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 the Diocese of Saint Louis in the Missouri Territory from 1826 to 1843. He built the first seminary and the first cathedral for the diocese. He also sent missionaries to areas such as Illinois, Arkansas and the Oregon Country.

A member of the Congregation of the Mission, in 1820 Rosati was appointed provincial superior, in charge of all Vincentian priests and seminarians in the United States. Rosati undertook a high-level diplomatic mission to Haiti in 1841 on behalf of the Vatican

Early life

Joseph Rosati was born as Guiseppe Rosati on 30 January 1789 in Sora in the region of Campania, then part of the Kingdom of Naples. Having decided to become a priest, he entered his diocesan seminary in 1804. He completed his education there in 1807. While studying at Monte Citorio, Rosati started learning Hebrew. However, his Vincentian preceptor, Reverend Felix de Andreis, advised him to learn English instead.

In 1815, Reverend Louis Dubourg, the French apostolic administrator of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, was recruiting priests to come to the United States. His jurisdiction covered a vast area of the American South and Midwest. 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 in St. Louis, the Catholic population of Perryville offered Dubourg 640 acres of land to build a church and seminary if he would recruit the priests for them. Accepting the offer, Dubourg travelled to Europe to find priests for this project.

While in Rome, Dubourg stayed at Monte Citorio. He persuaded the Vincentians to send some priests with him to the United States. De Andreis agreed to go and then convinced Rosati to join him. Before leaving Rome, Dubourg was consecrated as bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas.

Travel to the United States

thumb|Archbishop Dubourg

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

Rosati immediately opened St. Mary of the Barrens Seminary in temporary quarters in Perryville. The name referred to the Barrens Colony, established by French Catholic missionaries in the area in late 18th century. Rosati's goal was to train new members for the Vincentian Society. He later opened St. Mary's College there to educate 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 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.

Episcopacy

thumb|Pope Leo XII (1828)

Vicar Apostolic of Mississippi and Alabama

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 1822, 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

In July 1823, when Dubourg requested a coadjutor bishop to assist him in New Orleans, Pius VII named Rosati.

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."

As bishop, Rosati brought the Religious of the Sacred Heart Order to St. Louis to open parish schools. In 1827, Rosati invited the Society of Jesus to assume operation of St. Louis College; it became Saint Louis University in 1832. The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul opened Mullanphy Hospital in Bridgeton in 1828; it is today SSM Health DePaul Hospital. Rosati travelled to Baltimore to attend the First Provincial Council, a meeting of bishops from the United States, in 1828.

In the 1830s, as the Catholic population in the United States increased, nativist activists started promoting anti-Catholic propaganda. To help counter this in St. Louis, Rosati supported the creation of a Catholic newspaper, The Shepherd of the Valley.

Apostolic Delegate to Haiti

thumb|President Jean-Pierre Boyer (1825)

In August 1841, Rosati left France for Halifax in the British colony of Nova Scotia, then landed in Boston, Massachusetts. He then went to Philadelphia, where he participated in the consecration of Reverend Peter Kenrick to serve as his coadjutor bishop in St. Louis. In January 1842, Rosati sailed for Haiti on the brig William Nelson. As during his sea voyage in 1815, Rosati was sick the entire time.

References

Sources

  • Christensen, Lawrence O., et al. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia, MO:University of Missouri Press, 1997.
  • 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