Q: How many bishops have been ordained at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport?
A: Surprisingly, few! On Sept. 27, Bishop Dennis Walsh was ordained 10th Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport, but he is only one of four bishops ordained at Sacred Heart Cathedral and only the second to be ordained there for our diocese. All of the others were ordained elsewhere, for various reasons, and two were ordained at Sacred Heart but for other dioceses.
First, a little history. The Diocese of Dubuque was created in 1837 with Bishop Matthias Loras as its first bishop (he was a childhood friend of St. John Vianney, incidentally). At that time, the diocese covered the entire territory of Iowa and up into Minnesota and the Dakotas.
In 1881, the creation of the Diocese of Davenport carved off the southern half of the state of Iowa as its territory. That left the northern half as the Diocese of Dubuque, which was elevated to an archdiocese in 1893.
The Davenport Diocese did not have a cathedral when Bishop John McMullen became our first bishop. A priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, he was consecrated at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, where he had served as rector. He rebuilt the cathedral following the great Chicago fire of 1871 and later served as the archdiocese’s vicar general.
When Bishop McMullen took possession of the Davenport Diocese, he chose St. Margaret Church on a hilltop in east Davenport as our first cathedral. The church, named for St. Margaret of Scotland, really was a nod to Marguerite LeClaire, wife of Antoine LeClaire. Her husband, considered the principal founder of Davenport, gave the land and money to build the church.
The diocese quickly outgrew St. Margaret Church, which led to the start of the cathedral next door at 10th and Iowa streets. Bishop McMullen served two years as bishop until his death in 1883 — before the cathedral was dedicated in 1891 and named after the Sacred Heart of Jesus (with a St. Margaret Chapel by order of Rome). That meant that his successor, Bishop Henry Cosgrove (1884-1906) was ordained in the former St. Margaret Cathedral.
The first bishop ordained at Sacred Heart Cathedral was our third bishop, Bishop James Davis, ordained as co-adjutor bishop in 1904 and taking over for Bishop Cosgrove in 1906.
Our only auxiliary bishop was Bishop Edward Howard (1923-1926), who was ordained at St. Raphael Cathedral in Dubuque and eventually made Bishop of Oregon City (now Portland).
Our fourth bishop, Bishop Henry Rohlman (1927-1944), also consecrated at St. Raphael Cathedral, was installed the following day at Sacred Heart in Davenport.
The second episcopal ordination at Sacred Heart Cathedral was that of Bishop William Adrian in 1936. A priest of the Davenport Diocese, he was ordained Bishop of Nashville, Tennessee.
Our fifth bishop, Bishop Ralph Hayes (1944-1966), was already a bishop when he came to us. In 1933, he was consecrated a bishop in Pittsburgh, where he was from, for the Diocese of Helena, Montana. He became rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome during World War II, before his appointment to Davenport.
Our sixth bishop, Bishop Gerald O’Keefe (1966-1994), came to us as an auxiliary bishop of St. Paul, Minnesota. He was installed at Sacred Heart Cathedral in January 1967.
The third bishop ordained at Sacred Heart, Bishop Maurice Dingman, was one of our own but appointed to the Diocese of Des Moines in 1968.
Our seventh bishop, now-Bishop Emeritus William Franklin (1993-2006), was an auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, where he was consecrated (at St. Raphael’s) in 1987.
Bishop Emeritus Martin Amos (2006-2017) was also already an auxiliary bishop (of the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio) when he became our eighth bishop.
Our ninth bishop, now-Archbishop Thomas Zinkula (2017-2023) was consecrated at St. John Vianney Church in Bettendorf due to the construction of the gathering space and diocesan hall at Sacred Heart Cathedral. He now serves as the archbishop of the Dubuque Archdiocese.
There you have it! So, Bishop Walsh is only the fourth bishop ordained at the present cathedral and only the second for our diocese in nearly 120 years!
(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and vicar general for the Diocese of Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)
