The Diocese of Davenport ( la, Diœcesis Davenportensis) 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 jurisdiction or

diocese In 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 provinces were administratively associa ...

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 ...

for the southeastern quarter of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

. There are within the diocese. The diocese's eastern border is at the Mississippi River; the northern border comprises the counties of

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

, Poweshiek,

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

Cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

, and Clinton; the western border is made up of the counties of

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

, Monroe, and

Appanoose Appanoose was a 19th-century Meskwaki chief who lived in Iowa; he was son of Taimah (Chief Tama) and probably a grandson of Quashquame. Prior to European-American settlement in the 19th century, the tribe occupied territory in what became Michiga ...

; and the southern border is the Iowa–

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

border. The current bishop of the diocese is Bishop

Thomas Zinkula Thomas Robert Zinkula (born April 19, 1957) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Zinkula was a priest in the Archdiocese of Dubuque in Iowa until he was named the ninth bishop of Davenport in Iowa in 2017. ...

. It is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The

See city See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...

for the diocese is Davenport. Sacred Heart Cathedral is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

church.

History

Before 1881, the Diocese of Dubuque's territory comprised the entire state of Iowa. Previous divisions had taken territory outside the state of Iowa from the Diocese to give to other newly created Dioceses. Eventually, Bishop John Hennessy became convinced that the

Dubuque Dubuque (, ) is the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Dubuque was 59,667. The city lies at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a r ...

Diocese should be further divided, with the Dubuque Diocese covering the northern half of the state, and the southern half covered by a new diocese. Hennessy felt that the See of this new Diocese should have been located at

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. However the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

chose Davenport as the See city of this Diocese. On June 14, 1881, the southern territory of the Dubuque Diocese was taken to form the Diocese of Davenport. Fr. John McMullen, a priest in the

Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago ( la, Archidiœcesis Chicagiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. It was established as a diocese in 1843 and ...

was chosen to be the first Bishop. Bishop McMullen was consecrated by Archbishop

Patrick Feehan Patrick Augustine Feehan (August 28, 1829 – July 12, 1902), was an Irish-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first archbishop of the newly elevated Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois between 1880 and his death ...

of Chicago, Bishop John Hennessy of Dubuque, and Bishop John Lancaster Spalding of Peoria. The Diocese of Davenport was split in two on August 12, 1911, which reduced it to its current size. The Diocese of Des Moines became the See city of this new diocese, which covered the southwestern quarter of the state of Iowa.

Sex abuse cases

The diocese of Davenport has been affected by the abuse scandal involving members of the clergy and focused on Bishop Lawrence Soens. On October 10, 2006, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

protection. By November 27, 2007, $37 million had been allocated to 156 persons. In 2014, documents released revealed that former Diocese of Davenport priest James Janssen, who sexually abused many boys in the Diocese of Davenport and was

laicized In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, and degradation) is the removal of a bishop, priest, or deacon from the status of being a member of the clergy. The t ...

in 2004 for sex abuse, said in court during lawsuits that "I'm very sick." Janssen died in 2015. On March 20, 2020, It was announced that Catholic priest and theology professor at Davenport's St. Ambrose University Robert L. "Bud" Grant was suspended from teaching and practicing ministry after a sex abuse allegation surfaced. The alleged sex abuse was committed during his time in the Diocese of Des Moines in the early 1990s. St. Ambrose University confirmed Grant's suspension and the Diocese of Davenport announced that Grant would be removed as the sacramental minister at the St. Andrew Church in Blue Grass. Both suspensions will last until at least the time the Diocese of Des Moines completes the investigation against Grant.

Higher education

From its very beginning the diocese has a history of supporting higher education. At one time there were four Catholic colleges within the boundaries of the Diocese of Davenport. Today there is only one,

Saint Ambrose University St. Ambrose University is a private Catholic university in Davenport, Iowa. It was founded as a school of commerce for young men in 1882. History Foundation St. Ambrose was founded as a seminary and school of commerce for young men in 1882, kn ...

St. Ambrose began as a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

and school of commerce for young men in September 1882. It was founded by the diocese's first bishop, Rt. Rev. John McMullen, in the school building of St. Margaret's Cathedral. The school moved to its current location in 1885. Its name was changed to St. Ambrose College in 1908 to better reflect its identity. The school grew steadily over the years and in 1987 it became St. Ambrose University. The Congregation of the Humility of Mary founded two schools in the diocese. The first school was established at their motherhouse when it was in Ottumwa. Founded as Visitation Academy in 1864, it had several name changes until 1930 when it was named

Ottumwa Heights College Ottumwa Heights College began as a liberal arts women's college based in Ottumwa, Iowa. It became coed in 1967. The school was affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and was operated by the Sisters of Humility of Mary. Although the student bo ...

. Ottumwa Heights merged with

Indian Hills Community College Indian Hills Community College (IHCC) is a public community college in Iowa with campuses in Ottumwa and Centerville. IHCC serves both traditional residential students and commuter students, primarily from a ten-county area in southeast Iowa as ...

, a part of the state of Iowa's community college system, in 1979 and has been officially inactive since 1980. The community's former motherhouse and college property has been IHCC's main campus since 1981. The Sisters of Humility also founded Marycrest College in Davenport as the woman's division of St. Ambrose in 1939. By the 1950s it had become a separate institution, and it started admitting men in 1969. The school, however, started to decline in enrollment as well as financially. In 1990, Marycrest became affiliated with the Teikyo Yamanashi Education and Welfare Foundation of Japan and was renamed Teikyo Marycrest University. In 1996 the institution's name was changed to Marycrest International University in an attempt to reflect its global mission. However, enrollment continued to decline. financial difficulties persisted, and the school closed in 2002. The campus continues intact and in 2006 it became Marycrest Senior Campus, a residential facility for senior citizens. It has no affiliation with the diocese. The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi established Mt. St. Claire College for women in 1918 in Clinton. The college began offering graduate courses over the internet in 2002 and changed its name to The Franciscan University. In 2004, the school modified its name to The Franciscan University of the Prairies, so as to avoid confusion with similarly named institutions. In 2005, the school was purchased by Bridgepoint Education, Inc. and the sisters ended their sponsorship. The school became known as

Ashford University The University of Arizona Global Campus, formerly Ashford University, is an online university "operated in affiliation with the University of Arizona." In 2020, Ashford University was acquired by the University of Arizona, becoming the Universit ...

and closed in 2016. Since 1947 the diocese has supported a dedicated campus ministry program at the Newman Catholic Student Center at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

in Iowa City.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms for the Diocese of Davenport was designed after the arms used by members of the Davenport family in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The family's arms are described as, "

Argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to ...

(white or silver), a

chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...

sable (black) between three cross crosslets fitchée of the second." The diocesan shield maintains the use of the silver color and the black cross crosslets fitchée. The black chevron is replaced with a black

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

tower.

Bishops

Historic structures

The following structures are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. Some of the structures are no longer part of the diocese but are listed here because of their historical significance to the church.

High schools

Former high schools

References

External links

*
The Catholic Messenger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese Of Davenport Davenport Religious organizations established in 1881 Davenport 1881 establishments in Iowa Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2006