The Diocese of Biloxi is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

ecclesiastical territory or

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 the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

that encompasses 17 counties in south

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 ...

. It was erected on March 1, 1977, when it was split from 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 ...

. The Diocese of Biloxi is a

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ...

the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

of the metropolitan

Archdiocese of Mobile ''Former names: Apostolic Vicariate of Alabama and the Floridas (1825-1829), Diocese of Mobile (1829-1954; 1969-1980), Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham (1954-1969).'' The Archdiocese of Mobile (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Mobiliensis'') is a Latin Churc ...

, though for its first three years the diocese was in the province of the

Archdiocese of New Orleans The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans ( la, Archidioecesis Novae Aureliae, french: Archidiocèse de la Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Arquidiócesis de Nueva Orleans) is an ecclesiastical division of the Roman Catholic Church spanning Jefferson ...

. The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in

Biloxi, Mississippi 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 ...

, is the diocese's cathedral.

History

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

erected the Diocese of Biloxi, with territory taken from the Diocese of Natches-Jackson on 1 March 1977. On 29 July 1980,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

elevated the Diocese of Mobile to a metropolitan archdiocese and designated the Diocese of Biloxi as a suffragan of the new metropolitan see. On December 16, 2016, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had accepted Bishop Roger Morin's resignation and appointed Louis Kihneman III, Vicar General of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Texas, as Morin's successor.

Bishops

Bishops of Biloxi

Joseph Lawson Howze Joseph Lawson Edward Howze (born Lawson Edward Howze, August 30, 1923 – January 9, 2019) was an African-American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first Bishop of Biloxi from 1977 to 2001, and was the first Black Catholic bish ...

(1977–2001) # Thomas John Rodi (2001–2008), appointed Archbishop of Mobile #

Roger Morin Roger Paul Morin (March 7, 1941 – October 31, 2019) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the third Bishop of Biloxi. Pope Francis accepted his resignation on December 16, 2016. Early life and education Roger Morin w ...

(2009–2016) # Louis Frederick Kihneman (2017–present)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Ronald Paul Herzog, appointed Bishop of Alexandria in 2004

High schools

* Our Lady Academy, Bay St. Louis * Resurrection High School, Pascagoula * Sacred Heart High School, Hattiesburg * St. Patrick Catholic High School, Biloxi *

Saint Stanislaus College St. Stanislaus College (SSC) is a Catholic day and boarding school for boys in grades 7–12. It has been owned and operated by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart order since 1854. It is located about an hour's drive outside New Orleans in Bay Sain ...

, Bay St. Louis Closed schools: * Mercy Cross High School*, Biloxi * St. John High School*, Gulfport : * Closed in 2007 and replaced by St. Patrick Catholic High School.

References

Catholic Hierarchy – Diocese of Biloxi

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Biloxi Official Site

Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
1977 establishments in Mississippi Christian organizations established in 1977 Catholic Church in Mississippi

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 ...

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