Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina

The Diocese of Salina (Latin: Dioecesis Salinensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northern Kansas in the United States.

Diocese of Salina

Dioecesis Salinensis
Sacred Heart Cathedral
Coat of arms
Location
CountryUnited States
Territory31 counties in north-central and northwest Kansas
Ecclesiastical provinceKansas City in Kansas
Statistics
Area26,685 sq mi (69,110 km2)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2010)
342,000
46,671 (14.1%)
Parishes86
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedAugust 2, 1887 as the Diocese of Concordia; December 23, 1944 as the Diocese of Salina
CathedralSacred Heart Cathedral
Patron saintOur Lady of Perpetual Help[1]
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopGerald Lee Vincke[2]
Metropolitan ArchbishopJoseph Fred Naumann
Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas
Map
Website
salinadiocese.org

The episcopal see is in Salina, Kansas. The diocese was founded as the Diocese of Concordia on August 2, 1887, and on December 23, 1944, was renamed Diocese of Salina.[3] The Diocese of Salina is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.[4]

On Wednesday, June 13, 2018, Pope Francis named Reverend Gerald Vincke as bishop of Salina.[5]

Territory

The Diocese of Salina covers 31 counties in Kansas:

Cheyenne, Sherman, Wallace, Logan, Thomas, Rawlins, Decatur, Sheridan, Gove, Trego, Graham, Norton, Phillips, Rooks, Ellis, Russell, Osborne, Smith, Jewel, Mitchell, Lincoln, Ellsworth, Saline, Ottawa, Cloud, Republic, Washington, Clay, Dickinson, Geary, and Riley. 

The diocese covers 26,685 square miles and has a Catholic population of 40,546.

History

In 1850, Pope Pius IX erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains. This vicariate covered all of the Missouri Territory, which then included the Kansas region.[6] Seven years later, Pius IX create a separate Apostolic Vicariate of Kansas, covering the newly created Kansas Territory. The first resident pastor within the Wichita area was appointed in 1873.

The Diocese of Leavenworth, covering all of Kansas, was erected in 1877 by Pius IX. He named Reverend Louis Fink as its first bishop. Kansas grew so rapidly over the next ten years that Fink petitioned the Vatican to establish two new dioceses in the western part of the state. In 1887, Pope Leo XIII created two dioceses out of western Kansas. The northern counties became the Diocese of Concordia and the southern counties the Diocese of Wichita. The pope named Reverend Richard Scannell from the Diocese of Nashville as the first bishop of Concordia.

With only 20 resident pastors and a growing Catholic population, Scannell attempted to solve the priest shortage by establishing a preparatory seminary in Belleville, Kansas, laying its cornerstone in June 1890.[7] However, due to an economic depression, the seminary was never built and left the diocese with a long-lasting debt. During his three-year-long tenure, Scannell also assisted the Sisters of St. Joseph to become permanently established in the diocese, erected 15 churches, and increased the number of diocesan priests from five to 22.[7] Leo XIII named Scannell as Bishop of Omaha in 1891. Leo XIII's replacement in Salina, Reverend Thaddeus J. Butler, died before his consecration as bishop.

In 1898, Reverend John Cunningham of the Diocese of Leavenworth was appointed the second Bishop of Concordia by Leo XIII.[8] Described as the "Diocesan Builder,"[9] Cunningham erected 54 churches, 22 schools, and three hospitals during his tenure.[10] He also dedicated the cathedral and laid the cornerstone for the Nazareth Motherhouse in 1902, and founded Hays Catholic College and St. Joseph's Orphanage in addition to several rectories and convents.[9]

Bishops

Bishops of Concordia
  1. Richard Scannell (1887–1891), appointed Bishop of Omaha
  2. Thaddeus J. Butler (1897) (died before consecration)[11]
  3. John F. Cunningham (1898–1919)
  4. Francis Joseph Tief (1920–1938)

Bishops of Salina
  1. Francis Augustine Thill (1938–1957) (see change was in 1944)
  2. Frederick William Freking (1957–1964), appointed Bishop of La Crosse
  3. Cyril John Vogel (1965–1979)
  4. Daniel Kucera (1980–1983), appointed Archbishop of Dubuque
  5. George Kinzie Fitzsimons (1984–2004)
  6. Paul Stagg Coakley (2004–2010), appointed Archbishop of Oklahoma City
  7. Edward Joseph Weisenburger (2012–2017), appointed Bishop of Tucson
  8. Gerald Lee Vincke (2018–present)

High schools

Sex abuse investigation

In February 2019, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) announced that it had been investigating sex abuse allegations against all the Catholic dioceses in Kansas since November 2018. On August 14, 2020, Melissa Underwood, KBI spokeswoman, stated, "As of Aug. 7, we have had 205 reports of abuse and have opened 120 cases."[12]

Ecclesiastical province
See: List of the Catholic bishops of the United States#Province of Kansas City

See also

References
  1. "E-News for the Faithful: June 25, 2021".
  2. "Pope Francis Names Rev. Msgr. Gerald L. Vincke as Bishop of Salina". usccb.org.
  3. "Diocese of Salina". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  4. "Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas". GCatholic. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  5. "Rinunce e nomine". press.vatican.va.
  6. "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Leavenworth". www.newadvent.org.
  7. "Bishop Richard Scannell: 1887-1898". Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina. Archived from the original on May 24, 2010.
  8. "Bishop John Francis Cunningham". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  9. "Bishop John F. Cunningham: 1898-1919". Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina. Archived from the original on 2010-05-24.
  10. "Diocese of Concordia". Catholic Encyclopedia.
  11. "History". Archived from the original on 2018-08-20. Retrieved 2018-08-19.
  12. "Newly released KBI report identifies 400+ victims of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Kansas". KSHB 41 Kansas City News. 2023-01-07. Retrieved 2023-03-22.

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