Pilgrimage Sites

PEORIA

in 1889 by our first bishop, John Lancaster Spalding. The church has undergone several renovations through the years and has hosted various diocesan celebrations. It was the childhood parish of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and his resting place today. The cathedral also houses the diocesan collection of relics.

GALESBURG

The church was built in 1884 by Fr. Joseph Costa, a Rosminian priest, who had come to the young Peoria Diocese from Italy. While planning the church, he traveled to his native Italy to ask for a relic for the altar. To his surprise, he received the remains of St. Crescent, a young Roman martyr. He has been credited for protecting Galesburg from tornadoes.

MOLINE

First known as a small St. Anthony mission, in 1875, St. Mary’s became a parish, thus celebrating 150 years in 2025.
Today, the parish is the diocese’s only primarily Hispanic parish.

CHAMPAIGN

Its roots go back to a student organization formed in 1905. The Catholic chapel construction was completed in 1927 and two years later, the Newman Foundation building was added. After two major renovations, it is now a home to more than 600 students. The St. John’s Catholic Newman Center is the largest Newman Center in the United States and is considered the flagship example of campus ministry.

UTICA

On Holy Thursday, April 11, 1675, Fr. Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, celebrated a Mass near Utica in the presence of hundreds of Native Americans. This was the first Mass offered in the future territory of the Diocese of Peoria. Today, Fr. Marquette’s monument stands in front of St. Mary’s, the former Mission of the Immaculate Conception he had founded.

NAUVOO

In 1848, Father James Griffith organized the first Catholic Church in Nauvoo. The parish then grew under the leadership of Fr. John George Alleman who had made many friends in the area, including the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith, Jr.