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Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson
Diocese of the Catholic Church From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Diocese of Tucson (Latin: Dioecesis Tucsonensis – Spanish: Diócesis de Tucson) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory – or diocese – of the Roman Catholic Church in southern Arizona in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
The mother church for the Diocese of Tucson is St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson. Tucson is also home to Mission San Xavier del Bac.
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Territory
The Diocese of Tucson is the fifth largest diocese in the continental United States. It comprises the following nine counties:
Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Pinal, Cochise, Santa Cruz, Pima, Yuma, and La Paz.
The Gila River Indian Community in Pinal County is not part of the diocese.
History
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1691 to 1866
The first Catholic presence in southern Arizona was the Mission San José de Tumacácori near Nogales, founded in 1691.[1] It was established by Reverend Eusebio Kino to minister to the Sobaipuri Native Americans, part of a string of missions he found in the northern desert regions of the Spanish Empire. The next year, Kion built the Mission San Xavier del Bac on the present-day San Xavier Indian Reservation.[2]
The O'odham rebellion of 1751 forced the Mission San José de Tumacácori to move to its current location on the Santa Cruz River.[3] During an Apache raid in 1771, the Mission San Xavier del Bac was destroyed. It was rebuilt by 1797 and is the oldest European structure in Arizona.[4]
After the Mexican War of Independence ended in 1821, Mexico took control of the Southwest from Spain. The pastor of Mission San Xavier del Bac, Reverend Rafael Diaz, refused to sign a loyalty oath in 1828 to the new Mexican Government and was forced to leave the mission. The Mission San José de Tumacácori was abandoned by 1848 and was never used again as a mission.[3]
With the 1854 Gadsden Purchase, southern Arizona became a part of the United States.[5] In 1859, the Mission San Xavier del Bac, missing a priest since 1828, was taken over and staffed by the Diocese of Santa Fe.[2]
1866 to 1897
In 1866, Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy of the Diocese of Santa Fe appointed Jean-Baptiste Salpointe as vicar general of Arizona. He was replacing Jesuit missionaries who had been recalled from the area. That same year, Salpointe arrived in Tucson with two other priests.[6] At the time, Arizona consisted of approximately 6,000 settlers in some half a dozen settlements and several mining camps, as well as Native Americans inhabitants. Salpointe built new churches, organized new congregations, and founded schools and hospitals in the territory. Salpointe helped build San Agustin Church in Tucson, which would later become the first cathedral in the Arizona Territory.[7]
Pope Pius IX established the Apostolic Vicariate of Arizona in 1868, taking its territory from the Diocese of Santa Fe.[8] The pope named Salpointe as the first apostolic vicar. Salpointe left Arizona in 1885 to become coadjutor archbishop in Santa Fe. The second apostolic vicar of Tucson was Reverend Peter Bourgade, named by Pope Leo XIII in 1885.[9]
1897 to 1900
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Leo XIII converted the Apostolic Vicariate of Arizona into the Diocese of Tucson on May 8, 1897, covering the entire Arizona Territory along with parts of New Mexico and Texas. The pope named Bourgade as the first bishop of Tucson.[8][10] During his two-year tenure as bishop, Bourgade established twelve schools and an orphanage and rebuilt the Cathedral of Saint Augustine.[11] In 1899, Bourgade became archbishop of Santa Fe.
The second bishop of Tucson was Reverend Henry Regis Granjon, named by Leo XIII in 1900.[12] During his tenure, the Mission San Xavier del Bac underwent needed restoration. In 1904, Granjon stated that his diocese included "...40,000 Catholics, 90,000 heretics and 30,000 infidels".[13] In 1914, the Vatican erected the Diocese of El Paso, taking all the Texas counties from the Diocese of Tucson.[14] Granjon died in 1922.
To replace Granjon, Pope Pius XI named Monsignor Daniel Gercke of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as the next bishop of Tucson in 1923.[15] In 1939, Pope Pius XII established the Diocese of Gallup, taking all of the New Mexico territory from the Diocese of Tucson.[8] Auxiliary Bishop Francis Joseph Green of Tucson was named coadjutor bishop of the diocese by Pope John XXIII to assist Gercke in early 1960.[16] When Gercke retired that year after 37 years as bishop of Tucson, Green automatically succeeded him.
Green began major restoration on St. Augustine's Cathedral in 1966, completing the effort in 1968.[7] In 1969, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Phoenix, taking territory from the Diocese of Tucson. Green was instrumental in founding the Arizona Ecumenical Council, became an advocate of social justice, and provided ministries for African American, Native American and Hispanic Catholics.[17] Green retired in 1981.
Pope John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop Manuel Moreno of Los Angeles as the next bishop of Tucson in 1982. In 2001, the pope named Auxiliary Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Archdiocese of Chicago as coadjutor bishop in Tucson. After Moreno retired in 2003, Kicanas became the next bishop of Tucson.[18] The Diocese of Tucson filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2004, the second diocese to do so in US history.[19] Kicanas retired in 2017.
Edward Weisenburger, formerly bishop of the Diocese of Salina, was named bishop of Tucson by Pope Francis in 2017. In October 2024, a fire destroyed a shed at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Casa Grande. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were at the crime scene to verify if it was an act of arson.[20]
Sexual abuse scandal
The Diocese of Tucson reached an agreement in bankruptcy court in 2005 to pay a $22.2 million settlement to victims of sex abuse by clergy.[21] In 2013, Stephanie Innes of the Arizona Daily Star labeled the diocese as a "dumping ground" for abusive priests after it was revealed that several accused clergy from other dioceses were sent to Tucson.[22][23]
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Bishops
Apostolic Vicars of Arizona
- Jean-Baptiste Salpointe (1868–1884), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop and later Archbishop of Santa Fe
- Peter Bourgade (1885–1897)
Bishops of Tucson
- Peter Bourgade (1897–1899), appointed Archbishop of Santa Fe
- Henry Regis Granjon (1900–1922)
- Daniel James Gercke (1923–1960)
- Francis Joseph Green (1960–1981)
- Manuel Duran Moreno (1982–2003)
- Gerald Frederick Kicanas (2003–2017)
- Edward Weisenburger (2017–2025)
Coadjutor Bishops
- Francis Joseph Green (1960)
- Gerald Frederick Kicanas (2001–2003)
Other diocese priest who became bishop
Thomas Joseph O'Brien, appointed Bishop of Phoenix in 1981, resigned in 2003, convicted of felony of hit and run involving death, 2004.
Education
The Diocese of Tucson as of 2023 had 15 elementary schools, two Pre-K through 12 schools, five high schools, and one early childhood center.[24]
High schools
- Immaculate Heart High School – Oro Valley
- St. Augustine Catholic High School – Tucson
- Salpointe Catholic High School – Tucson
- San Miguel Cristo Rey High School – Tucson
- Yuma Catholic High School – Yuma[25]
Parishes and missions
See List of parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson
See also
- Catholic Church by country
- Catholic Church in the United States
- Ecclesiastical Province of Santa Fe
- Global organisation of the Catholic Church
- List of Roman Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
- List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
- List of Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
- List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States
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References
Sources and external links
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