Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison
The Diocese of Madison () is a Roman Catholic diocese in the U.S. State of Wisconsin. It comprises of Columbia, Dane, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafayette, Marquette, Rock, and Sauk counties. The area of the diocese is approximately . There are approxamatly 167,000 Catholics in the Diocese. The Bishop of the Diocese of Madison is Donald J. Hying. The Metropolitan is Jerome Listecki, Archbishop of Milwaukee. There are 102 parishes in the diocese, with 98 priests in active ministry. The Cathedral was Saint Raphael's Cathedral in Madison, but was destroyed by fire in 2005 . The diocese currently has no cathedral. Parishioners of the Cathedral currently congregate at St. Patrick's and Holy Redeemer Parishes in Downtown Madison. Camp Gray, a summer camp and retreat center, is one of the ministries of the Diocese of Madison. History. Early years. The Diocese of Madison was established on January 9, 1946, by Pope Pius XII, in a decree dated December 22, 1945. The diocese was created out of territory from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee,the Diocese of La Crosse and the Diocese of Green Bay. Venerable Father Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli was actively involved in the southwestern part  of Wisconsin during the mid 19th century. He established 25 parishes in Wisconsin, 11 of which are in the Madison Diocese. Fr. Mazzuchelli is buried in Benton, Wisconsin, which is in the diocese. Pope John Paul II declared him venerable in 1993. The case for Fr. Mazzuchelli's elevation to the Sainthood is still pending. Cathedral fire. On March 14, 2005. St. Raphael's Cathedral was heavily damaged in a fire that caused extensive damage to the church. In the days following the fire, it was found out that William J. "Billy" Connell had started fire. Connell was charged with  burglary, arson, and bail jumping, but was deemed incompetent to stand trial due to paranoid schizophrenia. He was committed to an institution on August 29, 2005, pending a change in his mental health status, and in June 2007, was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by 15 years of close supervision. Following the fire, the options regarding the future of the Cathedral included: In June 2007, a decision was reached to erect a new building on the site of the old Cathedral, replacing the structure that was damaged in the fire. The new building will have a different floor  plan than the previous building and be capable of seating approximately 1,000 people. It will reuse the steeple and other items that can be salvaged from the original building. As of 2021, no new building has been erected on the former site. Reports of sex abuse. In June 2019, the Diocese of Madison agreed to present a list of credibly accused clergy who served in the Diocese and hired detectives to assist in this investigation. This agreement came after a retired priest was charged in May 2018 with six counts of sexual assault. The retired priest, Fr. William Nolan, was  later acquitted in September 2019 of five of these counts, with the presiding judge also dropping the remaining count. The Diocese of Madison also investigated Nolan and later cleared him from the title of "credibly accused" priest in March 2020 as well. Recent. During Robert C. Morlino's term, the number of seminarians in the diocese grew from six men in 2003, to 30 by 2015. A diocesan-wide capital campaign was initiated to raise $30 million to help educate the future priests. Resurrection Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery located on the near west side in Madison, Wisconsin , the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison. The cemetery is one of four cemeteries officially managed by the diocese. It was founded in 1949 and is about 40 acres in size. Famous people whose resting place in Resurrection Cemetery include Madison native Chris Farley, comedic film star and Saturday Night Live cast member, whose crypt is located in the chapel on the cemetery grounds. The first two bishops of the diocese, William O'Connor and Cletus O'Donnell, are buried in the cemetery.