Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona–Rochester

Southern Minnesota area went through several Catholic jurisdictions before the Vatican erected the Diocese of Winona:

• Diocese of Saint Louis (1826 to 1837)
• Diocese of Dubuque (1837 to 1850)
• Diocese of Saint Paul (1850 to 1875)[2][3]

The first Mass in the present-day diocese was celebrated in 1840 by Lucien Galtier along the Mississippi River in Wabasha.[3] As large numbers of Catholic Irish, German, Czech and Polish immigrants started settling in the region, the diocese sent more missionary priests to minister to them.

In Mankato, the first parish, Saint Peter and Paul, was organized in 1854.[4] The first parish in Winona, St. Thomas, was established in 1857.[5] In 1863, the first Catholic church in Rochester, St. John the Evangelist, was opened.[6] In 1877, Coadjutor Bishop John Ireland of Saint Paul purchased over 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) of land in the Winona area. Ireland then recruited poor Catholic Irish and German farmers to buy the land and settle there, giving them favorable repayment terms.[3]

In 1882, the Sisters of Saint Francis built a new hospital in Rochester and asked Doctors William James Mayo and Charles Mayo to be the medical staff. This was the start of the Mayo Clinic.[7]

Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Rochester

Pope Leo XIII erected the Diocese of Winona on November 26, 1889.[3] He appointed Reverend Joseph Cotter from Saint Paul as the first bishop of Winona.[8] When Cotter became bishop, the new diocese included 45 priests, eight churches, 15 parochial schools, and two hospitals. Approximately 38,000 Catholics resided in the diocese. Cotter died in 1909. By the time of his death, the diocese had a Catholic population of over 49,000 with 91 priests, 116 churches, and 29 parochial schools with 4,700 students.[9]

In 1910, Reverend Patrick Heffron of St. Paul was appointed bishop of Winona by Pope Pius X. He opened Cotter High School in Winona in 1911 and St. Mary's College in Winona in 1912.[10] In 1915, Heffron was shot twice, while celebrating a private Mass, by Reverend Laurence M. Lesches. Lesches had been angry at Heffron for denying him his own parish; Heffron had said he denied the posting due to Lesches' arrogant behavior and emotional instability.[11] Heffron survived the shooting; Lesches was committed to a mental hospital for life.[12] Heffron died in 1927.

Pope Pius XI named Auxiliary Bishop Francis Kelly of Winona in 1928 as the next bishop of the diocese.[13] After 21 years as bishop, Kelley retired in 1949. Pope Pius XII then appointed Auxiliary Bishop Edward Fitzgerald of Dubuque to replace him. [14]Fitzgerald became known as "the building bishop" for his oversight of the construction of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, a seminary, and several churches in the diocese.[15] He attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965, and subsequently implemented the council's reforms in the diocese, including introducing English into the mass.[15]

After Fitzgerald retired in 1969, Pope Paul VI that same year selected Auxiliary Bishop Loras Watters of Dubuque as the next bishop of Winona. [16] He promulgated the document "The Church in the Diocese of Winona," which described the local church and the roles of the clergy, religious, and the laity.[17] He initiated the pastoral council, which provided a pastoral leadership role for the laity. He also established the tribunal, the Finance Office, and reorganized the diocese into deaneries. Watters retired in 1986.

To replace Watters, Pope John Paul II in 1987 named Auxiliary Bishop John Vlazny from the Archdiocese of Chicago.[18] During his tenure, Vlazny increased the involvement of the laity, decentralized the diocesan staff, and created the Offices of Youth and Family Life.[19] He also started the tradition of the "Harvest Mass," an annual outdoor liturgy celebrated on a farm. In 1994, Vlazny asked Catholics in the diocese to consider ending gambling as a source of revenue for parishes and schools.[19] Vlazny became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon in 1997.

The next bishop of Winona was Auxiliary Bishop Bernard Harrington from the Archdiocese of Detroit, appointed by John Paul II in 1997.[20] In 2008, Harrington commented on the plans of Kathy Redig, a chaplain in the diocese, to undergo an unauthorized ordination. Harrington said that Redig would, in effect, be "self-excommunicating" herself from the Catholic Church by this action.[21] That same year, Pope Benedict XVI named Auxiliary Bishop John M. Quinn of the Archdiocese of Detroit as coadjutor bishop in Winona to assist Harrington.

When Harrington retired later in 2008, Quinn automatically succeeded him as bishop. In March 2018, the Vatican renamed the Diocese of Winona as the Diocese of Diocese of Winona–Rochester.[22][23] In December 2018, the Diocese of Winona–Rochester filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy due to the financial burden caused by the 121 sex abuse lawsuits involving the diocese and 14 priests.[24][25][26] As part of its bankruptcy filing, the diocese agreed to not file objections to more plaintiffs being added to the lawsuits up to April 8, 2019.[27][28] Quinn retired in 2022.

As of 2023, the current bishop of Winona–Rochester is Robert Barron, formerly an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was appointed by Pope Francis in 2022. In November 2022, Barron announced that the diocese was moving its headquarters from Winona to Rochester and was building a new pastoral center there.[29]

In 1984, court documents revealed that Reverend Thomas Adamson had been accused of sexual misconduct there ten years earlier. In response, Bishop Watters had sent Adamson to a private psychiatric hospital in Connecticut without contacting the police. When Adamson finished treatment, Archbishop John Roach of Saint Paul-Minneapolis allowed him in 1976 to transfer there. By 1984, the archdiocese was being sued by a local couple who claimed that Adamson had sexual abused their son, Gregory Riedle.[30] Adamson confessed his crimes in 2014, but was never prosecuted due to the statute of limitations.[31]

The diocese in 2013 published a list of 14 priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors.[32] In September 2018, the Minnesota Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal from the diocese to block lawsuits for past cases of sex abuse.[33] In February 2021, the diocese reached a $21.5 million legal settlement with 145 victims of sexual abuse by diocesan clergy as a part of its 2018 bankruptcy filing.[34]

In 2022, police arrested Ubaldo Roque Huerta of Rushmore on charges of criminal sexual conduct. Huerta had been drinking with a friend at Huerta's house when he sexually attacked them. The diocese commented that Huerta had been suspended from ministry since 2019 and that the diocese had petitioned the Vatican to laicize him.[35]

1. Joseph Bernard Cotter (1889–1909)
2. Patrick Richard Heffron (1910–1927)
3. Francis Martin Kelly (1928–1949)
4. Edward Aloysius Fitzgerald (1949–1969)
5. Loras Joseph Watters (1969–1986)
6. John George Vlazny (1987–1997), appointed Archbishop of Portland in Oregon
7. Bernard Joseph Harrington (1998–2009)
8. John M. Quinn (2009–2018), second see added in Rochester, name of diocese changed to Winona–Rochester

1. John M. Quinn (2018–2022)
2. Robert E. Barron (2022–present)[36]

Leo Binz (1942–1949), did not succeed to see; appointed coadjutor archbishop and Archbishop of Dubuque and later Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

George Henry Speltz (1963–1966), appointed coadjutor bishop and later Bishop of Saint Cloud

• Robert Henry Brom, appointed Bishop of Duluth in 1983 and later Bishop of San Diego
• Frederick William Freking, appointed Bishop of Salina in 1957 and later Bishop of La Crosse
• Michael Joseph Hoeppner, appointed Bishop of Crookston in 2007
• John Hubert Peschges, appointed Bishop of Crookston in 1938

• Cotter High School – Winona
• Lourdes High School – Rochester
• Loyola Catholic School – Mankato
• Pacelli High School – Austin

St. Mary's University of Minnesota– Winona

Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary – Winona