WINONA, Diocese of. - Diocese and city in the ecclesiastical province of St. Paul and in the State of Minnesota (U.S.A.).

In 1952 the territory of W., which covers 12,282 miles, contained 464,708 inhabitants, of whom 79,331 were Catholics. There are 158 diocesan priests, 16 religious (Dominicans and Jesuits), 127 parishes, 15 chapels, 4 missions, 734 nuns (6 different Congregations), 40 seminarians, 2 colleges, 3 scholasticates, 5 hospitals.

Catholic travelers and missionaries visited the territory, and in 1660 Groseillers and Radisson penetrated into the "Prairie Sioux" in the south and southwest of Minnesota. In 1680 Fr. Hennepin, having set out from Fort Crève Coeur, explored the upper Mississippi. In 1683, Nicolas Perrot established a trading post at present-day Wabasha, and the Jesuit Joseph John Morest, his companion, settled among the Sioux natives. Several priests and bishops visited the territory between 1839 and 1843, in which year Msgr. Ravoux celebrated the first Mass at Mankato in the southwest of Minnesota. In 1856 Msgr. Cretin established a parish at W. With the construction of the railroad, the country developed rapidly, and on 26 Nov. 1889 W. was elevated to a diocese for the southern part of Minnesota. Msgr. Cotter, the first bishop, found there 45 priests and 4 religious, 45 churches, 49 missions, 15 stations, whereas at his death (1909) there were already 85 diocesan priests and 7 religious, 72 churches, 44 missions and 8 stations.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 455; The Official Catholic Directory 1952, pp. 615-18; J. P. Sherman, s. v. in Cath. Enc., XV, pp. 658-59; Th. Boernert, The Cath. Church in the Un. States, St. Louis-London 1950, p. 283.

Gastone Carrière

@incollection{ec12_winona_diocesi_di, author = {Carrière, Gastone}, title = {Winona, diocesi di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {1703}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/winona-diocesi-di} }

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Winona, Diocese of

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