Diocese of Winona - Facts & Info

Diocesan Facts & Information

The Diocese of Winona includes the bottom tier of 20 counties in Minnesota – a total of 12,282 square miles. It was created in 1889 from territory that was once part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis.

Total population of the diocese is approximately 530,400. The estimated Catholic population is approximately 148,400 (28% of the total). The diocese is home to 115 parishes, 33 Catholic schools, including four high schools. Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary and St. Mary's Press both reside on the Catholic campus of St. Mary's University in Winona.

A diocese (from the Greek word meaning "district") is a geographic area under the care of a bishop. The diocese takes its name from the city in which the bishop resides, or in which his "seat of governance"--the cathedral--is located. As part of the universal church, which is worldwide, the diocese is often referred to as the "local church" or the "diocesan church."

The Diocese of Winona includes the bottom tier of 20 counties in Minnesota--a total of 12,282 square miles. It was created in 1889 from territory that was once part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis (the name "archdiocese" is given to large dioceses from which other local churches are established).

For administrative purposes, the diocese is divided into five geographic units called "deaneries." Click here for a map of the diocese.

Total population of the diocese is approximately 530,400. The estimated Catholic population is approximately 148,400 (28% of the total). There are 118 Catholic parishes in the diocese.

Schools

Among the 115 parishes are 33 Catholic schools, including four high schools: Cotter High School, Winona; Loyola High School, Mankato; Lourdes High School, Rochester; and Pacelli High School, Austin. Total Catholic school enrollment is 6,491.

A Catholic university--Saint Mary's University--is located in Winona. On its campus is the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary which is affiliated with the university. Newman Centers serve the Catholic students at Mankato State University and Winona State University.

Catholic Institutions

The diocese is home for two Catholic hospitals, St. Mary's in Rochester and St. Elizabeth's in Wabasha, three nursing homes, two hospices and a retirement community. Five retreat houses are located in Winona, Rochester, Mankato, Austin and Janesville.

Mankato is the provincial headquarters for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, and Rochester is headquarters for the Sisters of Saint Francis of the Congregation of Our Lady of Lourdes. In rural Houston is a hermitage for the contemplative religious order of Sisters, the Hermits of St. Mary of Carmel (Carmelites).

Publishing

Located in the Diocese of Winona, on the Winona campus of St. Mary's University of Minnesota, is Saint Mary's Press the leading Catholic religious education publisher of the United States.

Catholic Charities

Catholic Charities is the diocesan agency which assists the needy with family and personal counseling, adoption and child care services, programs for the elderly and vulnerable, outreach to migrants and refugees, pastoral services to those living with HIV/AIDS, post-abortion counseling and other social services, including advocacy for the poor and disadvantaged. Catholic Charities serves all, regardless of creed or ability to pay.

Diocesan Personnel

The Catholic parishes and institutions in the diocese are served by 79 active priests who serve as pastors, chaplains, teachers and administrators. In addition, two Sisters serve as Parish Directors for five parishes which do not have a resident pastor.

Bishop Bernard Harrington, formerly of the Archdiocese of Detroit, was installed as the seventh bishop of Winona on January 6, 1999. The bishop is assisted in his duties by a vicar general, a chancellor and a professional staff, called the curia, which administers various offices.

An additional 430 people, mostly lay men and women, are employed on parish staffs and as teachers and administrators in the diocese's 32 Catholic schools.