Wikipedia

Diocese of Biloxi

The Diocese of Biloxi (Latin: Dioecesis Biloxiensis) is a diocese of the Catholic Church that encompasses 17 counties in southern Mississippi in the United States. The diocese was erected in 1977. It is a suffragan diocese of the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mobile. The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Biloxi is the diocesan cathedral.

Diocese of Biloxi

Dioecesis Biloxiensis
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Biloxi
Coat of arms
Location
Country United States
TerritoryMississippi Southern Mississippi (17 counties)
Ecclesiastical provinceProvince of Mobile
Statistics
Area24,992 km2 (9,649 sq mi)
Population
  • Total
  • Catholics
  • (as of 2023)
  • 831,202
  • 54,520 (6.6%)
Parishes43
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedMarch 1, 1977
CathedralCathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Patron saintSt. Joseph the Worker[citation needed]
St. Martin de Porres[1]
Current leadership
PopeLeo XIV
BishopLouis Frederick Kihneman
Metropolitan ArchbishopMark Steven Rivituso
Map
Website
biloxidiocese.org

Territory

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The Diocese of Biloxi encompasses the counties of Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Lawrence, Marion, Pearl River, Perry, Stone, Walthall, and Wayne in southern Mississippi.[2]

Demographics

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As of 2023, the Catholic population of the diocese was 54,520, which represented 6.6% of the total population of 831,202. 77 priests, 51 permanent deacons, 28 male religious and 17 female religious serve the diocese.[3]

History

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1700 to 1800

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The first Catholic priests in present-day Mississippi were French Jesuit priest who accompanied the French explorer Pierre LeMoyne d’Iberville when he arrived at present-day Biloxi in 1699. The first mass in the Mississippi Gulf Coast was celebrated at this time. The region became part of the French colony of New France, with missionaries and European settlers arriving over the next 50 years.[4]

After the French and Indian war ended in 1763, France ceded all of its colonies east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain. The Spanish in 1783 seized southern Mississippi from the British. [4]In 1787, three priests, Fathers McKenna, White, and Savage, arrived in Natchez from Spain and erected three missions in the vicinity.[5] the Vatican in 1793 erected the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, with the episcopal see in New Orleans. This diocese included the few Catholics in Mississippi.[6]

1800 to 1900

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During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, American settlers started moving into the Gulf Coast area of Mississippi. They successfully revolted against Spain in 1810; the United States admitted all of Mississippi as a state in 1817.[4] In 1826, Pope Leo XII moved the new state of Mississippi into the Vicariate Apostolic of Mississippi. The pope named Bishop Louis-Guillaume-Valentin DuBourg as the vicar apostolic. In 1837, Pope Gregory XV elevated the vicariate to the Diocese of Natchez, encompassing all of Mississippi.[7] The Biloxi area would remain part of this diocese, succeeded by the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson, for the next 140 years.

When Bishop John J. Chanche of Natchez visited the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1841, there were no Catholic churches or schools anywhere in the state. Chanche noted that approximately 2,000 Catholics of French ancestry were living in the state. The first Catholic parish in Biloxi, Nativity Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), was opened as a mission in 1843; its church was dedicated in 1844. .[8] Missions were established that same year in Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis. St. Stanislaus College, a boarding school for boys, was established in 1854 in Bay St. Louis by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.[9]

Missionary priests established a small chapel in Pascagoula in 1859.[10]Nativity Blessed Virgin Mary Church was destroyed by a hurricane in 1869. The new church was dedicated in 1870.[11] The first Catholic high school in Biloxi, Sacred Heart Academy, opened in 1875. Resurrection Catholic School was started in Pascagoula in 1882 in by the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. The Sacred Heart Mission Church was dedicated in D’Iberville in 1884. In 1898, the first Catholic church in Gulfport, St. James, was dedicated.[12] Nativity BVM opened two grade schools in the 1890s, one for White children and one for African-American children.[11]

1900 to 2000

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Sacred Heart School was founded in 1900 in Hattiesburg by the Sisters of Mercy.[13] St. John High School in Gulfport opened in 1900.[14]That same year, Nativity BVM Church, its school and rectory were all destroyed by fire.[11]The new church was dedicated in 1902.[11]In 1917, St. Michael's Church was dedicated in the Point Cadet area of Biloxi. [11]

Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Biloxi, with territory taken from the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson on March 1, 1977.[15] The pope appointed Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze of Natchez-Jackson as the first bishop of Biloxi.[16] He became the first African-American to be appointed a Catholic bishop in the 20th century.[17]In 1980, Pope John Paul II elevated the Diocese of Mobile to a metropolitan archdiocese[18] and designated the Diocese of Biloxi as a suffragan of the new metropolitan see.

2000 to present

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Howze retired in 2001 after 24 years as bishop of Biloxi.[16]Thomas John Rodi of New Orleans was named the next bishop of Biloxi by John Paul II in 2001. [19]

Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Coast in 2005. Of the 433 parish buildings in the diocese, only three were left undamaged. [20]St. Paul's Church in Pass Christian was destroyed.[21] At that point, Rodi decided to merge St. Paul Parish with Our Lady of Lourdes Parish while keeping both churches. In 2007, 157 St. Paul parishioners sued the diocese over control of donated funds for rebuilding their church. The suit was dismissed in court.[22] Rodi served in Biloxi until 2008, when he was named archbishop of Mobile.[19]

Auxiliary Bishop Roger Morin of New Orleans was named the third bishop of Biloxi by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. In 2016, Morin resigned.[23]As of 2023, the bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi is Louis Kihneman III from the Diocese of Corpus Christi. He was appointed in 2016.[24]

Bishops

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Bishops of Biloxi

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  1. Joseph Lawson Howze (1977 – 2001)
  2. Thomas John Rodi (2001 – 2008), appointed Archbishop of Mobile
  3. Roger Morin (2009 – 2016)
  4. Louis Frederick Kihneman (2017 – present)

Other diocesan priest who became bishop

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Education

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As of 2025, the Diocese of Biloxi has eight elementary schools, three grades 7-12 schools and two K-12 schools[25]

Grades 7 to 12 schools

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Grades K-12 schools

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Sexual abuse

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Several diocesan priests have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct involving minors. These cases go back to the founding of the diocese in 1977.[30] Bishop Kihneman acknowledged five of these names as credibly accused of sexual misconduct of minors in 2019, but recognized that this was a “small, belated step forward.”[31][32][30][33]

References

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  1. ↑ "Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Biloxi, MS".
  2. ↑ "Diocese of Biloxi". Roman Catholic Diocese of Biloxi. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
  3. ↑ "Diocese of Biloxi". Biloxi Diocese - Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
  4. 1 2 3 "History of Mississippi | History | Research Starters | EBSCO Research". EBSCO. Retrieved 2026-05-21.
  5. ↑ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Natchez". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  6. ↑ "New Orleans (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  7. ↑ "Jackson (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  8. ↑ "About Our Parish". Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral Parish. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  9. ↑ "History - Saint Stanislaus Catholic Boarding School for Boys". Saint Stanislaus. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  10. ↑ Anderson, Joanne (2015-10-29). "Sampling History: Catholic church had early start in Jackson County in mid 1800s". gulflive. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Time Line; Catholicism in Biloxi" (PDF). eCatholic. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  12. ↑ "About Us | Saint James Catholic Church | Gulfport". Saint James 2022. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
  13. ↑ SHHS. "Sacred Heart History". Retrieved 2006-12-31.
  14. ↑ SJHS. "St. John High School History". Retrieved 2006-12-31.
  15. ↑ "Biloxi (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  16. 1 2 "Joseph Lawson Howze", Wikipedia, 2026-01-20, retrieved 2026-05-21
  17. ↑ "Previous Bishops of Biloxi". Catholic Diocese of Biloxi. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  18. ↑ "Mobile (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  19. 1 2 "Archbishop Thomas John Rodi [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2026-05-21.
  20. ↑ Griffin, Beth (2012). "Faith is the Spice of Life in Biloxi" (PDF). Catholic Home Missions. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  21. ↑ Elliott, David (2015-01-16). "Page 13: St. Paul chapel preserves memories in Pass Christian". WLOX. Retrieved 2026-05-21.
  22. ↑ "Kinney v. Catholic Diocese of Biloxi, Inc". Justia Law. Retrieved 2026-05-21.
  23. ↑ "Bishop Roger Paul Morin [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  24. ↑ "Pope Names Texas Priest as New Bishop of Biloxi, Accepts Resignation of Bishop Roger Morin | USCCB". www.usccb.org. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  25. 1 2 "Office of Education, Diocese of Biloxi". Catholic Diocese of Biloxi. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  26. ↑ "HOME". ourladyacademy. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  27. ↑ "Who We Are". St. Patrick Catholic High School. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  28. ↑ "About RCS". Resurrection Catholic School. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  29. ↑ "Sacred Heart Catholic School". Sacred Heart Catholic School. Retrieved 2026-05-22.
  30. 1 2 "Credibly Accused Clergy Abuse". Catholic Diocese of Biloxi. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  31. ↑ "Biloxi Diocese Names 3 Priests 'credibly Accused of Sexual Misconduct', by Jill Toyoshiba, Sun Herald, January 24, 2019". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  32. ↑ "Credibly Accused Clergy Abuse". Catholic Diocese of Biloxi. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
  33. ↑ WLOX Staff (2016-05-16). "Former priest admits to molesting boy, 12". WLOX. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
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