Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City

The earliest Catholic presence in Utah was the 1777 expedition of Reverend Francisco Atanazio Dominguez and Reverend Silvestre de Escalante from Santa Fe to California. They were the first Europeans to enter present-day Utah.[3] In 1859, Reverend Bonaventure Keller celebrated the first mass in the Utah Territory for US Army soldiers at Camp Floyd. Reverend Edward Kelly purchased the first church property in Salt Lake City in 1866.[3]

The first Catholic parish and church were established in 1871 by Reverend Patrick Walsh in Salt Lake City. In 1873, Archbishop Joseph Alemany of the Archdiocese of San Francisco sent Reverend Lawrence Scanlan to Utah to manage what was then the largest Catholic parish in the country.

Scanlan worked as a circuit rider, visiting the 800 Catholic soldiers, immigrant miners and railroad workers in the Utah Territory.[4] In 1875, he invited the Sisters of the Holy Cross to Utah, where they founded St. Mary's Academy and Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City.[5] Scanlan purchased property in Ogden in 1875 for Saint Joseph's church, which was dedicated in 1877.[6]

In 1878, Scanlan was named vicar forane by Alemany, making him the superior of the six Catholic priests in the territory.[7] As a Catholic missionary in an area dominated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Scanlan maintained a cordial relationship with the LDS community. In 1879, he was invited by LDS leader John Macfarlane to use the St. George Tabernacle in St. George to celebrate a mass, with accompaniment by the tabernacle choir.[8] He established St. John's Parish in Silver Reef, a mining town, that same year.[9] St. Mary's Church was constructed in Park City, then a mining town, in 1881.[10]

In September 1886, Scanlan opened All Hallows College at Salt Lake City. He served as a faculty member and lived at the college from 1887 to 1889.[11]

In 1887, Pope Leo XIII erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Utah and Eastern Nevada, taking its territory from the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The pope appointed Scanlan as the apostolic vicar.[12] In 1889, the Marist Fathers assumed control of All Hallows College, operating it until it closed in 1918.[11]

On January 27, 1891, Leo XIII suppressed the vicariate and replaced it with the new Diocese of Salt Lake, keeping Scanlan as bishop. That same year, He broke ground for the new cathedral in 1899. That same year, St. Francis of Assisi church opened in Provo, the first Catholic church in Utah County. [13] Scanlan established an official newspaper, The Intermountain Catholic, in 1899. He started missions and parishes throughout the new State of Utah. The Cathedral of St Mary Magdalene opened in 1909.[14][3] Scanlan died in 1915.

The second bishop of Salt Lake was Reverend Joseph Glass of the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles, named by Pope Benedict XV in 1915.[15] Glass renamed the Cathedral of Mary Magdalene as the Cathedral of the Madeleine. He also added distinctly Catholic murals to the building exterior.[16] Some observers said that Glass added the images to confront LDS followers, but others said he simply "wanted to teach Utah Catholics basic tenets of their faith."[17] Glass died in 1926.

In 1926, Reverend John Joseph Mitty from the Archdiocese of New York was appointed the third bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City by Pope Pius XI.[18] Mitty inherited a diocese deeply in debt. Glass had borrowed money to pay the interest on previous debt, and left the diocese owing over $300,000. In 1931, the Vatican transferred the seven counties in eastern Nevada from the Diocese of Salt Lake to the new Diocese of Reno. To reduce the debt, Mitty focused on improving the weekly offertory collection. When he left in 1932, the diocese was beginning to pay off its debts, and his successor was able to finish paying them off in 1936.

After Pius XI in 1932 named Mitty as coadjutor archbishop of San Francisco, the pope appointed Reverend James E. Kearney of New York to replace him in Salt Lake.[19] In 1937, Kearney became bishop of the Diocese of Rochester. To replace Kearney, Pope Pius XII named Monsignor Duane Hunt.[20] During his tenure, Hunt established fifteen parishes throughout the state.[21] He also invited such religious institutes as the Carmelites, Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, and Trappists to serve in Utah. In 1951, the Vatican renamed the Diocese of Salt Lake to the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Federal was named coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City in 1958 by Pope John XXIII to assist Hunt.

When Hunt died in 1960, Federal automatically succeeded him as bishop.[22] During Federal's tenure, crews replaced the slate roof of the Cathedral of the Madeleine with copper along with some sandstone blocks and gargoyles.[23] In 1970, he ordered the tolling of the cathedral bells toll when the hearse carrying the body of LDS President David O. McKay passed by.[24] After 20 years as bishop of Salt Lake City, Federal retired in 1980.

The next bishop of Salt Lake City was Monsignor William Weigand of the Diocese of Boise, named by Pope John Paul II in 1980. In 1990, Weigand created one of the strongest sexual abuse policies then in effect in the United States.[25]Weigand led a $9.7 million restoration of the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City from 1991 to 1993. Aside from repairing and cleaning the cathedral, the restoration aimed at bringing it into compliance with liturgical changes resulting from the Second Vatican Council. The most important change was moving the altar closer to the congregation.[26] In 1993, Weigand became bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento.

To replace Weigand, John Paul II named Monsignor George Niederauer as the next bishop of Salt Lake City in 1994. He became archbishop of San Francisco in 2005. Pope Benedict XVI replaced him in Salt Lake City with Auxiliary Bishop John Wester of San Francisco in 2007.[27] Wester served in Salt Lake City until his appointment as archbishop of Santa Fe in 2015.[28]

As of 2023, the current bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake city is Oscar Solis, formerly an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles. He was appointed by Pope Francis in 2017.[29]In 2018, Solis released the Pastoral Plan for the diocese. It focused on developing a comprehensive vision for strengthening faith formation, promoting vocations to the priesthood, seeking new ways to support the diocese financially and support the needy and increasing the reverence and devotion of the Eucharist. Implementation of the plan began in 2018 and was to end in 2023.[30]

In 2003, brothers Charles and Louis Colosimo sued the Diocese of Salt Lake City, claiming that they had been sexually assaulted as children by Reverend James F. Rapp from 1968 to 1972. Rapp would invited underage boys to pool parties at his residence, ply them with alcohol and then assault them. At the time of the lawsuit, Rapp was serving a 40 years sentence in Oklahoma for sexually assaulting boys there. The plaintiffs claimed that the diocese had received previous complaints about Rapp, but took no actions to protect children.[31] A judge dismissed the lawsuit the same year, stating that the plaintiffs had waited too long and had insufficient proof.[32]

In December 2018, the Diocese of Salt Lake City published a list of 19 diocesan clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors.[33]

Lawrence Scanlan (1887 - 1915)

1. Lawrence Scanlan (1887-1915)
2. Joseph Sarsfield Glass (1915-1926)
3. John Joseph Mitty (1926-1932), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop and later Archbishop of San Francisco
4. James Edward Kearney (1932-1937), appointed Bishop of Rochester
5. Duane Garrison Hunt (1937-1960)

1. Duane Garrison Hunt (1937-1960)
2. Joseph Lennox Federal (1960-1980)
3. William Kenneth Weigand (1980-1993), appointed Bishop of Sacramento
4. George Hugh Niederauer (1994-2005), appointed Archbishop of San Francisco
5. John Charles Wester (2007-2015), appointed Archbishop of Santa Fe
6. Oscar Azarcon Solis (2017–present)

Joseph Lennox Federal (1958-1960)

1. Leo John Steck (1948-1950)
2. Joseph Lennox Federal (1951-1958), appointed Coadjutor Bishop and later Bishop here

Robert Joseph Dwyer, appointed Bishop of Reno in 1952

• Blessed Sacrament Catholic School – Sandy
• J.E Cosgriff Memorial Catholic School – Salt Lake City
• Kearns-Saint Ann Catholic School – South Salt Lake
• Madeleine Choir Catholic School – Salt Lake City
• Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School – Salt Lake City
• Saint Andrew Catholic School – Riverton
• Saint Francis Xavier Catholic School – Kearns
• Saint John the Baptist Catholic Elementary School – Draper
• Saint John the Baptist Catholic Middle School – Draper
• Saint Joseph Catholic Elementary School – Ogden
• Saint Marguerite Catholic School – Tooele
• Saint Olaf Catholic School – Bountiful
• Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic School – Salt Lake City

• Juan Diego Catholic High School – Draper
• Judge Memorial Catholic High School – Salt Lake City
• St. Joseph Catholic High School – Ogden