Former diocesan priest, Messenger editor ‘Rafe’ Middeke dies at 92

Raphael H. “Rafe” Middeke, 92, of Trenton, formerly of Damiansville, died at 6:25 a.m. Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at Aviston Countryside Manor. He was born June 21, 1933, in rural Clinton County, a son of the late Bernard and Mary (nee Hellmann) Middeke. After attending St. Rose Elementary School, Rafe […]

Posted on May 14, 2026

Back Home – World War II airman from Prairie du Rocher returns 82 years after death

A U.S. Army detachment from Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri carries the remains of World War II veteran Edgar William “Billy” Nevois to his final resting place at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Prairie du Rocher. At left, Illinois Patriot Guard Riders hold flags and salute Nevois, who died in […]

Posted on May 14, 2026

Adorers of the Blood of Christ sell Ruma Center buildings

By Linda Norris Staff Writer Four years after the sisters of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ (ASC) moved out of the Ruma Center, they have sold the property buildings and 33 acres of land to Books for All, a nonprofit organization establishing community libraries with free resources. ASC […]

Posted on May 14, 2026

Ordination and Installation: After a year as a diocesan administrator, Fr. Godfrey Mullen, OSB, assumes role of bishop

Bishop Godfrey Mullen, OSB, wearing his mitre and carrying his crozier for the first time, blesses parishioners who attended his ordination and installation as the 10th bishop of the Diocese of Belleville on May 1 at the Cathedral (Tim Vizer photo). The sun shined brightly on the face of Bishop […]

Posted on May 14, 2026

Pregnancy Care Center volunteers are Walking with Moms in Need

The Pregnancy Care Center is committed to the respect and dignity for life and enhancing the quality of human life by providing crisis intervention, support, guidance and education to persons in need. “The founders attended a Right to Life Conference in Nebraska in 1982. A seed of an idea was planted, that there was a need for help for pregnant mothers in our area,” says Jill Lugge, president of Pregnancy Care Center and a volunteer at the center, and a parishioner at the Cathedral of St. Peter, Belleville.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament returns to St. Teresa Parish

With the blessing of then Bishop Wilton Gregory, on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 6, 1999, the Diocese of Belleville began perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Teresa of the Child Jesus Catholic Church in Belleville. For more than 20 years, the practice of perpetual adoration or exposition of the Blessed Sacrament took place 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in the St. Joseph Chapel at St. Teresa. Then in March of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was discontinued and the exposed Blessed Sacrament was moved to St. Teresa’s tabernacle.