When Bishop Brute came to Indiana in 1834 there were two priests assigned full time to the Diocese of Vincennes, which comprised the entire Syate of Indiana and the eastern half of Illinois. These were Bishop Brute himself and Father Simon Lalumiere. Within nine years, in 1843, the Diocese of Chicago was established. The growth of Catholicism was phenomenal.
On this day, January 8, 1857 by decree of Pope Pius IX, the northern half of the state became the Diocese of Fort Wayne, the boundaries being that part of the state north of the south boundaries of Fountain, Montgomery, Boone, Hamilton, Madison, Delaware, Randolph, and Warren counties. Read more about the history of what is now the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend by going to the Diocesan website.
The remaining southern half of the state made up the Diocese of Vincennes, embracing 50 counties. It covered an area of 18,479 square miles extending from the north boundaries of Marion and contiguous counties to the Ohio River and from Illinois on the west to Ohio on the east.
