page_title: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee / History
caption_attribution_description: St. Peter's Catholic Church at Old World Wisconsin.
context_page_description: The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is a Roman Catholic archdiocese headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the United States. It encompasses the City of Milwaukee, as well as the counties of Dodge, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha, all located in Wisconsin. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province of Milwaukee, which includes the suffragan dioceses of Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, and Superior. As of 2020, Jerome Edward Listecki is the Archbishop of Milwaukee.
context_section_description: The Diocese of Milwaukee was constituted November 28, 1843 by Pope Gregory XVI. It was elevated to Archdiocese on February 12, 1875 by Pope Pius IX. The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is the episcopal see.
  The first Mass, was celebrated in Milwaukee as early as 1837 by Rev. J. Bonduel, a missionary from Green Bay, in the home of French Canadian fur trader, Solomon Juneau. In the same year Rev. Patrick Kelly came to the city and held services in the court-house till, in 1839, he erected the first Catholic church, dedicated to St. Peter, for several years the bishop's cathedral. The small, clapboard-sided church was replaced in 1853 by the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on North Jackson Street. Msgr. Leonard Batz, vicar general of Milwaukee had the old church later moved to the SS. Peter and Paul property.
  In 1841 Bishop Pierre-Paul Lefevere, coadjutor/administrator of the Diocese of Detroit visited as Milwaukee was part of that diocese. Two years later, Milwaukee was made a separate diocese. John Henni, vicar general of the Diocese of Cincinnati was appointed the first bishop. Henni found He found only four priests in the whole diocese, ministering to a few Catholics, mostly immigrants from Germany and Ireland, scattered over the territory, and a small frame church encumbered with debt.
  In 1846, Old St. Mary's Church, designed by Victor Schulte in Zopfstil style, was built to serve the German Catholic immigrants in Milwaukee. The Annunciation altarpiece, painted by Franz Xavier Glink was donated by King Ludwig I of Bavaria. In 1847 Henni laid the foundation of the new cathedral, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, also designed by Schulte. Built of Cream City brick, a cream or light yellow-colored brick made from a clay found around Milwaukee, the cathedral was consecrated by Papal nuncio Archbishop Gaetano Bedini 31 July 1853. In 1866 two new dioceses were established in Wisconsin with episcopal sees in La Crosse and Green Bay. In 1875 Milwaukee was made an archiepiscopal see, with Bishop Henni as first archbishop.
  Upon the death of Henni in September 1881, he was succeeded by Michael Heiss, Bishop of La Crosse. Heiss had previously served as secretary to Henni, pastor of St. Mary's, and rector of Saint Francis de Sales Seminary. At Saint Francis, Heiss trained German-speaking priests to serve German Catholics of the archdiocese. An esteemed theologian, he served as one of the members of the dogmatic commission at the First Vatican Council. In 1888 the Diocese of St. Paul was separated from Milwaukee.
  Swiss-born Sebastian Gebhard Messmer was installed as Archbishop of Milwaukee in December 1903. He had previously served as a professor of theology at Seton Hall College, pastor of St. Peter's Church in Newark, professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America, and Bishop of Green Bay. During Messmer's tenure, twenty nine religious congregations established ministries in the archdiocese.
caption: St Peters Church
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