On May 6, 1834, when Pope Gregory XVI issued a Papal Bull to erect the Diocese of Vincennes, Saint Francis Xavier became the cathedral church for the new diocese. The church was still unfinished when Bishop Bruté, the first Bishop of Vincennes, arrived in 1834. Bishop Hailandière continued work to complete the cathedral, which he consecrated on August 8, 1841. Saint Francis Xavier served as the diocesan cathedral until 1898, when the episcopal see was transferred to Indianapolis. The remains of the first four Bishops of Vincennes (Bruté, Hailandière, Bazin, and St. Palais) are buried in Saint Francis Xavier's crypt.