The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston is an ecclesiastical territory, or

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

, of the Roman Catholic Church in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

that comprises the entire state of

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. Currently, the diocese consists of 96 parishes and 21 missions, with Charleston as its

see See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...

city. Charleston is a suffragan diocese of the

Archdiocese of Atlanta In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. Services are primarily given in English throughout the diocese, though the rapid increase in the

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

population has caused several congregations to include Spanish language services, particularly in the

Lowcountry The Lowcountry (sometimes Low Country or just low country) is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. The region includes significant salt marshes and other coastal waterways, making it an impor ...

region.

History

Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Charleston, taking the territory of the states of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, North Carolina, and

from the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore, on July 11, 1820. He designated it as a suffragan of the same metropolitan see, making it the seventh oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the United States. On July 3, 1850, Pope Pius IX erected the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah The Diocese of Savannah is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the southern United States comprising 90 of the southern counties of the state of Georgia.

, taking Georgia from the Diocese of Charleston.On March 3,1868, the same pope erected the Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina, removing the state of North Carolina from the Diocese of Charleston. The Diocese of Charleston now included only South Carolina. On February 10,1962,

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

elevated the Diocese of Atlanta to a metropolitan archdiocese and transferred the Diocese of Charleston to the new metropolitan province.

Cathedrals

Consecrated on April 6, 1854, the

Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar The Cathedral of St. John and St. Finbar was the first Roman Catholic cathedral in Charleston, South Carolina. The cathedral followed the first Roman Catholic Church in Charleston, St. Mary's, founded around 1800. Construction began in 1850 with ...

was the first proper cathedral of the diocese. On December 11, 1861, it was destroyed in a fire that consumed most of Charleston. The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist was built to replace the original cathedral and sits on the foundation of its ruins. Before the Diocese of Raleigh was formed, the Diocese of Charleston had a

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

, that is now St. Mary Catholic Church.

Sexual abuse

In 2007, Charleston's Bishop Robert J. Baker agreed to pay a settlement of $12 million to people who were sexually abused by priests who were serving in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston.http://www.catholic.org/diocese/diocese_story.phpid=22894 In March 2019, the diocese unveiled the names of 42 clergy who were "credibly accused" of committing acts of sex abuse while serving in the Diocese of Charleston. In August 2019, it was revealed that Charleston Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone was being sued in the state of New York for sex abuse he allegedly committed while serving in the

Diocese of Rockville Centre The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre ( la, Dioecesis Petropolitana in Insula Longa) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church that comprises the territory of Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Isla ...

. In November 2020, the

North Myrtle Beach North Myrtle Beach is a city in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. It was created in 1968 from four existing municipalities, and is located about northeast of Myrtle Beach. It serves as one of the primary tourist destinations along ...

director of youth ministry, Jacob Ouellette, was arrested on charges of criminal sexual conduct, two counts of criminal solicitation of a minor, and first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor on the Internet.

List of Bishops

The complete list of bishops of the diocese is as follows:

Bishops of Charleston

# John England (1820-1842)
-

William Clancy William Clancy (12 February 1802 – 19 June 1847) was an Irish Roman Catholic missionary in the United States and British Guiana. Life The son of a farmer, William Clancy was born in West Cork and educated at St. Patrick's, Carlow College in ...

( coadjutor bishop 1834-1837; appointed apostolic vicar of British Guiana before succession) # Ignatius A. Reynolds (1843-1855) # Patrick N. Lynch (1857-1882) # Henry P. Northrop (1883-1916) # William Thomas Russell (1916-1927) #

Emmet M. Walsh Emmet Michael Walsh (March 6, 1892 – March 16, 1968) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Charleston in South Carolina (1927–1949) and as bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown in Ohio (1 ...

(1927-1949), appointed coadjutor bishop of Youngstown and subsequently succeeded to that see # John J. Russell (1950-1958), appointed bishop of Richmond # Paul John Hallinan (1958-1962), appointed archbishop of Atlanta #

Francis Frederick Reh Francis Frederick Reh (January 9, 1911 – November 14, 1994) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Charleston in South Carolina from 1962 to 1964. Reh previously served as rector of the P ...

(1962-1964), appointed rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome and later bishop of Saginaw # Ernest Leo Unterkoefler (1964-1990) # David B. Thompson (1990-1999; coadjutor bishop 1989-1990) # Robert J. Baker (1999-2007), appointed

bishop of Birmingham A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

# Robert E. Guglielmone (2009–2022) # Jacques E. Fabre, (2022-present)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

* John Barry, appointed bishop of Savannah in 1857 *

Joseph Bernardin Joseph Louis Bernardin (April 2, 1928 – November 14, 1996) was an American Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Cincinnati from 1972 until 1982, and as Archbishop of Chicago from 1982 until his death in 1996 from ...

, appointed auxiliary bishop of Atlanta in 1966, archbishop of Cincinnati in 1972, and archbishop of Chicago in 1982; became cardinal in 1983. * John James Joseph Monaghan, appointed bishop of Wilmington in 1897 * John Moore, appointed bishop of Saint Augustine in 1877 * (Abbot Emeritus Edmund F. McCaffrey was incardinated in this diocese in 1993.)

Departments

Magazine

''The Catholic Miscellany'', successor to the ''U.S. Catholic Miscellany'', the first Catholic newspaper in the United States, is the diocese's official magazine.

Office of Vocations

* The Drexel House - Catholic residence for youth ministry teams in downtown Charleston, SC * Vicar of Vocations: # Msgr. Richard D. Harris - vicar of vocations, 2004 - 2010; interim vicar for vocations, 2020–2021 # Fr. Jeffrey Kirby - vicar of vocations, 2010 - 2015 # Fr. Mark Good - vicar of vocations, 2015 - 2019 # Fr. S. Matthew Gray - vicar of vocations, 2019 - 2021 #Fr. Rhett Williams - vicar of vocations, 2021–present

Schools

*Secretary of Education: William Ryan

Diocesan high schools

Bishop England High School Bishop England High School is a diocesan Roman Catholic four-year high school in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It was located on Calhoun Street in downtown Charleston until it moved to a newly constructed 40-acre campus located on Dan ...

– Charleston * Cardinal Newman School – Columbia * St. John Paul II Catholic School – Okatie ( Beaufort and

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

counties)

=Private high schools

= * St. Joseph's Catholic School – Greenville * St. Anne Catholic High School – Rock Hill, South Carolina * St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic High School – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Parochial elementary schools

* Saint John Catholic School –

North Charleston North Charleston is the third-largest city in the state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. On June 12, 1972, the city of North Charlest ...

* Blessed Sacrament School – Charleston * Charleston Catholic School – Charleston * Christ Our King-Stella Maris – Mount Pleasant * Nativity School – Charleston * St. John Neumann Catholic School – Columbia * St. Joseph Catholic School – Columbia * St. Joseph Catholic School –

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

* St. Martin de Porres Catholic School – Columbia * St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic School – Aiken * St. Peter Catholic School – Columbia * Summerville Catholic School – Summerville * Prince of Peace Catholic School –

Taylors Taylors is a census-designated place (CDP) in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 21,617 at the 2010 census. Taylors is the Greenville/Spartanburg area's largest suburb although it is not incorporated as a city. ...

* St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School –

Spartanburg Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

* St. Francis by the Sea Catholic School –

Hilton Head Hilton Head Island, sometimes referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and southwest of Charleston. The island is ...

* St. Anthony Catholic School -

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

* St. Anne Catholic School -

Sumter Sumter may refer to: People Given name * Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist * Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general Surname * Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer * Shavonda E. Sumter ( ...

* St. Peter Catholic School – Beaufort * St. Gregory the Great Catholic School – Bluffton * St. Mary's Catholic School – Greenville * Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic School – Greenville * St. Anthony's Catholic School – Greenville * St. Michael's Catholic School - Garden City * Divine Redeemer Catholic School - Hanahan * Our Lady of Peace Catholic School - North Augusta * Holy Trinity Catholic School - Longs

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston Official SiteThe Catholic Miscellany
Official Magazine of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston {{Coord, 32, 46, 33, N, 79, 56, 03, W, source:kolossus-plwiki, display=title Charleston Catholic Church in South Carolina Religious organizations established in 1820 Charleston Charleston 1820 establishments in South Carolina