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Catholicism in the Diocese of Bismarck began 172 years before the erection of the diocese. In 1738 French Canadian explorer La Pierre Verendrye reached the Indian settlements on the banks of the Missouri River. Missionaries accompanied La Verendrye and began the task of preaching the Gospel to the various tribes that inhabited the plains of this area.
After the Louisiana Territory was purchased and explored, American fur companies established trading posts along the Missouri River. The Most important were Fort Clark, west of Washburn in 1831, Fort Berthold, west of Garrison in 1845, and Fort Union, west of Williston in 1828.
One of the first priests spoken about in the early history is Father George Belcourt who began ministering to the Indians in 1831. Father Belcourt had a huge area to cover - basically from Winnipeg to the area that today comprises the Diocese of Bismarck.
The first recorded baptisms within the boundaries of the Bismarck Diocese were recorded on June 22, 1840, at Fort Clark.
Another early day missionary was Father Pierre DeSmet, a Jesuit, who visited the inhabitants along the Missouri River many times between 1840 and 1870. In 1859, it is recorded that he baptized about 900 children, and during his visits in 1862 and 1863 he baptized 1400 more along the upper Missouri.
In 1879 Pope Leo XIII erected the whole of Dakota Territory into a Vicariate Apostolic and appointed Abbot Martin Marty as vicar apostolic. The Code of Canon Law defines a Vicariate Apostolic as "...a certain portion of the people of God which has not yet been establiished as a diocese due to special circumstances and which, to be shepherded, is entrusted to an apostolic prefect who governs it in the name of the Supreme Pontiff."
Following Abbot Marty's consecration on Feb. 1, 1880, he made Yankton his headquarters. The new bishop had only 13 priests in the whole of Dakota Territory. Four of those were in the northwest quarter: one in Bismarck and three in Fort Yates. Two priests of note were Benedictines: Father Bernard Strassmeier and Father Francis Gershwyler. Father Bernard served 54 years at Fort Yates and Father Francis served 52.
Before 1880, few people settled in western Dakota. In 1879 rails for the Northern Pacific were laid west of Bismarck and soon town sites sprang up along the route. Most of the early settlers were easterners. The first Catholics in Bismarck, Mandan, Dickinson, Minot and Williston were predominantly Irish. Gradually other nationalities outnumbered the Irish, the largest contingent being German Russians. Other nationalities were French, Ukrainians, Bohemians, Dutch, Germans, and German Hungarians.
When it became evident, in the fall of 1889, that Dakota Territory would soon enter the Union as the states of North and South Dakota, Bishop Marty took the occasion to urge the Hoy See to establish a separate diocese for each of the new states. Pope Leo XIII granted his request in September of 1889. Father John Shanley, rector of the Cathedral in St. Paul, was appointed Bishop of North Dakota. The 37-year-old Bishop took charge of his See at Jamestown on January 22, 1890. Thirty priests covered all of North Dakota at the time.
By 1909 Bishop Shanley could see that the entire state was too large an area to be governed by one bishop. On March 21, 1910, the feast of st. Benedict, Pope Pius X formally erected the Diocese of Bismarck., and named Abbot Vincent Wehrle, OSB, of Assumption Abbey, as the first Bishop of Bismarck. Bishop Wehrle was officially welcomed on June 13, 1910, with a festive parade. Three days later he was installed at the Church of St. Mary, which was then known as the pro-cathedral until the present Cathedral of the Holy Spirit was completed in 1945.
In 1911 the Catholic population of the Diocese of Bismarck was 27,400. There were 74 parishes and missions and 44 stations, and 47 priests.
Bishop Wehrle resigned Oct. 17, 1939, and died Nov. 2, 1941. He is buried at Assumption Abbey in Richardton.
Bishop Vincent Ryan became the second Bishop of Bismarck on March 23, 1940, coming to Bismarck from Fargo. Bishop Ryan was known as the "Building Bishop." During his tenure the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit was built as well as 22 churches, 11 rectories, 11 school buildings, 3 institutions for the elderly, 3 hospitals, a nurses' home, 8 convents, one motherhouse and two parish halls for a total of 69 buildings.
Bishop Ryan's desire was to work until the last moment of his life and that wish was granted. He died on Nov. 10, 1951, less than three days after becoming ill. He is buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Bismarck.
Bishop Lambert Hoch succeeded Bishop Ryan as the third Bishop of Bismarck. Although the South Dakota native's years of service in the Bismarck Diocese were short, he tirelessly promoted vocations during his time here. Between 1952 and 1960, 42 priests were ordained 29 for the diocese and 13 for Assumption Abbey.
Bishop Hilary Hacker became the fourth Bishop of Bismarck in 1957 when Bishop Hoch returned to South Dakota as Bishop of Sioux Falls. It was during his time as Bishop of Bismarck that the Second Vatican Council was convened in the 1960s. He was in attendance at each of the general sessions in Rome. Bishop Hacker served the Bismarck Diocese for 25 years, retiring in 1982, at which time Bishop John F. Kinney succeeded him. Bishop Hacker died in November 1990 and is buried in Bismarck.
If Bishop Ryan was the "building bishop" then Bishop Kinney was the "renovating bishop." He not only oversaw the renovation of the cathedral of the Holy Spirit in 1992-93, but also the renovation of many churches in the diocese, bringing them into conformity with the directives of the Second Vatican Council. In May 1995, Bishop Kinney became Bishop of St. Cloud, Minn., leaving Bismarck a vacant see. It remained so until February 20, 1997, when Bishop Paul A. Zipfel became the sixth Bishop of Bismarck.
One of the highlights to date of Bishop Zipfel's years in the diocese was the Eucharistic Congress on June 11, 2000. More than 8,000 people from all corners of the diocese filled the Bismarck Civic Center that day. Plans are now underway to celebrate the diocesan Centennial June 11-13, 2010.
Today there are 23,661 family units in the Diocese of Bismarck with a Catholic population of 62,666. There are:
• 62 parishes
• 38 missions
• 101 priests, which includes diocesan priests, order priests, priests from India, two Ukrainian priests, and retired clergy.
• 22 brothers
• 116 women religious
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The official site of the Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota
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