The Diocese of Madison ( la, Diœcesis Madisonensis) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

in the

U.S. State In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. It comprises

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

, Dane,

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

, Green Lake,

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

, Jefferson, Lafayette, Marquette, Rock, and Sauk counties. The area of the diocese is approximately . There are approximately 167,000 Catholics in the Diocese. The

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

of the Diocese of Madison is

Donald J. Hying Donald Joseph Hying (born August 18, 1963) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Madison in Wisconsin since 2019. Hying previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Gary (in Indiana and ...

. There are 102 parishes in the diocese, with 98 priests in active ministry. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

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 Camp Gray is a Catholic summer camp and retreat center located in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. It is a ministry of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, and is accredited by the American Camp Association (ACA). Its mission is to "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 Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

, in a decree dated December 22, 1945. The diocese was created out of territory from the

Archdiocese of Milwaukee The Archdiocese of Milwaukee ( la, Archidiœcesis Milvauchiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the United States. It encompasses the City of Milwaukee, a ...

, Diocese of La Crosse and the Diocese of Green Bay. Venerable Father

Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli, O.P. (November 4, 1806 – February 23, 1864) was a pioneer Italian Dominican friar and Catholic missionary priest who helped bring the church to the Iowa-Illinois-Wisconsin tri-state area. He founded several parishes ...

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 Benton is a village in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 973 at the 2010 census. The village is located within the Town of Benton. History Benton was named for Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S. senator from Missouri. Up u ...

, which is in the diocese.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

declared him

venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

in 1993. The case for Fr. Mazzuchelli's elevation to the

Sainthood In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...

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 Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social w ...

. He was committed to an institution on August 29, 2005, pending a change in his

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles Stress (biology), stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-maki ...

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: * Rebuild the Cathedral at the current site. Those in favor of that plan cited the historical significance of the parish as a reason for rebuilding the structure. * Build a new Cathedral at another location in Madison, such as on the city's west side. People in favor of that cited the fact that St. Raphael's was not intended to be a Cathedral when built. Previous Bishops had considering building a new Cathedral elsewhere in Madison, as there was no room downtown to build a larger Cathedral church. 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.

Bishops

Bishops of Madison

William Patrick O'Connor William Patrick O'Connor (October 18, 1886 – July 13, 1973) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Superior in Wisconsin (1942–1946) and the first bishop of the new Diocese of Madis ...

(1946–1967), his resignation. #

Cletus F. O'Donnell Cletus Francis O'Donnell (August 22, 1917 – August 31, 1992) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Madison in Wisconsin from 1967 to 1992. He previously served as an auxilia ...

(1967–1992), his resignation. # William H. Bullock (1993–2003), his resignation. # Robert C. Morlino (2003–2018), his death. #

(2019–present).

Auxiliary Bishops

* Jerome J. Hastrich (1963–1969), appointed Bishop of Gallup (1969-1990). * George Otto Wirz (1977–2004), his resignation.

Priests who became Bishops

* Paul J. Swain, appointed Bishop of Sioux Falls (2006-2019).

Parishes

Cemeteries

*Resurrection Cemetery 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 Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the ...

, comedic film star and Saturday Night Live cast member, whose crypt is located in the chapel on the cemetery grounds. The first four bishops of the diocese are buried in the cemetery.

Schools

High schools

Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart is a private, Catholic, college preparatory school located in Madison, Wisconsin. Edgewood has been sponsored since its inception by the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. In the 2019–2020 scho ...

, Madiso
Home
* St. Ambrose Academy, Madiso
St. Ambrose Academy

Grade schools

* St. Joseph's Catholic School in

Baraboo Baraboo is a city in the Midwest and the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The largest city in the county, Baraboo is the principal city of the Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area. Its 2020 population was 12,556. It is sit ...

is a parochial school. The current school building, designed by the Wisconsin Rapids company Billmeyer and Sons and with a cost of over $500,000, has 11 classrooms. The basement has a cafeteria and a combination auditorium/gymnasium. The second building for the school opened on a filled-in ravine in 1912, northeast of its associated church. The building had three floors and a basement. The first and second floors each had three classrooms, and the second floor also housed the chapel and the library. The third floor had a 600-seat auditorium while the basement had a large banquet hall/gymnasium. The second building became overcrowded due to the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

baby boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds of defined national and cultural populations. People born during these periods are ofte ...

, so the third school building, north of the second building, opened in 1958.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison official website

The Camp Gray Web Site - A ministry of the Diocese of Madison

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Madison

Arms

{{authority control

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Culture of Madison, Wisconsin Christian organizations established in 1946