1600 to 1700

In the 16th and early 17th century, the Wisconsin area was part of the French colony of New France. The first catholic missionary in the Superior region was Reverend René Menard,^[2] a French Jesuit missionary who was fluent in the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Huron dialects. In Spring 1661, he explored to Chequamegon Bay on Lake Superior.^[2]

In 1665, Reverend Claude Allouez started a Catholic mission near Chequamegon Bay, naming it the Mission of the Holy Ghost.^[2] Historians speculate that the mission was located at La Pointe, on Madeline Island. In 1669, Reverend Jacques Marquette arrived at the mission after Allouez moved to the Fox River Valley. Marquette baptized over 1,000 converts.^[2]In 1669, Allouez and Marquette established St. Joseph in La Pointe, but it was later abandoned.

During this time, the French bishops in Quebec, which became a diocese in 1674, had jurisdiction over Canada and North America east of the Mississippi River.

1700 to 1800

When the British took control of New France in 1763, the bishops in Quebec continued to have jurisdiction in the region. In 1791, soon after the conclusion of the American Revolution, Pope Pius VI erected the Diocese of Baltimore. It covered all the American states and the Northwest Territory, which included part of present-day Wisconsin.^[2] The rest of Wisconsin became part of the territory after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

1800 to 1900

In 1836, Reverend Frederic Baraga arrived at La Pointe and built a log church to re-established St. Joseph's Parish.^[2] His congregation of Native American converts and French fur traders grew rapidly. In 1838, Baraga built a larger church at La Pointe, on the location of St. Joseph's Catholic Church.^[2] St. Joseph's is the oldest continually operating church in Wisconsin.

In 1843, Pope Leo XIII erected the Diocese of Milwaukee, which included all of present-day Wisconsin. Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848. Pope Pius IX established the Diocese of Lacrosse and the Diocese of Green Bay in 1868, taking the northwest Wisconsin counties from the Diocese of Milwaukee.^[2]

1900 to 1920

Bishop Schinner

The Diocese of Superior was erected on May 3, 1905, by Pope Pius X.^[3] It was created from the northern part of the Diocese of La Crosse and the northwestern part of the Diocese of Green Bay. The pope named Monsignor Augustine Schinner as the first bishop of Superior.^[4][5][2]

When the diocese was established, it had 39 diocesan priests, 17 religious order priests serving 38,861 Catholics in 43 parishes with resident pastors, and 50 missions and 33 stations. There was one Catholic high school, 16 elementary and two boarding schools, for a total enrollment of 9,016 students. Schinner immediately saw the need for an additional 10 priests. By the time Schinner resigned in 1913, the pool of priests had grown from 39 in 1905 to 62 priests.^[2]

In 1913, Pope Pius X appointed Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Koudelka of Milwaukee as the second bishop of Superior.^[6][7] Koudelka ordained Philip B. Gordon, the first Ojibwa priest and the second Native American Catholic priest in the country. Fluent in eight languages, Koudelka authored books in Czech, German and English.^[8] As bishop, he also learned to speak the Ojibwe language. He commissioned works of art for several church properties. Koudelka created the Catholic Charities Bureau in Superior.^[9] In 1917, he dedicated St. Joseph's Children's Home in Superior, an orphanage that housed up to 200 children. He conducted over 100 parish missions around the country and contributed donations to help finance the orphanage.

In 1918, during World War I, the US Department of Justice investigated Koudelka; some diocesan priests had accused him of being pro-German. Two investigators interviewed him in Superior. After speaking with Koudelka and viewing some of his writings that supported US involvement in the war, the investigators concluded that these accusations were groundless.^[9] Koudelka died in 1921.

1920 to 1946

In 1921, Pope Benedict XV appointed Monsignor Joseph G. Pinten of the Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie–Marquette as the third bishop of the Diocese of Superior. After his arrival in Superior, Pinten purchased a home for himself. When he learned that a local community of sisters was living in an overcrowded residence, he remodeled the house and quietly turned it over to them. He oversaw numerous building and expansion projects throughout the diocese.Ground breaking for the new cathedral began in 1926.^[10] In his last act as bishop of Superior, Pinten blessed and laid the cornerstone for the Cathedral of Christ the King in Superior in October 1926. The next day he left for his new appointment as bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids.^[11]

To replace Pinten, Pope Pius XI in 1926 named Theodore H. Reverman of the Archdiocese of Louisville as the next bishop of Superior. That same year, the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross founded a hospital in Merrill. Reverman dedicated the new Cathedral of Christ the King in 1927. In 1929, the Servants of Mary built a new motherhouse in Ladysmith. St. Joseph Hospital was opened in Superior in 1937 by the Sisters of St. Joseph.^[12]

After 15 years in office, Reverman died in 1941. Pope Pius XII then selected Reverend William O'Connor of Milwaukee as bishop of Superior. During his tenure as bishop, O'Connor founded three new parishes, opened two new schools, and erected ten units of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine with a total enrollment of 12,000 children.^[13] A former military chaplain, he also oversaw the diocese's war efforts during World War II, including local blood drives.^[13] Pius XII appointed O'Connor as bishop of the Diocese of Madison in 1946.

1946 to present

Monsignor Albert Meyer of Milwaukee was the next bishop of Superior, named by Pius XII in 1946. During his tenure, Meyer oversaw the construction of 15 churches and ten schools. He was appointed archbishop of Milwaukee by the same pope in 1953.^[14] Pius XII then named Reverend Joseph Annabring to replace Meyer. Annabring established a Family Life Bureau and in 1955 a diocesan Council for Men. In 1957, he set up the St. Thomas Moore Institute for Adult Education to educated the laity about Catholicism. He died suddenly in 1959.^[15]

Pope John XXIII selected George Hammes as the next bishop in 1960. After attending the Second Vatican Council, Hammes instituted its reforms in the diocese. They included celebrating mass in the vernacular instead of Latin and raising the confirmation age to 16. He also created a diocesan pastoral council and instructed the parishes to set up their own pastoral councils.^[16] Pope John Paul II named Reverend Raphael Fliss from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as coadjutor bishop for the diocese in 1979 to assist Hammes.^[4]

After 25 years as bishop of Superior, Hammes retired in 1985; Fliss automatically succeeded him as bishop. Fliss retired in 2007. Later that year, Pope Benedict XVI named Peter Christensen of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis as bishop of Superior.^[17] In January 2014, Christensen announced that Common Core curriculum would not be allowed in the diocesan schools. Pope Francis named him as bishop of the Diocese of Boise in 2014.

The current bishop of the Diocese of Superior is James Powers, appointed by Francis in 2014.^[18]

Reports of sex abuse

Reverend Lawrence Murphy, director of the St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wisconsin, was forced to resign his position in 1974 due to complaints of sexual abuse of students. The Vatican later confirmed that he had abused as many as 200 deaf students there. Murphy was allowed to transfer in 1974 into the Diocese of Superior, where he worked in three parishes up to 1994.^[19]Two men from Boulder Junction reported abuse by Murphy during this time period to the diocese.^[20] The diocese and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee petitioned the Vatican in the late 1990s for his laicization, but the Vatican declined, having received a statement of repentance from Murphy.^[21] He died in 1998.^[22]

The parents of a 14 year-old boy accused Reverend David Malsch in 1991 of sexually assaulting their son in a swimming pool and taking nude pictures of him. The diocese removed Malsch from ministry and sent him away for treatment. Malsch was charged in November 1992 with second-degree sexual assault, child enticement and misdemeanor sexual exploitation of a child.^[23]He pleaded no contest in November 1993 to child enticement and was sentenced to one year in prison.^[24] The family sued the diocese for negligence in 1995, but the case was dismissed.^[25] Masch was laicized by the Vatican in 2005, the same year he was sentenced to nine years in prison for possession of child pornography.^[26]

In February 2002, Reverend Ryan Erickson shot and killed James Ellison and Daniel O'Connell at a funeral home in Hudson. O'Connell had earlier confronted Erickson, accusing him of molesting several local children. In 2004, Erickson hanged himself after coming under suspicion for the double homicide. The Ellison family sued the diocese in 2006, saying that diocesan officials knew about Erickson's erratic behavior before the shootings.^[27]A judge dismissed the lawsuit in January 2008.^[28]

Reverend Tom Ericksen was arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota in November 2018 on a warrant from Sawyer County. He was accused of sexually assaulting three boys between 1982 and 1983 when he was posted at St. Peter's Church in Winter, Wisconsin. The diocese removed Ericksen from ministry in 1983 and the Vatican laicized him in 1988. The diocese settled a lawsuit in 1989 with Paul and James Eck regarding Ericksen for approximately $3 million.^[20] The first police report by a victim against Ericksen was filed in 2011. Ericksen admitted to a detective in 2016 that he had molested five boys.^[29][30]He was convicted in September 2019 and sentence to 30 years in prison.^[31]

The diocese in 2022 released a list of 23 clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors.^[32]

Bishops of Superior

1. Augustine Francis Schinner (1905–1913)
2. Joseph Maria Koudelka (1913–1921)
3. Joseph G. Pinten (1922–1926)
4. Theodore H. Reverman (1926–1941)
5. William Patrick O'Connor (1942–1946), appointed Bishop of Madison
6. Albert Gregory Meyer (1946–1953), appointed Archbishop of Milwaukee and Archbishop of Chicago (elevated to Cardinal in 1959)
7. Joseph John Annabring (1954–1959)
8. George Albert Hammes (1960–1985)
9. Raphael Michael Fliss (1985–2007)
10. Peter F. Christensen (2007–2014), appointed Bishop of Boise
11. James Patrick Powers (2016–present)