Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/404

 SAINT LOUIS

358

SAINT LOUIS

Meurin in 1766 baptized, under condition, in a tent for want of a church, Marie, law-ful daughter of John Baptiste Deschamp and of Marie Pion; and again, that he conferred the same sacrament upon Antoine, son of Lisette. a Pawnee slave, on 9 May of the same year, Father Gibault, soon after his arrival, undertook the erection of a small church built of upright logs. This modest edifice was; rapidly completed and dedicated on 24 June. 1770. With the advent of the Capuchins in 1772, Father Valentine of that order became the first resident priest of St. Louis and remained until 1776. He was succeeded by Father Bernard, also a Capuchin, who remained for thirteen years and dur- ing his stay organized St. Charles and St. Ferdinand. From 1789 to 1793 there are no records to show that St. Ix)uis had a resident priest. In 1793 Pierre Joseph Didier, a Benedictine monk, assumed charge and remained until 1799. In 1800 the territory of Louisiana was receded to France and three years later transferred by Napoleon to the United States. Thus we find that St. Louis and the Louisiana terri- tory' during its early days was subject to the jurisdiction of: the Vicariate Apostolic of Canada, 16.58-1674; the Diocese of Quebec, 1674-1759; the Diocese of Santi- ago in Cuba, 17.59-1787; the Diocese of Havana, 1787-1793; the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas, 1793-1826. The territory east of the Mississippi was subject to: the Vicariate Apostolic of Canada, 1658-1674; the Diocese of Quebec, 1674-1784; the Prefecture Apostolic of the thirteen states of the Union, 1784-1789; the Bishop of Baltimore, 1789- 1808; the Diocese of Bardstown, 1808-1834.

In 1800 Rev. Thomas Flynn was made parish priest of St. Louis, remaining in that position until 1808 when he removed to Ste Genevieve. Again from 1808 until 1811, when Father Savigne took charge, we find the parish without the service of a priest. Father Savigne's ministry extended over a period of six years, and during these years the city grew to such an extent as to require the labours of a priest who could devote to it his entire time and at- tention. In 1810 the population numbered 1400 — mostly French with some Spaniarfls and a constantly increasing influx of Americans. Thus far St. Louis had been but a struggling village, the surrounding country but a wilderness that re-echoed to the war- whoop of the savage or resounded with the crack of the ranger's rifle. Now things were to assume a more im- portant aspect, so that five years later we hear of the Diocese of St. Louis. St. Louis as a diocese had its origin amidst the early ecclesiastical troubles and dis- putes of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas. The Dioce.se of St. Christopher of Havana, Louisiana, and the Floridas was erected in 1787, and Rt. Rev. Joseph de Trespalatios was appointed the first bi-shop; thas St. Louis was under the jurisdiction of the Bi.shop of Havana. On 25 April, 1793, the Diocese of Louisiana and both t'loridas was created; New Or- leans was designated as the cathedral city, and the Rev. Louis Penalver y Cardenas was appointed the first bishop. He arrived at N«!w Orleans on 17 July, 1795. On 24 Sept., 1815, Rt. Rev. I^uis William Du B<jurg was consecrated Bishop of Ivouisiana and the Floridas, and immediately after proposed the erection of the See of St. Ix)uis then in tipper Louisi- ana (sometimes called Ixjuisiana Superior, sometimes "Alta Ixjuisiana"). Very soon after, however, he reque8t<-d the withdrawal of this proposal owing to the BeriouH and complicated troubles caused by the trustees (Marguilliers and thre<' misguided priests of the cathedral church in New Orl(!ans).

Open mena^M's of vioUtnce and other sr-rious threats prompted him to w>licit the Propaganda to permit him to take up his residence at St. Louis and to con- tinue St. IxMiis as part of the Ixjuisiana jurisdiction. Rome grantefl the request, and on 5 Jan., 1818, he came to St. Louis accompanied by Bishop Flaget, of

Bardstown, Ky. He was received here with great welcome, was installed with the usual solemnities by Bishop Flaget, and took possession of the pro-cathe- dral, a poor wooden structure in ruinous condition. The same year he founded at St. Louis a Latin Acad- emy which later developed into the Universitv of St. Louis (q. v.). On 13 Aug., 1822. the Very Rev. Joseph Rosati, vicar-general for Bishop Du Bourg, was appointed by Pius VII titular Bishop of Tenagre, and created Vicar Apostolic of the territories of Mississippi and Alabama. This appointment Father Rosati de- clined, giving to the Propaganda as reasons the pau- city and penury of the people of Mississippi and Ala- bama; the utter impossibility of a priest being able to sustain himself at Natchez; Bay St. Louis being too poor to erect even an unpretentious church building, and no other city in the two states being sufficiently well-equipped with church or resources worthy of a bishop. He also emphasized the importance of his continuing as president of the seminary, as no priest was at hand equal to the task of assuming its direc- tion. His argiunents and the protests of the Bishop of Baltimore prevailed. The Brief "Quum superiori anno" dated 14 July, 1823, addressed to Bishop Du Bourg, revoked the appointment and .suppressed the vicariate. Father Rosati. however, was not to es- cape episcopal honours. He was appointed coadjutor to Bishop Du Bourg by Apostolic Brief dated 22 June, 1823, and by instructions of said Brief was to reside in St. Louis. The Brief recited that after three years the Diocese of Louisiana was to be divided, New Orleans and St. Louis to be named episcopal sees, Bishop Du Bourg to have his choice of either, and Bishop Rosati to preside over the destinies of the other. Father Ro.sati received these documents on 4 Dec, 1823, and letters from the Propaganda told him that he must submit to the dignity he had thus far sought to escape. Bishop Du Bourg was then in Louisiana, and selected for the consecration services the Church of the Ascension in Donaldsonville, La., a central position, where many clergy might assemble. Here the Very Rev. Father Rosati was consecrated titular Bishop of Tenagre on 25 March, 1824, by Bishop Louis-Guillaume- Valentin Du Bourg, assisted by the Very Rev. Louis Sibourd, V.G., and the Rev. Anthony de Sedella, O.M.Cap., rector of the cathe- dral church of New Orleans.

Not long after. Bishop Du Bourg found the task im- po.sed upon him beyond his strength, and, discouraged by the difficulties which arose to thwart his projects and harassed by bitter opposition in his own city (which in some of his writings he styled "vera nova Babylonia"), he resigned his see and departed for Europe in April, 1826. Pending this the Propa- ganda had, on 26 June, 1826, voted the erection of S .. Ix)uis as a diocese, which action was approved of by the pope on 2 July, of the same year. On the same day the resignation of BLshop Du Bourg was formally accepted, and letters were forwarded to Bishop Rosati, asking him to accept th(vacant see. This he earnestly requested to be allowed to decline, pleading his lack of acquaintance with the clergy and p(K)ple of Louisiana and his familiarity with the dis- tricts of Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. He urged the appointment of Rev. Leo de Neckere, a Belgian Lazarist, as Bishop of New Orleans, and sought the in- tervention of BLshop Du Bourg to have this effected. His objection was sustained, and finally on 20 March, 1827, Pope Leo XII tran.sferred him from the See of Tenagre to that of St. Louis, and requested him to continue the administration of New Orleans until such time as other provision might be made.

At this period the Diocese of Louisiana comprised, roughly speaking, the territory extending from the Gulf of Mexico tf) the Dominion of Canada and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. Ow- ing to the existing indefinite lines of demarcation it