The history of the Church in this part of the world spans over 460 years to the moment a Spanish fleet of ships carrying 1,500 colonists sailed into what is now Pensacola Bay on August 15, 1559. On behalf of the Spanish crown, Don Tristan de Luna established the first European settlement in what was to become the United States of America.
Although that first settlement was short lived due to a severe hurricane, the eastern parts of our diocese saw the arrival of Spanish missionaries from eastern parts of La Florida not long after. At great risk to themselves they established the Apalachee Province of Florida in the early to mid 1600s. Most prominent among these was Mission San Luis in the Tallahassee area until it was brutally attacked and suppressed by British forces in 1704. Spanish colonization of the Pensacola area restarted in 1698, re-establishing the Catholic presence on the western side of what would later become our diocese.
Our oldest parishes across the region such as St. Michael the Archangel (1781), Blessed Sacrament (1845), and St. John in Pensacola (1851) as well as many others have seen themselves administered under several different dioceses such as Havana, Louisiana and the Floridas, Mobile, Savannah and St. Augustine before reaching our final form at the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee 50 years ago. Since then, six bishops have pastorally guided this local church, overseeing a steady growth.Special 50th Anniversary Logo coming soon!
page last updated January 9, 2025