The Diocese of El Paso ( la, Dioecesis Elpasensis, es, Diócesis de El Paso) is a
Latin Church
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
ecclesiastical territory or
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, pro ...
of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in
West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.
No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
. Covering , it encompasses the
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
Presidio
A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...
,
Reeves
Reeves may refer to:
People
* Reeves (surname)
* B. Reeves Eason (1886–1956), American director, actor and screenwriter
* Reeves Nelson (born 1991), American basketball player
Places
;Ireland
* Reeves, County Kildare, townland in County K ...
,
Ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
and Winkler with approximately 668,000 professing members, being 80.8% of the total population, served by 107 priests, 54 parishes and 237 male and female religious. The see is a
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
of the
Archdiocese of San Antonio
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States, and sui juris Latin Church in full communion with the pope of Rome. It encompasses in the U.S. state of Texas. The Roman Catholic Archd ...
.
Erected on 3 March 1914, the Diocese of El Paso originally covered nearly in West Texas and southern
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
having been created from parts of the dioceses of
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
,
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
and
Tucson
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
. The present boundaries of the diocese were established on 17 August 1982 when the New Mexico portion of the diocese was split off to form part of the newly created
Diocese of Las Cruces
The Diocese of Las Cruces ( la, Dioecesis Las Cruces, es, Diócesis de Las Cruces) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the southwestern region of the United States, comprising the 10 southern counties i ...
. The Diocese of El Paso is a
suffragan diocese
A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ...
in the
ecclesiastical province
An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...
Archdiocese of San Antonio
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States, and sui juris Latin Church in full communion with the pope of Rome. It encompasses in the U.S. state of Texas. The Roman Catholic Archd ...
.
History
Before the founding of the diocese
Originally, the present-day area of El Paso was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Mexico which was established on 2 September 1530 by
Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...
and included all of the territory of
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
. On 13 July 1548
Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549.
He came to ...
erected the Diocese of Guadalajara, which included the northern frontier of New Spain. In 1620
Pope Paul V
Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...
established the Diocese of Durango which encompassed all of the provinces of
Nueva Vizcaya
Nueva Vizcaya, officially the Province of Nueva Vizcaya ( ilo, Probinsia ti Nueva Vizcaya; gad, Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Vizcaya''; tl, Lalawigan ng Nueva Vizcaya ), is a landlocked province in the ...
and
Santa Fe de Nuevo México
Santa Fe de Nuevo México ( en, Holy Faith of New Mexico; shortened as Nuevo México or Nuevo Méjico, and translated as New Mexico in English) was a Kingdom of the Spanish Empire and New Spain, and later a territory of independent Mexico. The ...
. In El Paso's present-day
Mission Valley
Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the city of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Missi ...
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
(1846–1848), the region became part of the United States, splitting from the Diocese of Durango, and on 23 July 1850 the Vicariate Apostolic of New Mexico was established, which on 29 July 1853 became the Diocese of Santa Fe under Bishop
John Baptist Lamy
Jean-Baptiste Lamy (October 11, 1814 – February 13, 1888), was a French-American Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first Archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Willa Cather's novel ''Death Comes for the Archbishop'' is based on his lif ...
, encompassing
West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.
No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
and
New Mexico Territory
The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912. It was created from the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico, as a result of ''Santa Fe de Nuevo México ...
, which at the time included the present-day states of
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
and
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. San José de Concordia el Alto was erected in 1859 on the site of the present Concordia Cemetery. It was the nearest Catholic church for El Paso residents at the time. There was no Catholic church in El Paso proper before 1881. Often Catholics from El Paso boarded a hand-pulled ferry to attend
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Juárez.
When the see of Santa Fe was elevated to an
archdiocese
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 associate ...
, the El Paso area was transferred to the newly created Vicariate Apostolic of Arizona in 1868. In the 1880s the new railroad lines in El Paso created a population boom and in 1882 lots were purchased on North Oregon Street as a site for the first Catholic church in El Paso, known as St. Mary's or Holy Family, which was completed in November 1882. In 1891 the El Paso area was transferred to the newly created Diocese of Dallas. St. Mary's School was opened for Catholic children in 1903. The earliest school of the
Sisters of Loretto
The Sisters of Loretto or the Loretto Community is a Catholic religious institute that strives "to bring the healing Spirit of God into our world." Founded in the United States in 1812 and based in the rural community of Nerinx, Kentucky, the ...
, Loretto Academy, dates from 1879 in San Elizario and, after moving to El Paso in 1892, continues to operate to the present day. Hotel Dieu, a hospital opened in 1892, operated for many decades. During the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
there was an influx of Catholics from Mexico into the El Paso area. To address the needs of the growing Catholic community,
priest Carlos Pinto established several new parishes in El Paso. These included Sacred Heart, Immaculate Conception, St. Ignatius, Guardian Angel, and Holy Family parishes. Rural areas in southern New Mexico and west Texas were served by travelling priests in car and horseback. After Pinto's efforts, Catholic parishes began to flourish in El Paso.
Founding and early history
On 3 March 1914,
Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...
established the Diocese of El Paso as a
suffragan see
A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, ...
of Santa Fe. The diocese covered nearly in West Texas and southern New Mexico and was created from parts of the dioceses of Dallas,
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
and Tucson. Jesuit
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
Father John J. Brown was appointed bishop of the newly created diocese on 22 January 1915 but resigned before his scheduled consecration. On 17 June 1915, another Jesuit, Father Anthony Joseph Schuler, was appointed bishop and was consecrated on 28 October 1915 by John Baptist Pitaval, the Archbishop of Santa Fe. Bishop Schuler oversaw the construction of St. Patrick's Cathedral. In raising funds for the cathedral's construction, the diocese offered to allow the first group to raise $10,000 for the project to name the new cathedral. A group of
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Catholic women met the challenge and chose St. Patrick as patron. At the time El Paso was a major center of the mining industry in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, with many of the miners being Irish.
The
anti-clerical
Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...
Mexican Constitution of 1917
The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...
and the persecution of the Catholic Church under Mexican presidents
Venustiano Carranza
José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a February ...
and
Plutarco Elías Calles
Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928.
The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...
resulted in an influx of priests and religious crossing back and forth between El Paso and Juárez to serve the needs of Catholics in Mexico during the
Cristero War
The Cristero War ( es, Guerra Cristera), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or es, La Cristiada, label=none, italics=no , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 1 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementa ...
Chihuahua City
The city of Chihuahua ''(La Ciudad de Chihuahua)'' () is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. , the city of Chihuahua had a population of 925,762 inhabitants. while the metropolitan area had a population of 988,065 inhabitants.
A ...
, in St. Patrick Cathedral in 1918 to serve the needs of the faithful in the state of Chihuahua. Fr Maldonado was beaten to death in Santa Isabel, Chihuahua by town authorities in 1937 and was raised to sainthood as one of the
Saints of the Cristero War
On May 21, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized a group of 25 saints and martyrs who had died in the Mexican Cristero War. The vast majority are Catholic priests who were executed for carrying out their ministry despite the suppression under the ant ...
canonised by
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
in 2000. A memorial commemorating the ordination of St. Peter of Jesus Maldonado was erected in St. Patrick Cathedral in 2005.
In 1924, Bishop Schuler opened St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and Cathedral High School. In 1939
completed the Shrine of Cristo Rey on the mountain where the borders of New Mexico, Texas and Chihuahua meet. The massive statue of Christ the King looks out over three states in two nations.
On 26 November 1941
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...
appointed
Sidney Matthew Metzger
Sidney Matthew Metzger, STD, JCD (July 11, 1902 – April 12, 1986) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of El Paso in Texas from 1942 to 1978. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop ...
, then Auxiliary Bishop of Santa Fe,
coadjutor bishop
A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...
of El Paso. On 29 November 1942, Bishop Schuler retired and Metzger succeeded as bishop of El Paso. During the first few years of his term, with the help of the
Catholic Church Extension Society
Catholic Extension (also known as the Catholic Church Extension Society) is a national fundraising 501(c)(3) organization which supports and strengthens poor mission dioceses across the United States. They provide funding and resources to diocese ...
, Metzger travelled the United States making his appeal from the pulpit for funds to erect new
apostolates
An apostolate is a Christian organization "directed to serving and evangelizing the world", most often associated with the Anglican Communion or the Catholic Church. In more general usage, an apostolate is an association of persons dedicated to the ...
needed by the diocese. His success was evident in the continuing establishment of Catholic ministries and institutions. Metzger built the current St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, two Catholic youth organisation camps in the New Mexico mountains, Holy Cross Retreat near Las Cruces. On 16 October 1961 the eastern portion of the diocese was carved out to form part of the newly erected
Diocese of San Angelo
The Diocese of San Angelo ( la, Dioecesis Angeliana, es, Diócesis de San Angelo) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church covering 29 counties throughout Central and West Texas. It was founded on October 16, ...
. In the early 1960s, Bishop Metzger was called to Rome to attend the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...
. Metzger oversaw the implementation of the Council's decrees in the diocese. Metzger was also a strong advocate for
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
issues such as the rights of the working people to
collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...
. In 1972 more than 3,000 employees of Farah Manufacturing Company in El Paso went on a strike lasting 20 months. Metzger gained national attention for his advocacy on behalf of the workers. At the time Metzger said, "I feel that the company is acting unjustly in denying to the workers the basic right to
collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...
."
William Farah
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, the company's president, subsequently called Metzger a member of the "rotten old
bourgeoisie
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
" and a man who is "lolling in wealth".
On
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...
, 1978, Metzger retired and on 4 April 1978
Patrick Flores
Patricio Fernández Flores (July 26, 1929 – January 9, 2017) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served from 1979 to 2004 as archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio in Texas, bishop of the Diocese of El Paso in Texa ...
, Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio, was appointed by
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
to succeed him. Flores was installed on 29 May 1978 and served just over a year before being appointed Archbishop of San Antonio.
On 29 April 1980,
Raymundo Joseph Peña
Raymundo Joseph Peña (February 19, 1934 – September 24, 2021) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio, was appointed bishop of El Paso and was installed on 18 June 1980. Continuing in Bishop Metzger's footsteps, Peña continued work for issues of social justice in the diocese taking up the cause the
undocumented immigrants
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...
. Peña called for a middle ground in the blockade against the undocumented during the mid-1990s. He also established
Tepeyac Institute
Tepeyac or the Hill of Tepeyac, historically known by the names Tepeyacac and Tepeaquilla, is located inside Gustavo A. Madero, the northernmost ''delegación'' or borough of Mexico City. According to the Catholic tradition, it is the site where ...
to prepare members of the laity for many ministries within the diocese. On 17 August 1982 the portion of the diocese in southern New Mexico was carved out to form part of the newly formed
Diocese of Las Cruces
The Diocese of Las Cruces ( la, Dioecesis Las Cruces, es, Diócesis de Las Cruces) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the southwestern region of the United States, comprising the 10 southern counties i ...
; the Diocese of El Paso. which as a result was in Texas only, became part of the Province of San Antonio.
Present day
On 23 May 1994 Bishop Peña was transferred to the
Diocese of Brownsville
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brownsville ( la, Dioecesis Brownsvillensis, es, Diócesis de Brownsville) is a Latin Church suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, in Texas, USA.
The ...
and on 1 April 1996 Pope John Paul II appointed then Auxiliary Bishop of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
Armando Xavier Ochoa
Armando Xavier Ochoa, D.D., (born April 9, 1943) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Fresno in California (2011 to 2019), bishop of the Diocese of El Paso in Texas (1996 to 2011) and auxil ...
as bishop of El Paso and he was installed on 26 June 1996. Ochoa has encouraged vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and the strengthening of diocesan ministries. In 1999 the diocese began a cooperative program with 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 ...
for preparing seminarians from that area for ministry to the growing Hispanic population in the southern United States. In 2001 the diocese entered into a pact of solidarity with the dioceses of Choluteca,
Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...
, and Brownsville, Texas, in response to the devastation caused in Central America in 1998 by
Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch is the second-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, causing over 11,000 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately 7,000 in Honduras and 3,800 in Nicaragua due to cataclysmic flooding from the slow motion ...
. In 2004, Ochoa established the Committee on a Five-Year Plan for Vocations and a Committee on the Life and Ministry of Priests. He initiated the annual Diocesan Congresses which enable the faithful to enrich their knowledge of the faith and commitment to ministry.
On 1 December 2011
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
appointed Ochoa as bishop of the Diocese of Fresno, California. On 6 May 2013,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
appointed Mark J. Seitz, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Dallas, to succeed Ochoa.
Sexual abuse cases
On January 31, 2019, the Diocese of El Paso released the names of 30 Catholic clergy who were "credibly accused" of committing acts of sexual abuse while serving in the Diocese. On May 6, 2020, the Diocese of El Paso and its St. Jude's and Immaculate Conception parishes, located in
Alamogordo
Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...
, were named in a sexual abuse lawsuit stemming from alleged abuse committed by David Holley. The plaintiff, identified as "John Doe," accused the Diocese of El Paso of protecting David Holley after Holley sexually abused him in the 1970s. The plaintiff alleged assault and battery as well as sexual assault and child pornography.
On August 4, 2020, the Diocese of El Paso was named in a sexual abuse lawsuit involving a plaintiff identified as "Jane Doe," for alleged sex abuse committed by Damian Gamboa at the St. Francis de Paula Church in Tularosa, New Mexico in the early 1980s. The New Mexico church was later transferred to the Diocese of Las Cruces, which was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit as well.
Sidney Matthew Metzger
Sidney Matthew Metzger, STD, JCD (July 11, 1902 – April 12, 1986) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of El Paso in Texas from 1942 to 1978. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop ...
(1942-1978)
#
Patrick Fernandez Flores
Patricio Fernández Flores (July 26, 1929 – January 9, 2017) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served from 1979 to 2004 as archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio in Texas, bishop of the Diocese of El Paso in Texa ...
(1978-1979), appointed
Archbishop of San Antonio
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States, and sui juris Latin Church in full communion with the pope of Rome. It encompasses in the U.S. state of Texas. The Roman Catholic Archdi ...
#
Raymundo Joseph Peña
Raymundo Joseph Peña (February 19, 1934 – September 24, 2021) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.Bishop of Brownsville
#
Armando Xavier Ochoa
Armando Xavier Ochoa, D.D., (born April 9, 1943) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Fresno in California (2011 to 2019), bishop of the Diocese of El Paso in Texas (1996 to 2011) and auxil ...
Sidney Matthew Metzger
Sidney Matthew Metzger, STD, JCD (July 11, 1902 – April 12, 1986) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of El Paso in Texas from 1942 to 1978. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop ...
Father Yermo High School
Father Yermo Schools is a private, Roman Catholic 3K-12 school in El Paso, Texas. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso
The Diocese of El Paso ( la, Dioecesis Elpasensis, es, Diócesis de El Paso) is a Latin Church ecclesiast ...
Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick in El Paso
St. Patrick Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso, Texas. The cathedral is located at 1118 N. Mesa Street, north of the downtown area. It is the mother church for 668,000 Catholics in the diocese (80.8% of total popula ...
*
Catholic Church by country
The Catholic Church is "the Catholic Communion of Churches, both Roman and Eastern, or Oriental, that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome (the pope)." The church is also known by members as the People of God, the Body of Christ, the " ...
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Catholic Church in the United States
With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the country's second largest religious grouping, after Protestantism, and the country's largest single church or Christian denomination where Protestantism is divided i ...
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Cristero War
The Cristero War ( es, Guerra Cristera), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or es, La Cristiada, label=none, italics=no , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 1 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementa ...
Global organisation of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church is "the Catholic Communion of Churches, both Roman and Eastern, or Oriental, that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome (the pope)." The church is also known by members as the People of God, the Body of Christ, th ...
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List of Roman Catholic archdioceses
The following is a current list of Catholic archdioceses ordered by continent and country (for the Latin Church) and by liturgical rite (for the Eastern Catholic Churches).
Many smaller countries, as well as large countries with small Catholic po ...
(by country and continent)
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List of Roman Catholic dioceses (alphabetical)
This is a growing list of territorial Catholic dioceses and ordinariates in communion with the Holy See. There are approximately 3,000 actual (i.e., non-titular) dioceses in the Catholic Church (including the eparchies of the Eastern Catholic Ch ...
(including archdioceses)
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List of Roman Catholic dioceses (structured view)
As of October 5, 2021, the Catholic Church in its entirety comprises 3,171 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, including over 652 archdioceses and 2,248 dioceses, as well as apostolic vicariates, apostolic exarchates, apostolic administrations, apost ...
(including archdioceses)
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List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States
This is the list of the Catholic dioceses and archdioceses of the United States which includes both the dioceses of the Latin Church, which employ the Roman Rite and other Latin liturgical rites, and various other dioceses, primarily the eparc ...
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...