1700 to 1829 In 1703, the first Catholic church in present-day Alabama, the Church of
Fort Louis de la Louisiane, was founded by French explores at present-day Mobile. That next year, Henri Roulleaux De la Vente became the first resident priest in the new settlement, under the authority of the
Diocese of Quebec. With the end of the
French and Indian War in 1763, the British took control of the French colonies east of the
Mississippi River, including Mobile. The British mandated that the French Catholic landowners in the colony swear allegiance to the
Church of England. As a result, most of them migrated to
New Orleans, now held by Catholic Spain. In 1790, during the American Revolution, the Spanish took Mobile from the British. In 1813, American forces captured Mobile. Eight years later in 1821, Spain sold all of their American colonies to the United States. Recognizing these changes,
Pope Leo XII in 1825 erected the
Vicariate Apostolic of Alabama and the Floridas. The pope named Monsignor
Michael Portier as the vicar apostolic. That same year, Portier sent his priests into interiors part of Alabama to minister to small clusters of Catholics in the area. Portier started construction of a new cathedral in Mobile in 1837. Saint John's Parish, the first Catholic parish in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was established in 1844. Portier brought the
Brothers of the Sacred Heart from France to the diocese about 1847, and the
Daughters of Charity from
Emmitsburg, Maryland, to manage orphan asylums for boys and girls, respectively. In 1850, Portier consecrated the
Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile. That same year,
Pope Pius IX erected the
Diocese of Savannah and moved eastern Florida out of the Diocese of Mobile. However, he resigned in September 1884 due to poor health.
Jeremiah O'Sullivan was his successor. O'Sullivan was successful in restoring the financial status of the diocese. He also established several new churches, chapels, and schools, and oversaw the addition of two towers to the
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. During Allen's administration, the Catholic population of the diocese increased from 18,000 to 48,000, and the number of priests more than doubled. In connection with the centennial celebration of the diocese, he erected Allen Memorial Hospital in honor of his predecessor Allen in December 1929. In 1941, Toolen prohibited Catholic parents who sent their children to
public schools from receiving the
sacraments.
1954 to 1968 In 1954,
Pope Pius XII renamed the Diocese of Mobile as the Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham to reflect the growth of
Birmingham, Alabama. Toolen opened several new churches, orphanages, hospitals, and other institutions that were meant to minister exclusively to
African-Americans, leading opponents to call him "the nigger bishop". In 1950, he oversaw construction of St. Martin de Porres Hospital in Mobile, which was the first hospital in Alabama where African American doctors could work alongside their white colleagues. He broke ground on Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in
Irondale in 1961, and dedicated the monastery in 1962. However, Toolen denounced the methods of civil rights activists, favoring a less confrontational approach to civil rights.
1968 to 1980 Pope Paul VI in 1968 erected the Diocese of St. Augustine, removing all of Florida from the Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham. During his 10-year-long tenure in Mobile, May established eight parishes and two deaneries, dedicated twelve churches, founded two schools, and erected a convent. In 1993,
David Trosch, an archdiocesan priest in
Magnolia Springs, started advocating the theory of
justifiable homicide as a justification for killing medical professionals providing
abortion services to women. Trosch then attempted to place an advertisement in the Mobile
Press-Register newspaper with a cartoon showing a man pointing a gun at a doctor holding a knife over a pregnant woman. The
Press-Register did not published the ad. Lipscomb offered Trosch "the alternative of publicly abiding by the [Archbishop's] judgment on this erroneous teaching or relinquishing his public position in the church."
Reports of sexual abuse In December 2018, Archbishop Rodi released the names of 29 priests and religious order clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors while serving in the Archdiocese of Mobile, dating back to 1950. At least two Catholic clergy on this list were convicted, with one other being sued. Rodi also issued an apology and asked for forgiveness. a 30-year-old priest, abandoned his clerical duties and left for Europe with an 18-year-old girl who had just graduated from the
McGill-Toolen Catholic High School. He was immediately removed from his position as the
parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Parish. Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch announced that the two had not had intimate relations. == Bishops ==