BELLEVILLE, DIOCESE of. — In Illinois (United States of America); a suffragan diocese of Chicago. It was erected on 7 January 1887 by division of the diocese of Alton (now Springfield-Illinois). Situated in the southern part of the State of Illinois, B. includes within its territory, which extends over an area of more than 30,296 sq km, some of the oldest missions of the West, such as the present-day parishes of Kakaskia, Caho-
kia, Prairie du Rocher, etc., evangelized in the 17th and 18th centuries by missionaries from Canada.
The diocese of B. has 136 parishes, 146 diocesan priests, and 32 religious priests.
BBL.: H. J. Hagen, s. V. in The Cath. Enc., II, pp. 414–15; J. Coignet, s. V. in DHG, VII, col. 883; The Official Catholic Directory, part 2, Nuova York 1947, pp. 328–32. Corrado Morin