''This article describes the present Diocese of Monterey in California. The entity previously known as the Diocese of Monterey from 1849 until 1859, and subsequently known as the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles from 1859 until 1922, is the present

Archdiocese of Los Angeles The Archdiocese of Los Angeles ( la, Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, es, Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church (Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particularly ...

. The entity known as the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno from 1922 until 1967 was canonically suppressed with the simultaneous erection of the present Diocese of Monterey in California and the present Diocese of Fresno.'' The Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California ( la, Dioecesis Montereyensis in California) 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 associ ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

of the

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 Jo ...

of the

Roman 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 the Central Coast region of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It comprises

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...

, San Benito,

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...

, and Santa Cruz counties. The diocese is led by an ordinary

bishop 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 ...

; the bishop's

cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principal ...

is located at the Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo, the

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metropo ...

of the diocese, in

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under b ...

. The diocese serves close to 200,000 Catholics in 46 parishes and 18 schools.

History

The history of the Catholic Church in Monterey began with the establishment on the shores of

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by ...

of Mission San Carlos Borromeo in 1770 by Saint

Junípero Serra Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order. He is credited with establishing the Franciscan Missions in the Sierr ...

, OFM. Father Serra moved the mission to Carmel the next year, which served as the headquarters of the chain of

Spanish missions in California The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests of ...

. With the papal bull ''Apostolicam sollicitudinem'' of 27 April 1840, Pope

Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

set up a new

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

, to which he gave the name of Diocese of California. He assigned to it a vast territory taken from that of the

Diocese of Sonora The Archdiocese of Hermosillo ( la, Archidioecesis Hermosillensis) is a Roman Catholic Diocese, Archdiocese located in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. Its area is 90,959 sq. miles, and its population (2004) 1,067,051. The bishop resides at Hermosill ...

, now the Archdiocese of Hermosillo in Mexico. It included

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

(corresponding to the present states of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

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 ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, western

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

and southwestern

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

) and the Baja California Territory (the modern Mexican states of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

and

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

). He set the episcopal see at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

and made the diocese 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 jurisdiction ...

of the

Archdiocese of Mexico City The Archdiocese of Mexico ( la, Archidioecesis Mexicanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church that is situated in Mexico City, Mexico. It was erected as a diocese on 2 September 1530 and elevated ...

. The first bishop of the diocese was

Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

, OFM.

Mission Santa Barbara Mission Santa Barbara ( es, link=no, Misión de Santa Bárbara) is a Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California. Often referred to as the ‘Queen of the Missions,’ it was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén for the Franciscan order on December ...

served as the

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 ...

. After ceding Alta California to the

at the close of the

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 ...

, the government of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

objected to a see located in the United States having jurisdiction over parishes in Mexican Baja California. The

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

divided the diocese into American and Mexican sections on 20 November 1849. With the see moved to Monterey, a more central position for the new diocese, the American section became the Diocese of Monterey. The

Royal Presidio Chapel The Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo ( es, Catedral de San Carlos Borromeo), also known as the Royal Presidio Chapel, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Monterey, California, United States. The cathedral is the oldest continuously operati ...

in Monterey served as the cathedral of the American diocese. In 1853, Pope Pius IX split the diocese again, erecting the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Francisco and designating the Diocese of Monterey as the suffragan of the new

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 ...

. In 1859,

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

changed the name of the diocese to the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles due to the growth of the

City 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' ...

. On June 1, 1922, Pope Pius XI renamed that diocese again, to the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego, and simultaneously erected a new diocese, the

Diocese of Monterey-Fresno The Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey-Fresno was formerly a Latin suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in California, United States. The episcopal see was located in Fresno.The diocese covered the present dioceses of Monterey and Fre ...

with the northern part of its former territory. In 1936, Pope Pius XI simultaneously elevated and changed the title of the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego to

, erected the Diocese of San Diego with territory taken from that jurisdiction, and elevated that jurisdiction a metropolitan archdiocese with the newly formed Diocese of San Diego and the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno as its suffragan sees, transferring the latter from the metropolitan province of San Francisco. Finally, in 1967, Pope Paul VI divided the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno and erected the present Diocese of Fresno and the present Diocese of Monterey in California in the territory of the old diocese, making both the new dioceses also

suffragans 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 jurisdiction ...

of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The ''present'' Diocese of Monterey in California is the diocese canonically erected under this title in 1967.

Bishops

The lists of Bishops and their years of service:

Bishops of Monterey in California

# Harry Anselm Clinch (1967–1982) # Thaddeus Anthony Shubsda (1982–1991) #

Sylvester Donovan Ryan Sylvester Donovan Ryan (born September 3, 1930) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Monterey in California from 1992 to 2007 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles fr ...

(1992–2006) #

Richard John Garcia Richard John Garcia (April 24, 1947 – July 11, 2018) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Monterey in California from 2007 until his death in 2018. He previously served as an ...

(2007–2018)
-

Gerald Eugene Wilkerson Gerald Eugene Wilkerson (born October 21, 1939) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from 1997 to 2015 and as apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Mon ...

, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles (

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

2018–2019) # Daniel E. Garcia (2019–present)

Other priests of this diocese who became Bishops

* Tod David Brown, appointed Bishop of Boise City in 1988

Churches

The churches in the Diocese of Monterey include the Cathedral of San Carlos in

(the oldest stone building and the first cathedral in California) and seven former Spanish Missions: Carmel Mission Basillica;

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad ( es, Misión Nuestra Señora de la Soledad), commonly known as Mission Soledad, is a Spanish mission located in Soledad, California. The mission was founded by the Franciscan order on October 9, 1791 to con ...

;

Mission San Antonio de Padua Mission San Antonio de Padua is a Spanish mission established by the Franciscan order in present-day Monterey County, California, near the present-day town of Jolon. Founded on July 14, 1771, it was the third mission founded in Alta California ...

;

Mission San Juan Bautista Mission San Juan Bautista is a Spanish mission in San Juan Bautista, San Benito County, California. Founded on June 24, 1797 by Fermín Lasuén of the Franciscan order, the mission was the fifteenth of the Spanish missions established in presen ...

;

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa ( es, Misión San Luis Obispo de Tolosa) is a Spanish mission founded September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra in San Luis Obispo, California. Named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the bishop of Toulouse, the m ...

; Mission San Miguel Arcangel; and

Mission Santa Cruz Mission Santa Cruz (''La Misión de la Exaltación de la Santa Cruz'', which translates as the Mission of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross), was the twelfth of twenty-one Spanish missions in California (today's U.S. state), established by the Fr ...

. A complete list of the churches in the diocese is found at

List of churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey This is a list of current and former Roman Catholicism in the United States, Roman Catholic churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey. The Archdiocese of Monterey includes the counties of Monterey County, California, Monterey, San Benito ...

High schools

Mission College Preparatory High School Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School is a private Roman Catholic high school in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey. Remodelings and additions In 2004, Mission College ...

, San Luis Obispo * Notre Dame High School, Salinas *

Palma High School Palma School is a grade 6-12 Catholic boys school located in Salinas, California, United States. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey, its motto is "Palma Merenti," which translates in English as "Palms to the Victor." History Palm ...

, Salinas *

Saint Francis Central Coast Catholic High School Saint Francis Central Coast Catholic High School is a Catholic school in Watsonville, California. The school was named after Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Francis de Sales, and is operated by an independent corporation that is a partnership ...

, Watsonville *

Santa Catalina School Santa Catalina School is a private school in California founded by Sister Margaret Thompson and the Dominican Order in 1950. Situated on a 36-acre hacienda-style campus, the Upper School is an all-girls boarding school which also accepts local st ...

, Monterey

Sources

''History'' article from the Diocese's websiteCatholic Schools of the Monterey Diocese

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey Official SiteCathedral of San Carlos Borromeo website
{{authority control Monterey County, California San Benito County, California San Luis Obispo County, California Santa Cruz County, California The Californias Monterey in California Monterey in California Monterey in California 1840 establishments in Mexico

History

Bishops

Bishops of Monterey in California

Other priests of this diocese who became Bishops

Churches

High schools

See also

Sources

References

External links