NATCHEZ, Diocese of. - In the United States of America, suffragan of New Orleans, it comprises the territory of the State of Mississippi, with an area of 46,340 miles, and a total population (1949) of 2,349,232 inhabitants. Catholics (1951) number 50,559.

In the 67 parishes and 65 missions there work (1951) 176 priests (among whom 95 religious from twelve different congregations); there are furthermore 2 hospitals, 2 orphanages, 1 school of the Verbit Fathers for Black people and 21 female congregations.

N. was erected as a diocese on July 28, 1837. But the work of evangelization began in the 17th century with the expeditions of the Jesuit Father Marquette, of R. R. C. de La Salle and P. L. d'Iberville, and the work of the Capuchins, the Jesuits and secular priests (the secular priests S. Cosme and N. Foucault, and the Jesuits Father Du Poisson were martyred there,

G. Souart and A. Senat were martyred there). Several priests also came there from Salamanca, but when the territory passed from Spain to the United States the missions were almost entirely abandoned. The first bishop was Msgr. Giov. M. Gius. Chanche, a Sulpician, b. in Baltimore on 4 Oct. 1795 to parents who had emigrated from S. Domingo. He was consecrated on 14 March 1841 and when he arrived at N. he found in the whole State a single priest, Father J. Brogard.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: J. G. Shea, Hist. of the Cath. church in the U. S. III-IV, New York 1892; B. Charles, s. v. in Cath. Enc., N. pp. 709-10; The Offic. cath. directory 1950, New York 1950, pp. 439-41.

Gastone Carriere

@incollection{ec8_natchez_diocesi_di, author = {Carrière, Gastone}, title = {Natchez, diocesi di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1676--1677}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/natchez-diocesi-di} }

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Natchez, Diocese of

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