Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston

Established in 1850 by Pope Pius IX, the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston covers the entire state of West Virginia as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. It is unusual among American dioceses in having two cathedrals: the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Wheeling and the Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Charleston, a dual arrangement that reflects the 1974 realignment that finally matched the diocese's borders with the state's. Its 120 parishes stretch across the full breadth of West Virginia, from the Eastern Panhandle to the Ohio River valley.