Tags: Christian Bishop.
John Janssen (March 3 1835 – July 2 1913) was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Belleville Illinois serving from 1888 until his death in 1913.Janssen was born in Keppeln Rheinish Prussia and studied at the seminaries of Gaesdonck and Münster. He accepted an invitation from Bishop Henry Damian Juncker in 1858 to join the Diocese of Alton in the United States. After arriving in Illinois he was ordained to the priesthood on November 19 1858.Janssen then served as pastor of Sts.