Roman Catholic Diocese of Natchez
[1] The first Catholic priests in present-day Mississippi were French Jesuit and Capuchin missionaries who accompanied the La Salle, Marquette, and d'Iberville expeditions in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Pope Leo XIII converted the vicariate into the Diocese of Natchez on July 28, 1837, its territory covering all of Mississippi.
Leo XIII then named Bishop Antoine Blanc of the Diocese of New Orleans to serve as a temporary administrator.
[2] Three years later, in 1840, Leo XIII appointed John Chanche, president of St. Mary's College in Baltimore, as bishop of Natchez.
[8][9] After the occupation of Natchez in 1864 by the Union Army during the American Civil War, Elder refused an order from the military government to compel his parishioners to pray for the US president.
[9] When he left the diocese, there were 41 churches, 25 priests, six religious houses for men, five convents, 13 parish schools and 12,500 Catholics.
[11] During his tenure, Janssens completed construction on the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson, Mississippi, which had commenced forty years earlier.
[14] St. Mary's Church in Vicksburg, serving the African-American community, was founded in 1906, with half of the funding coming from Sister Katherine Drexel.
[17] Gunn received significant assistance from the Catholic Church Extension Society, and incorporated the diocese in 1918.
[16] After Gunn died in 1924, Pope Pius XI appointed Richard Gerow of the Diocese of Mobile as the next bishop of Natchez.
During his 43-year tenure, Gerow oversaw an extensive renovation of St. Mary's Cathedral, held biannual clerical conferences, and worked to established Confraternity of Christian Doctrine programs in every parish of the diocese.
[9] In 1963, Gerow condemned the assassination of the American Civil Rights Movement activist Medgar Evers in Mississippi, saying, "We need frankly to admit that the guilt for the murder and the other instances of violence in our community tragically must be shared by all of us.
"[19] The following year, he ordered Catholic elementary schools in the diocese to admit students to the first grade "without regard to race.
"[20] In 1965, Gerow ordered the desegregation of all grades in Catholic schools to "bring our practice into full conformity with the teachings of Christ.
