Deaneries are geographic divisions within Catholic dioceses.
“The earliest record which is available of the division of the Rockford Diocese into deaneries comes from the Synod of 1916. At that time, the diocese was divided into three deaneries: Western, Central and Eastern. The Western Deanery included the counties of JoDaviess, Stephenson, Carroll and Whiteside. The Central Deanery included the counties of Winnebago, Boone, Ogle and Lee and the Eastern Deanery included the counties of McHenry, Kane, Kendall and DeKalb.” (That All May Be One, 1976 diocesan history, p. 107)
From the original three deaneries, the Rockford Diocese has grown to seven deaneries, with denser populations on the eastern side of the diocese. (The diocese also lost Kendall County to the Diocese of Joliet when it was formed in 1948.)
Each deanery is assigned a vicar forane, informally called a dean, by the bishop. The geographic divisions are used, for example, to establish the membership of the Diocesan Pastoral Council.
Dean is the title of a priest appointed by the bishop to aid him in administering the parishes in a specified area called a “deanery” or “vicariates forane.” The function of a dean, or vicar forane, involves promotion, coordination, and supervision of the common pastoral activity within the deanery or vicariate.
