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Diocese of Peoria

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Diocese of Peoria
Diœcesis Peoriensis
Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception
Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception
Location
Country United States
Territory 26 counties across central Illinois
Ecclesiastical province Chicago
Metropolitan Chicago
Statistics
Area 16,933 sq mi (43,860 km2)
Population
Total
Catholics 		(as of 2015)
1,492,335
121,965 (8.2%)
Parishes 158
Information
Denomination Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established February 12, 1875 (151 years ago)
Cathedral St. Mary's Cathedral
Patron saint Immaculate Conception
St. Joseph the Worker
St. Therese of Lisieux
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop Louis Tylka
Metropolitan Archbishop Blase J. Cupich
Vicar General Philip D. Halfacre
Bishops emeritus Daniel R. Jenky
Map
Website
cdop.org

The Diocese of Peoria (Latin: Diœcesis Peoriensis) is a diocese of the Catholic Church in the north central region of Illinois in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Chicago. The bishop is Louis Tylka. The mother church of the diocese is the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria.

History

Early history

1670 to 1776

During the 17th century, present-day Illinois was part of the French colony of New France. The Diocese of Quebec, which had jurisdiction over the colony, sent numerous French missionaries to the region.

The French explorers Robert de La Salle and Henri de Tonti in January 1680 built Fort Crèvecoeur near present-day Creve Coeur, Illinois.[1] Mass was celebrated there by three Recollect Fathers: Gabriel Ribourdi, Zenobius Membre, and Louis Hennepin. In 1698, the Jesuit Gabriel Marest was sent by the Diocese of Quebec to minister to the Native American settlement on Peoria Lake, a section of the Mississippi River. Fearing attack from hostile tribes, Marest and the Peoria Lake group later migrated further south along the river. With the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, Great Britain took possession of Illinois and the other French colonies east of the Mississippi River. The French priests then closed their missions in the Mississippi Valley.[2]

1776 to 1875

In 1776, the new United States claimed sovereignty over the area of Illinois. After the American Revolution ended in 1783, Pope Pius VI erected in 1784 the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States, encompassing the entire territory of the new nation.[3] In 1785, Bishop John Carroll sent his first missionary to Illinois. In 1787, the area became part of the Northwest Territory of the United States.[4] Pius VI created the Diocese of Baltimore, the first diocese in the United States, to replace the prefecture apostolic in 1789.[5][6]

With the creation of the Diocese of Bardstown in Kentucky in 1810, supervision of the Illinois missions shifted there from the Diocese of Baltimore.[3] In 1827, the Diocese of St. Louis assumed jurisdiction over the western half of the new state of Illinois. In 1834, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Vincennes, which included eastern Illinois.[7] Bishop Joseph Rosati of St. Louis sent John Blaise Raho in 1839 to serve the growing Catholic population of central Illinois. He erected St. Patrick's Church in Kickapoo.[8]

In 1843, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Chicago, taking all the Illinois parishes from the Dioceses of St. Louis and Vincennes.[9] St. Mary's, the first Catholic church in Peoria proper, was erected by John A. Drew in 1846. Among his successors as pastor of St. Mary's was the poet Abram J. Ryan.[10]

Many of the early Irish immigrants in Illinois in the mid-1800s came to work on the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Owing to the failure of the contracting company, the workers received their pay in land scrip instead of cash, forcing them to settle on virgin farm land. These Irish farmers joined the existing German immigrants. They were followed by Poles, Slovaks, Slovenians, Croats, Lithuanians, and Italians who came to work in the coal mines. These groups were organized in ethnic parishes with priests of their own nationalities. In 1851, the first Catholic Church in Rock Island, St. James, was opened.[11]

Diocese of Peoria

1875 to 1930

Due to the rapid growth of the Catholic population in central Illinois in the late 19th century, Coadjutor Bishop Thomas Foley of Chicago became concerned about his ability to govern that region along with Chicago. He requested that the Vatican divide the Diocese of Chicago in 1872, but the Vatican did not act on it. After another appeal to the Vatican in 1874, Pope Pius IX on February 12, 1875, erected the new Diocese of Peoria, taking 23 counties from the Diocese of Chicago. The new diocese was bounded on the west by the Mississippi River and on the east by the Indiana border. Peoria was chosen as the see city.[12]

Pius IX appointed John Spalding of the Diocese of Louisville as the first bishop of Peoria in 1876.[13] That same year, six Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis arrived from Iowa City, Iowa, to care for the sick. They served at the city hospital and made home visits to patients. Shortly after the nuns' arrival, Spalding visited the city hospital. Observing their difficult working conditions, he encouraged them to form a separate congregation with his support. The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Peoria was established in July 1877. St. Francis Hospital opened in Peoria 1878.[14] Stricken with paralysis in 1905, Spalding resigned as bishop in 1908.[15]

Edmund Dunne of Chicago was the second bishop of Peoria, named by Pope Pius X in 1909. During the early 1920s, the future Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a popular Catholic personality in the post-war period, was a priest in the diocese. After Sheen spent time in pastoral and teaching jobs in the United Kingdom, Dunne ordered him to return to Peoria in 1925. This was despite Sheen's receiving job offers from Columbia University and Oxford University. After a year as a curate, Dunn allowed Sheen to take a position at Catholic University in Washington, DC.[16]

1930 to 1990

After Dunn died in 1929, Pope Pius XI replaced him in 1930 with Joseph Schlarman from the Diocese of Belleville. In 1951, he died after 20 years as bishop of Peoria.[17] Auxiliary Bishop William Cousins of Chicago was the next bishop of the diocese, named by Pope Pius XII in 1952.[18] During his tenure as bishop, Cousins established five new parishes and six new grade schools.[19] Pope John XXIII named Cousins as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1958.[18]

To replace Cousins, Pope John XXIII appointed Bishop John Franz from the Diocese of Dodge City in 1959.[20] Franz created 17 new grade schools, two new high schools, one Newman Center, four new parishes, four missions, and elevate eight missions to parish status. He retired in 1971 and Pope Paul VI named Edward O'Rourke of Peoria to replace Franz.[21]

O'Rourke sold the episcopal residence on Glen Oak Avenue in Peoria and moved to a one-bedroom brick ranch house near St. Mary's Cathedral, donating the money to the diocesan fund for retired priests.[22] He established the first diocesan pastoral council in 1974.[22] That same year he replaced the old system of six deaneries by dividing the diocese into fifteen vicariates. He ordained the first permanent deacons of the diocese in 1976.[22]

O'Rourke established the Annual Stewardship Appeal (now known as the Annual Diocesan Appeal) and the Teens Encounter Christ program.[22] He consolidated Costa Catholic School in Galesburg, Illinois, (1972), Jordan Catholic School in Rock Island, (1974), La Salle Catholic School (1978) and Peoria Notre Dame High School (1988).[22] In 1987, Pope John Paul II appointed John J. Myers of Peoria as coadjutor bishop of that diocese to assist O'Rourke.[23]

1990 to present

When O'Rourke retired in 1990 after 19 years as bishop, Myers succeeded him.[23] Myers issued an order forbidding Catholic hospitals in the diocese from providing emergency contraception to rape victims, a restriction he later eased.[24] He also fired a teacher at a Catholic high school for inviting a speaker to discuss the ordination of women to the priesthood.[24] During Myers' tenure, the diocese saw a rapid increase in vocations to the priesthood.[25] In 2001, Myers was made archbishop of Newark.[23] Auxiliary Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend was appointed by Pope John Paul II in 2002 to succeed Myers in Peoria.[26]

In 2008, the diocese opened the Fulton J. Sheen Museum in the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria.[27] As bishop, Jenky led the canonization cause of Sheen. However, in 2014, citing undocumented verbal agreements, Jenky announced that he would not permit the cause to progress until the Archdiocese of New York transferred Sheen's remains to Peoria from St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.[28][29] After three years of litigation between the diocese and the archdiocese regarding Sheen's wishes, a court ordered his remains to go to Peoria, where they arrived in June 2019.[30]

On May 11, 2020, Pope Francis named Louis Tylka of the Archdiocese of Chicago as coadjutor bishop of the diocese. When Jenky retired in 2022, Tylka automatically became bishop of Peoria.[31] In May 2024, Tylka announced a reorganization plan for the diocese. Under the plan, 12 parishes would merge with their neighbors and 107 parishes would merg into 38 new parishes. He cited the shortage of priests and the declining Catholic population in the region for these moves.[32]

The diocese in November 2025 announced the expansion of the Fulton J. Sheen Museum into the Fulton J. Sheen Experience.[33]

Sexual abuse

In November 2018, the diocese removed three retired priests, George Hiland, Duane Leclercq, and John Onderko, from public ministry after determining that all three had credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors.[34]

In May 2023, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul released an investigative report about sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy in Illinois.[35] For the Diocese of Peoria, Raoul reported 51 priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse by 142 accusers.[36][37] The diocese said that none of these priests were still in ministry and all of them had been reported to authorities.[38]

Bishops

Bishops of Peoria

  1. John Lancaster Spalding (1876–1908)
  2. Edmund Michael Dunne (1909–1929)
  3. Joseph Henry Leo Schlarman (1930–1951), appointed archbishop ad personam in 1951
  4. William Edward Cousins (1952–1958), appointed Archbishop of Milwaukee
  5. John Baptist Franz (1959–1971)
  6. Edward William O'Rourke (1971–1990)
  7. John Joseph Myers (1990–2001; coadjutor 1987–1990), appointed Archbishop of Newark
  8. Daniel Robert Jenky (2002–2022)
  9. Louis Tylka (2022–Present; coadjutor 2020–2022)

Auxiliary bishops

Peter Joseph O'Reilly (1900-1923)

Other diocesan priests who became bishops

The Catholic Post

In 1934, the diocese established a newspaper called The Peoria Register. It originally was part of a chain of diocesan newspapers printed in Denver. In 1969, the name was changed to The Catholic Post. The Post published its final edition on Dec. 24, 2023.[40]

Education

As of 2026, the Diocese of Peoria had seven high schools and 32 elementary/middle schools.[41]

High schools

  • Central Catholic High School – Bloomington[42]
  • The High School of St. Thomas More – Champaign[43]
  • Schlarman Academy – Danville[44]
  • Marquette Academy – Ottawa[45]
  • Notre Dame High School – Peoria[46]
  • St. Bede Academy – Peru[47]
  • Alleman Catholic High School – Rock Island[48]

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Diocese of Peoria is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[49]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Peoria — (Peoriensis). Diocese comprising that part of Central Illinois south of the Counties of Whiteside, Lee, Dekalb, Grundy, Kankakee, and north of the Counties of Adams, Brown, Cass, Menard, Sangamon, Nacon, Moultrie, Douglas, and Edgar. It was cut off from the Diocese of Chicago in 1875. Six years later it was enlarged by the addition of Lasalle, Bureau, Henry, Putnam, and Rock Island Counties.

Catholicism in this region dates from the days of Father Marquette, who rested at the Indian village of Peoria on his voyage up the Illinois River in 1673. Opposite the present site of the episcopal city, La Salle and Tonti in 1680 built Fort Crèvecoeur, in which Mass was celebrated and the Gospel preached by the Recollect Fathers, Gabriel Ribourdi, Zenobius Membre, and Louis Hennepin. With some breaks in the succession, the line of missionaries extends to within a short period of the founding of modern Peoria. In 1839 Father Reho, an Italian, visited Peoria, remaining long enough to build the old stone church in Kickapoo, a small town twelve miles distant. St. MaryUs, the first Catholic church in the city proper, was erected by Father John A. Drew in 1846. Among his successors was the poet, Rev. Abram J. Ryan.

Many of the early Irish immigrants came to work on the Illinois and Michigan canal; owing to the failure of the contracting company, they received their pay in land scrip instead of cash, and were thus forced to settle upon hitherto untilled farm-land. These Irish farmers, with the Germans who began to arrive a little later, were the pioneer Catholics whose descendants now constitute the strength of the Church. In more recent years Poles, Slavonians, Clovenians, Croatians, Lithuanians, and Italians have come in considerable numbers to work in the coal mines. They are organized in parishes looked after by priests of their own nationality. The first appointee to the see, Rev. Michael Hurley, requested to be spared the responsibility of organizing and governing the new diocese. After many years of fruitful labour in Peoria, he died, vicar-general in 1898, and was mourned universally in the city and throughout the diocese.

Rt. Rev. John Lancaster Spalding was consecrated first Bishop of Peoria, 1 May, 1877. Born of the distinguished Spalding family, in Lebanon, Kentucky, in 1840, and educated at Bardstown, Mount St. MaryUs, Emmittsburg, Louvain, and Rome, his career as paster in Louisville, Kentucky, as orator, and as author had been marked by signal successes. The promise of his earlier life was more than fulfilled by the long years of his episcopate. Besides creating a new spirit in the Catholic life of the diocese, which found expression in new churches, schools, and institutions of education and charity, he sought fields of larger efforts for his zeal. He laboured earnestly in the cause of Catholic colonization in the West. He preached the truths of life to an ever-increasing and deeply appreciative audience of American people. He ranks high among the educators of the country. The Catholic University of America owes its origin largely to his zeal. Spalding Institute, Peoria, a Catholic school for boys, built and equipped by his generosity, is another monument to his abiding faith in education. His writings are assured of permanent use and admiration by future generations. At the height of his usefulness he was stricken with paralysis on 6 Jan., 1905, and resigned the see, 11 Sept., 1908, residing in Peoria as Archbishop of Scitopolis, to which honour he was raised in 1909.

Right Reverend Edmund M. Dunne, D.D., the second and present Bishop of Peoria, was born at Chicago, 2 Feb., 1864. He began his classical studies at St. Ignatius's College, Chicago, and finished at the Petit Seminaire at Floreffe, Belgium. Completing his theological course at Louvain, he was ordained priest, 24 June, 1887. Later studies in Rome prepared him for the doctor's degree, which was conferred by the Gregorian University in 1890. Eight years of parish work in St. Columbkill's church, Chicago, led to his appointment as paster of Guardian Angels Parish. His ministrations among the poor Italians of Chicago were remarkably successful. It was with profound regret that they saw him removed to the chancellorship of the archdiocese, after seven years of unselfish labour. He was consecrated Bishop of Peoria, 1 Sept., 1909.

Statistics

Bishops, 2; mitred abbot, 1; secular priests, 169; regular priests, 43; churches with resident priests, 151; churches, mission, 69; stations, 19; ecclesiastical students, 14; colleges for boys, 4; students, 355; academies for girls, 8; students, 1457; parishes with parochial schools, 69; pupils, 10,672; orphan asylums, 1; orphans, 75; industrial and reform schools, 1; total young people under Catholic control, 12,559; hospitals, 12; homes for the aged, 2; marriages, 1037; baptisms, 4527; burials, 1487; Catholic population, 96,000; number of square miles in diocese, 18,554.

References

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Bibliography

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