History

In July 1833, Charles Felix van Quickenborne, a Jesuit from St. Louis, arrived in the Dubuque area.  Soon the Catholics of Dubuque sent a petition to Bishop Joseph Rosati of St. Louis, to have a church built in Dubuque that would later become the Cathedral of St. Raphael.  Rev. Charles F. Fitzmaurice was appointed pastor to the area in May of 1834, but died before a Dubuque church could be built.

In July 1835, Rev. Samuel Mazzuchelli, a Dominican priest, laid the foundation for a stone church that was dedicated to Raphael, the Archangel. 

Pope Gregory XVI created the Dubuque Diocese on July 28, 1837. At this time the American Catholic Church was growing and trending westward as German and Irish immigrants followed the frontier beyond the Mississippi River. The Holy Father named Mathias Loras–the son of a wealthy family from Lyons, France who was already a clergyman in Alabama–as the first bishop.

Bishop Loras arrived in 1839 after traveling throughout Europe seeking priests and money.  Upon his arrival there were only three Churches:  St. Raphael in Dubuque and St. Anthony in Davenport (both begun by Mazzuchelli) and St. James in Sugar Creek.

The Church of the Archdiocese of Dubuque grew over the next five decades due to the grace of God and the tireless work and faith of subsequent bishops, women and men religious and the laity. The diocese was elevated to an archdiocese on June 15, 1893 by Pope Leo XIII. The Church’s growth in Northeast Iowa is evident in the data from the Catholic Directory of 1894 which lists 222 priests, 250 Churches and 100 parochial schools educating 12,500 students.

Today the archdiocese has a Catholic population just over 190,000 with 161 archdiocesan priests (82 in active ministry) and 163 parishes. The archdiocese encompasses 17,403 square miles throughout 30 counties in North Central and Northeast Iowa. 

Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP




Bishop Mathias Loras

 

Cathedral of St. Raphael circa 1839





Cathedral today