ...

,"Natchez", ''Historic Churches of Mississippi'', Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2007, p. 102
/ref> an alumnus of St. Mary's. Two years earlier, Long had designed for Chanche a steeple for the college's chapel. The cornerstone was laid in 1842. Chanche died in 1852, presumably of cholera,"Body of first bishop of Mississippi exhumed in Baltimore", Archdiocese of Baltimore
/ref> in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

, while returning from the

First Plenary Council of Baltimore The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three national meetings of Catholic bishops in the United States in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland. During the early history of the History of Roman Catholicism in the United States, Roman Cath ...

. The diocese had by that time, 11 priests, 11 churches erected, and 13 attendant missions.Charles, Brother. "Natchez." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 26 February 2020 Over the years, as the population balance within the state shifted, it became obvious that the operations of the diocese should be moved to

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

, the state capital. On December 18, 1956, the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson and many operations of the diocese moved to Jackson. On March 1, 1977, the Mississippi diocese was split into two dioceses: the Diocese of Jackson and the Diocese of Biloxi. After this, the Diocese of Natchez became a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

Diocesan bishops

Prior to the erection of the Diocese of Natchez,

Louis William Valentine DuBourg Louis William Valentine DuBourg (french: Louis-Guillaume-Valentin DuBourg; 10 January 1766 – 12 December 1833) was a French Catholic prelate and Sulpician missionary to the United States. He built up the church in the vast new Louisiana Territo ...

served as the

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of Mississippi from 1825 to 1826. #

John J. Chanche John Mary Joseph Benedict Chanche, S.S., (October 4, 1795 – July 22, 1852) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop Diocese of Natchez in Mississippi from 1841 to 1852. Educated at St. Mary's Coll ...

, S.S. 1840 – 1852 #

James Oliver Van de Velde James Oliver Van de Velde (April 3, 1795 – November 13, 1855) was a U.S. Catholic bishop born in Belgium. He served as the second Roman Catholic Bishop of Chicago between 1849 and 1853. He traveled to Rome in 1852 and petitioned the Pope for a ...

, July 29, 1853 – November 13, 1855 #

William Henry Elder William Henry Elder (March 22, 1819 – October 31, 1904) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Natchez in Mississippi from 1857 to 1880 and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in Ohio b ...

, May 3, 1857 – January 30, 1880 #

Francis Janssens Francis August Anthony Joseph Janssens (October 17, 1843 – June 9, 1897) was a Dutch-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Natchez in Mississippi (1881–1888) and as archbishop of the Archdiocese o ...

, May 1, 1881 – August 7, 1888 #

Thomas Heslin Thomas Heslin (April 17, 1847 – February 22, 1911) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Natchez in Mississippi from 1889 until his death in 1911. Biography Early life One of seven ...

, 1889 – 1901 #

, 1889–1911 #

John Edward Gunn John Edward Gunn (15 March 1863 – 19 February 1924) was an Irish-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Natchez from 1911 until his death in 1924. Biography Early life and ordination The oldest of eleven children, John G ...

, S.M., 1911–1924 #

Richard Oliver Gerow Richard Oliver Gerow (May 3, 1885 – December 20, 1976) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson in Mississippi from 1924 to 1967. Biography Early life Richard Gerow was born ...

, 1924–1967 (in 1956 the Diocese of Natchez was renamed the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson)

Titular bishops

Daniel Kucera Daniel William Kucera, OSB (Czech pronunciation uˈtsera May 7, 1923 – May 30, 2017) was a bishop of the Catholic Church. He served as an Auxiliary Bishop in Joliet (1977–1980), the Bishop of Salina (1980–1983), and as the Archbish ...

, O.S.B. June 6, 1977 – March 5, 1980 # William H. Bullock June 3, 1980 – February 10, 1987 # John Nolan December 12, 1987 – November 19, 1997 (his death) #

Timothy Dolan Timothy Michael Dolan (born February 6, 1950) is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the tenth and current Archbishop of New York, having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. Dolan served as the president of the United S ...

June 19, 2001 – June 25, 2002 #

Salvatore J. Cordileone Salvatore Joseph Cordileone (born June 5, 1956) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church and the archbishop of Archdiocese of San Francisco in California since 2012. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Oakland in California f ...

July 5, 2002 – March 23, 2009 # Eduardo Nevares May 11, 2010 – present

References

External links

'Natchesium':Catholic Hierarchy website'St. Mary Basilica Archives' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Natchez Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Mobile

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States * Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...

Catholic Church in Mississippi 1837 establishments in Mississippi

History

Diocesan bishops

Titular bishops

See also

References

External links