Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines

Diocese of Des Moines Dioecesis Desmoinensis
175px Logo of the Diocese of Des Moines
Location
Country	United States
Territory	23 Counties in the Southwest quadrant of Iowa
Ecclesiastical province	Dubuque
Metropolitan	Michael Owen Jackels
Coordinates
Statistics
Area
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2013) 837,773 103,430 (12.3%)
Parishes	81
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	August 12, 1911 (113 years ago)
Cathedral	Saint Ambrose Cathedral
Patron saint	Mary, Queen of Heaven St. Pius X
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Richard Pates
Emeritus Bishops	Joseph Leo Charron, C.PP.S.
Map
File:Diocese of Des Moines.jpg
Website
www.dmdiocese.org

The Diocese of Des Moines (Latin: Dioecesis Desmoinensis) is the Roman Catholic diocese for the southwestern quarter of the U.S. state of Iowa. It is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The See city for the diocese is Des Moines. The cathedral parish for the diocese is St. Ambrose. Currently Bishop Richard E. Pates is the bishop of the diocese.

History

St. Ambrose Cathedral, Des Moines

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

Map of the Ecclesiastical Province of Dubuque

See also

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

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines Official Site