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Joseph Rosati

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The Right Reverend

Joseph Rosati

C.M.
Bishop of Saint Louis
Native name
Giuseppe Rosati
SeeSaint Louis
Appointed20 March 1827
Term ended25 September 1843
Other post(s)
Orders
Ordination10 February 1811
Consecration25 March 1824
by Bishop Louis Dubourg, S.S.
Personal details
Born(1789-01-12)12 January 1789
Sora, Campania, Kingdom of Naples
Died25 September 1843(1843-09-25) (aged 54)
Montecitorio, Rome, Italy
BuriedBasilica of St. Louis, King of France, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
DenominationCatholic Church


Joseph Rosati, CM (30 January 1789 – 25 September 1843) was an Italian-born Catholic missionary to the United States who served as the first Bishop of Saint Louis from 1826 to 1843. A member of the Congregation of the Mission, in 1820 he was appointed provincial superior over all the Vincentians in the United States.

Early life

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Joseph Rosati was born on 30 January 1789 in Sora in the region of Campania, then part of the Kingdom of Naples. He completed his education in 1807 and entered the Congregation of the Mission, commonly called the Vincentian Fathers, in 1808.[1]

Priesthood

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Recruitment as missionary

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Rosati was ordained a priest on 10 February 1811 in Rome by Bishop Giuseppe Bartolomeo Menocchio.[2] While studying at the College of the Propaganda, Rosati had started learning Hebrew. However, his preceptor at the college, Reverend Felix de Andreis, advised him to learn English instead.[1]

In 1815, Rosati was recruited to become a missionary to the United States. Revered Louis Dubourg, the French apostolic administrator of Louisiana and the Two Floridas. This jurisdiction covered a vast area of the American South and Midwest.[3] Although technically based in New Orleans, Dubourg had faced hostility from the clergy there. He then moved this base to St. Louis in the Missouri Territory. After arriving there, the Catholic population of Perryville had offered Dubourg 640 acres of land to build a church and seminary if he would provide the priests. Accepting the offer, Dubourg travelled to Europe to recruit priests for this project.

While in Rome, Dubourg stayed at Santa Croce a Montecitorio, the mother church of the Vincentian order. He persuaded the provincial superior to send a contingent of priests to established the Perryville church and seminary. He recruited de Andreis to join the group; de Andreis convinced Rosati to join him.[4] Before leaving Rome, Dubourg was consecrated as bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas,

Travel to the United States

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Archbishop Dubourg

In 1815, Dubourg embarked from Bordeaux, France to Baltimore, Maryland on the American brig Ranger. At that the time, Baltimore was the center of Catholicism in the United States. Dubourg was accompanied by de Andreis and Rosati.[1]

Rosati was severely ill during the entire 43-day voyage. After arriving in Baltimore, the Dubourg party spent a month at the Sulpician seminary in Maryland to allow Rosati to recover. The three men then traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they boarded a flatboat to Louisville, Kentucky. Their final stop was at St. Thomas Seminary in Bardstown, Kentucky. [1]

Dubourg immediately returned to France to recruit more priests and seminarians for the Perryville seminary while de Andreis and Rosati remained in Bardstown. The two Italians taught theology at St. Thomas Seminary for the next year while perfecting their English. During his stay at Bardstown, Rosati made a mission excursion to Vincennes in the new State of Indiana.[1]

By 1817, Dubourg was ready to start the Perryville seminary. He asked Bishop Benedict Flaget to travel 300 miles with Rosati and de Andreis to St. Louis, Missouri, to prepare for his arrival.[4]Riding horseback, they traveled to Kaskaskia, Illinois, then crossed Mississippi River to reach Ste. Genevieve, a French Catholic community in the Missouri Territory. They were welcomed by Reverend Henry Pratte, the pastor in St. Genevieve. Leaving De Andreis to run the parish, Platte joined the group for the last 63 miles to St. Louis.[4]

Flaget, Rosati and Platte arrived in St. Louis to find its church and rectory to be in terrible shape. It did not have a floor, windows, doors or furnishings. The three men were forced to sleep on the ground wrapped in buffalo robes.[4]Dubourg landed in Baltimore in September 1817 with five priests and 25 future seminarians, then left for St. Louis. Rosati, Flaget and Platte were able to make the rectory inhabitable before Dubourg's arrival. Wearing their full pontifical vestments, Dubourg and Flaget led a procession through the town, greeted by the majority of the 2,500 occupants. They then proceeded to the church, where Dubourg addressed the congregation for the first time.[4]

St. Mary's of the Barrens

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St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary, Perryville, Missouri (1900)

In October 1818, Dubourg sent Rosati to Perryville to finally build the church and seminary that he had promised to the congregation three years early. Dubourg provided him with several enslaved individuals to aid in his construction projects; Rosati purchased more enslaved people in Perryville, bringing the total to 27 individuals.[5]

Rosati opened St. Mary of the Barrens Seminary in temporary quarters in Perryville. The name referred to the Barrens Colony, established by Catholic missionaries in the area in late 18th century.[6] Rosati's goal was to train new members for the Vincentian Society. He later opened the seminary to young men pursuing secular careers. Also in 1818, he began construction of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Perryville. A wooden structure, it was dedicated in 1820.

For several years, Rosait planned and supervised the construction of St. Mary of the Barrens Seminary campus. During this period, he taught seminary classes and served as pastor at Assumption Parish. In 1820, the Vincentians appointed him to the additional duty as provincial superior in the United States.[7]

Episcopacy

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Pope Leo XII (1828)

Vicar Apostolic of Mississippi and Alabama

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Pope Pius VII in February 1822 appointed Rosati as the titular bishop of Tanagra. He was consecrated by Dubourg at Ascension, Church in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. Six months later, in August 2022, Pius VII erected the Vicariate Apostolic of Mississippi and Alabama and appointed Rosati as its vicar apostolic.

Coadjutor Bishop of Louisiana and the Two Floridas

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In July 2023, when Dubourg requested a coadjutor bishop to assist him in New Orleans, Pius VII named Rosati.[8]

In July 1826, during a trip to Rome, Dubourg asked Pope Leo XII for permission to immediately resign as bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas. Still in St. Louis, Rosati had no knowledge of Dubourg's plans. Rosati wrote, "I was absolutely bewildered and could not persuade myself it was true."[4] Leo XII decided to divide the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas into the Diocese of New Orleans and the Diocese of St. Louis. He notified Rosati that he was now the apostolic administrator of both new dioceses.

Bishop of St. Louis

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Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, St. Louis, Missouri (circa 1840)

Leo XII named Rosait as the first bishop of St. Louis on 20 March 1827.[9][10]

Rosati's achievements include the opening of Mullanphy Hospital (later DePaul Hospital) by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in 1828,[11] the establishment of what would become Saint Louis University in 1829 and the construction of the first Cathedral of St. Louis from 1831 through 1834.[7]

He took part in the first four Provincial Councils of Baltimore. In 1841, Rosati was appointed by Pope Gregory XVI to assist in negotiations between the Vatican and the Republic of Haiti. Before leaving for Haiti, he consecrated Peter Richard Kenrick as his coadjutor. After submitting a report on his diplomatic mission to the pope, he died in Rome in 1843, His remains were returned to St. Louis, and interred in his cathedral.

Legacy

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Tomb of Bishop Rosati, Old Cathedral, St. Louis, Missouri (2004)

In 1888, the historian John Gilmary Shea wrote about Rosati:

"Bishop Rosati was eminent for his holy life, his zeal as a priest, his successful administration as a bishop, his learning, his eloquence."[7]

The Archdiocese of St. Louis in 2010 determined that Rosati had been a slave owner. A financial ledger from 1830 to 1839 showed that he had sold "my negro boy called Peter about nine or ten years old" to the Vincentian priest John Bouiller for $150.[12]

Rosati-Kain Academy, original Rosati-Kain High School, in St. Louis is named after Joseph Rosati.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Clarke, Richard Henry. "Most Rev. Joseph Rosati, D.D.", Lives of the Deceased Bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, Vol. 1, P. O'Shea, 1872
  2. ^ "Bishop Joseph Rosati [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
  3. ^ "Archbishop Louis-Guillaume-Valentin Dubourg [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "1818–1843: The Beginnings of a Catholic City". Archdiocese of St. Louis. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Vincentians and Slavery: History | Vincentians & Slavery | Education | DePaul University Division of Mission and Ministry | DePaul University, Chicago". offices.depaul.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  6. ^ Foley, Patrick (Spring 2001). "Missionaries Extr Missionaries Extraordinaire: The Vincentians from Saint Mary's of the Barrens Seminary". DePaul University. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Shea, John Gilmary. The Hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the United States, (New York: The Office of Catholic Publications, 1886), pp. 162–163 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ^ "Bishop Joseph Rosati [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  9. ^ "Bishop Joseph Rosati, C.M." Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 11 February 2013.[self-published source]
  10. ^ "New Orleans (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2025-03-20.
  11. ^ "A Brief History". Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul West Central Province. Archived from the original on 23 March 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  12. ^ "Archdiocese's research into history with slavery reveals three bishops, priests as slaveowners".
  13. ^ Bosenbecker, Ray. So, Where'd You Go to High School? First ed., vol. 1, Virginia Publishing Company, 2004, page 140.

Sources

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  • Christensen, Lawrence O., et al. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia, MO:University of Missouri Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8262-1222-0
  • Who Was Who in America:Historical Volume 1607–1896. Chicato:Marquis Who's Who, 1967.
  • Archdiocese's research into history with slavery reveals three bishops, priests as slaveowners
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
none
 Bishop of St. Louis
1826–1843 		Succeeded by
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