WHEELING, DIOCESE of. - Diocese and city in the State of West Virginia (United States of America). The diocese of W., which covers an area of 21,355 sq. km. in the State of West Virginia and 7,817 in the State of Virginia, has a total population of 2,481,848 inhabitants, of whom only 92,357 are Catholics; it has 106 diocesan priests, 46 religious of 9 different congregations, 85 parishes, 26 chapels, 68 missions, 28 stations, 21 women’s congregations (510 sisters), 29 seminarians, 4 orphanages, and 9 hospitals.
The first parish priest of W. in 1829 was Rev. Francesco Rolf, although some priests had already visited the territory. W. was raised to the status of a city in 1795, and was already an episcopal see (23 July 1850) when the diocese of Richmond was divided, its western part becoming the new diocese. Mons. Ricardo Whelan, bishop of Richmond, was appointed its first bishop. At the time of its foundation, the diocese had only 4 churches, 2 priests, and 5,000 or 6,000 faithful scattered over an area of 20,000 square miles. At the death of Mons. Whelan, in 1866, the diocese already had 23 churches, 16 priests, and 8 seminarians.