21-04-2025
What to know about Catholicism in Wisconsin: population, parishes, dioceses, history.
Catholics in Wisconsin and across the world are mourning the death of Pope Francis, remembering his humility and service to the poor and marginalized.
Francis died Monday of a stroke and irreversible heart failure at the Vatican, a day after he appeared at St. Peter's Square to bless Easter worshippers. He was 88.
Pope Francis led an estimated 1.4 billion Catholics around the world, including more than 1 million in Wisconsin.
Around 20% of adults in Wisconsin identify as Catholic, according to the Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Survey in 2023-24, making them the largest single religious group in the state.
More: Six Milwaukee Catholics share the impact Francis and his teachings had on their lives
Just how large is Wisconsin's Catholic population? Here's a look at the data.
There are about 1.24 million Catholics in Wisconsin, according to 2020 data from the Association of Religion Data Archives. That represents about 21% of Wisconsin's total population of 5.9 million in 2020.
The Catholic Church is organized into five dioceses in Wisconsin — the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and the Dioceses of Madison, Green Bay, La Crosse and Superior.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is led by Archbishop Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob, who is assisted by Auxiliary Bishops James T. Schuerman and Jeffrey R. Haines.
The other dioceses are led by: Bishop Donald J. Hying in Madison; David L. Ricken in Green Bay; Gerard W. Battersby in La Crosse; and James P. Powers in Superior.
No. Archbishop Grob was appointed on Nov. 4, 2024, and installed Jan. 14, 2025, so he was one of the last appointments by Pope Francis.
But Francis made several other significant U.S. appointments in his final months, naming Archbiship Shawn McKnight in Kansas City; Bishop Gregory Kelly in Tyler, Texas; and Archbishop Robert G. Casey in Cincinnati.
Catholics live throughout the state, but have a particularly strong presence in the Milwaukee and Green Bay dioceses along eastern Wisconsin.
In Milwaukee, the early church was home to German and Irish immigrants, and later to Polish, Italian and other immigrant communities, according to the archdiocesan website. The archdiocese supported these immigrants by providing Mass in their native language — a practice that continues today in some parishes with Mexican and Asian immigrants.
Green Bay's early history involved missionaries working with Indigenous tribes, followed by French, Irish and Belgian ethnic churches.
A recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis found about 184 Catholic parishes in the 10-county Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Some are the result of mergers between two or more parishes.
That compares to 261 parishes in the Archdiocese 60 years ago. In 1964, Catholics affiliated with a parish made up about 38% of the population in the archdiocese. Now, that number is 22%.
In 2020, there were around 752 total Catholic congregations in Wisconsin, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Among the challenges facing the Catholic Church in Wisconsin include a decline in infant baptisms, marriages and active diocesan priests. Parishioners are aging at the same time fewer young people attend Mass. And because of the declining number of worshipers, many churches have unused or underused buildings to maintain.
More: Milwaukee Catholic parishes are at a reckoning point. Here are several ways to understand the decline.
More: This map shows the Wisconsin Catholic parishes that have closed or merged over time
Wisconsin is home to several sites important to Catholics.
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States, is in New Franken. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is believed to have appeared to a young woman in the woods there in 1859.
The Basilica and National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians at Holy Hill is located on one of the highest elevations in southeastern Wisconsin, making it among the most photographed locations in the state. It is considered a sacred place of prayer and contemplation.
Milwaukee has many historic churches popular with tourists, including the Basilica of St. Josaphat. The dome was modeled after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and was only second in size to the U.S. Capitol when it was built.
More: These Wisconsin sites offer spiritual destinations during Lent
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Sophie Carson contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Catholicism by the numbers in Wisconsin: population, dioceses, parishes
