Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo

The Diocese of Pueblo ( la, Dioecesis Pueblensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southern Colorado. The diocese was created on November 15, 1941. It encompasses the southern half of Colorado, from the state's borders with Utah to the west, to Kansas in the east. The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pueblo is the seat of the diocese. The Diocese of Pueblo is a suffragan diocese part of the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Denver.

In 2009, the diocese had nearly 100,000 registered Catholics, about 16% of the population.

History

The first church in the modern-day Diocese of Pueblo was the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, constructed in 1858 in Conejos by Spanish colonists from New Mexico. On November 15, 1941, Pope Pius XII separated territory from the Archdiocese of Denver to form the Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado and elevated the Denver Diocese to an Archdiocese. On November 10, 1983, Pope John Paul II separated territory from both the Archdiocese of Denver and the Diocese of Pueblo to form the Diocese of Colorado Springs.

The last official Roman Catholic "cruzado" or Crusade tax, referring to the tax taken to fund the Christian Crusades, was not abolished by the Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado until 1945.

Reports of sex abuse

In 1990, Diocese of Pueblo priest William Groves was arrested and pleaded guilty to sex abuse of sex abuse. As part his plea bargain, more serious sex abuse charges against Groves were dropped and he received a sentence of only four years probation and ordered sex abuse treatment On October 23, 2019, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser released the results of an eight-month investigation revealing that 43 Catholic clergy were credibly accused of sexually abusing at least 166 children throughout the state of Colorado since 1950. At least 36 of these children were molested by 19 clergy serving in the Diocese of Pueblo. On October 16, 2020, it was revealed that all three of Colorado's Catholic Dioceses, including the Diocese of Pueblo, had paid a total of $6.6 million in compensation to 81 victims of clergy sex abuse within the past year, regardless of how long ago the abuse happened. On December 1, 2020, Weiser's final report revealed that there were an additional 9 credibly accused clergy and 46 alleged victims in both in the Diocese of Pueblo and Archdiocese of Denver. Four of these priests named-Monsignor Marvin Kapushion, Father Duane Repola, Father Carlos Trujillo, and Father Joseph Walsh- where accused of committing acts of sex abuse while serving in the Diocese of Pueblo.

Bishops

Bishops of Pueblo

* Joseph Clement Willging (1941-1959)
* Charles Albert Buswell (1959-1979)
*Arthur Nicholas Tafoya (1980-2009)
* Fernando Isern (2009-2013)
*Stephen Jay Berg (2014–present)

Other priest of this diocese who became a bishop

*David Laurin Ricken, appointed Coadjutor Bishop and Bishop of Cheyenne and later Bishop of Green Bay

Schools

*Holy Family Catholic School ( Grand Junction)
*St. Columba Catholic School (Durango)
*St. Therese Catholic School (Pueblo)

There was previously Pueblo Catholic High School but it closed in 1971. By 1975 all Catholic schools in Pueblo had closed.Beck, Kathy Bribari.
Reunion planned for Pueblo Catholic High Class of '65
." Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo. July 2015. Retrieved on July 2, 2017. "celebrates its 50th reunion this fall, Sept. 11 to 13, some 40 years since all Pueblo's Catholic schools closed." - The article was published in 2015 so all Catholic schools would have closed by 1975.

References

External links

Diocese of Pueblo Official Site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese Of Pueblo

Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Denver
Catholic Church in Colorado
Christian organizations established in 1941
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo
Pueblo