1. Joseph Rosati, CM 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.
29 Facts About Joseph Rosati
1. 2.
Joseph Rosati built the first seminary and the first cathedral for the diocese.
3.
Joseph Rosati sent missionaries to areas such as Illinois, Arkansas and the Oregon Country.
4.
Joseph Rosati undertook a high-level diplomatic mission to Haiti in 1841 on behalf of the Vatican.
5.
Joseph Rosati then went to Rome to study theology at the Vincentian center of Monte Citorio.
6.
Joseph Rosati was ordained a priest on 10 February 1811 in Rome by Bishop Giuseppe Bartolomeo Menocchio.
7.
Joseph Rosati's jurisdiction covered a vast area of the American South and Midwest.
8.
Joseph Rosati then moved this base to St Louis in the Missouri Territory.
9.
Joseph Rosati persuaded the Vincentians to send some priests with him to the United States.
10.
De Andreis agreed to go and then convinced Joseph Rosati to join him.
11.
In 1815, Dubourg, de Andreis and Joseph Rosati embarked from Bordeaux, France to Baltimore, Maryland, on the American brig Ranger.
12.
Joseph Rosati asked Bishop Benedict Flaget of Bardstown to accompany Rosati and de Andreis on the 300 mile trip to St Louis, Missouri.
13.
Dubourg provided him with several enslaved individuals to aid in his construction projects; Joseph Rosati purchased more enslaved people in Perryville, bringing the total to 27 individuals.
14.
Joseph Rosati immediately opened St Mary of the Barrens Seminary in temporary quarters in Perryville.
15.
Joseph Rosati's goal was to train new members for the Vincentian Society.
16.
Joseph Rosati later opened St Mary's College there to educate young men pursuing secular careers.
17.
Joseph Rosati was consecrated by Dubourg at Ascension Church in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.
18.
Still in St Louis, Joseph Rosati had no knowledge of Dubourg's plans.
19.
Joseph Rosati notified Rosati that he was now the apostolic administrator of both new dioceses.
20.
In 1827, Joseph Rosati invited the Society of Jesus to assume operation of St Louis College; it became Saint Louis University in 1832.
21.
Joseph Rosati travelled to Baltimore to attend the First Provincial Council, a meeting of bishops from the United States, in 1828.
22.
In 1831, Joseph Rosati began construction of the first cathedral in St Louis.
23.
Joseph Rosati sent missionaries to Quincy, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, and Little Rock, Arkansas.
24.
Joseph Rosati attended the Fourth Provincial Council of Baltimore in May 1840.
25.
Joseph Rosati met twice with Pope Gregory XVI, who elevated him to the rank of assistant to the papal throne.
26.
Joseph Rosati then went to Philadelphia, where he participated in the consecration of Reverend Peter Kenrick to serve as his coadjutor bishop in St Louis.
27.
In January 1842, Joseph Rosati sailed for Haiti on the brig William Nelson.
28.
Joseph Rosati traveled from Rome to Paris, where he became incapacitated for two weeks.
29.
Joseph Rosati's remains were returned to St Louis for interment in the Basilica of St Louis.