The Diocese of Arlington ( la, Dioecesis Arlingtonensis) 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 Jo ...

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 ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in the Mid-Atlantic

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., ...

. The Diocese of Arlington comprises 70

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

es across 21

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 ...

and seven

independent cities An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor state ...

. The Diocese of Arlington 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 Alexandri ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Archdiocese of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore ( la, link=no, Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis) is the premier (or first) see of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore and nine of M ...

. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge is the ordinary of the diocese since December 2016; his residence is on the grounds of the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More in

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

. In 2013, there were 256 priests and 453,916 registered Catholics in the Diocese of Arlington. , the total population within the diocese, Catholic and non-Catholic, was 2,968,486. The diocese also operates two mission churches for the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

—Bánica Mission Parish (St. Francis of Assisi Church) and Pedro Santana Mission Parish, which are overseen by the diocesan Office of the Propagation of the Faith. The Director of the Propagation of the Faith in the Diocese of Arlington is currently Fr. Patrick L. Posey.

Territory

The Diocese of Arlington is composed of 21

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

and seven

: * ''Counties'': * Arlington *

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...

* Culpeper * Fairfax * Fauquier * Frederick * King George * Lancaster * Loudoun *

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

* Orange *

Page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

* Prince William * Rappahannock *

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

* Shenandoah * Spotsylvania *

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in th ...

* Warren * Westmoreland * ''Cities'': *

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

* Fairfax *

Falls Church Falls Church is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Washington metropolitan area. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Churc ...

* Fredericksburg * Manassas * Manassas Park *

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

History

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 ...

erected the Diocese of Arlington, taking it territory from the neighboring

Diocese of Richmond The Diocese of Richmond ( la, Diœcesis Richmondiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its current territory encompasses all of central and southern Virginia, Hampton Roads ...

and making it a suffragan of the

, on 28 May 1974.

Female altar servers

The Diocese of Arlington was one of a few dioceses in the United States that did not allow female altar servers until 2006. , the

Diocese of Lincoln The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. History The diocese traces its roots in an unbroken line to the Pre-Reformation Diocese of Leic ...

and Phoenix are the only dioceses in the United States that maintained this prohibition.

Sexual abuse

On February 14, 2019, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge released a list of sixteen priests who had been credibly accused of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Arlington. In 2010, Rev. Felix Owino A.J. pled guilty to molesting an 11-year-old girl in Fairfax County. In 2011, Owino was given a nine-month prison sentence, a five-year suspended prison sentence and the chance of being deported back to his native country of Kenya. By 2018, Owino had been deported. In March 2020, New Jersey priest Scott Asalone was arrested on charges of sexually abusing a teenager in

Loudoun County, Virginia Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun ...

in 1985. Washington D.C. councilman

David Grosso David Grosso (born September 18, 1970) is an American attorney and politician. He is a former at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia who lives in Brookland, Washington, D.C., Brookland. A native Washingtonian, he graduated from ...

publicly identified himself as the one who was sexually abused by Asalone.

Schools COVID -19 Pandemic Mask Mandate

As of January 23, 2022, the Catholic Diocese of Arlington has instructed its schools to follow Virginia's Republican Gov.

Glenn Youngkin Glenn Allen Youngkin (born December 9, 1966) is an American businessman and politician, currently serving as the 74th governor of Virginia since January 15, 2022. A member of the Republican Party, Youngkin defeated former Democratic governor T ...

’s anti-mask executive order for schools that goes into effect on January 24. In a letter to school leaders, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Arlington Joseph Vorbach, said state requirements should be followed over local health guidance when masks become optional at the state level Monday. He added the governor’s executive order “is clear on the right of parents not to have their child be subject to a mask mandate.”

Bishops

Bishops of Arlington

Thomas Jerome Welsh Thomas Jerome Welsh (December 20, 1921 – February 19, 2009) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Arlington in Virginia (1974–1983) and as bishop of the Diocese of Allentown in Pennsylv ...

(1974–1983), appointed Bishop of Allentown #

John Richard Keating John Richard Keating (July 20, 1934 – March 22, 1998) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Arlington in Virginia from 1983 until his death. Biography Early life John Keating was born on ...

(1983–1998) # Paul S. Loverde (1999–2016) # Michael F. Burbidge (2016–present)

Other priest from the diocese who became bishop

* Antons Justs, appointed Bishop of Jelgava in 1995

Churches

Catholic colleges and universities

Christendom College Christendom College is a Catholic liberal arts college in Front Royal, Virginia, United States, located in the Shenandoah Valley. It is endorsed by The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College and has been characterized as a conservative Catho ...

Front Royal Front Royal is the only incorporated town in Warren County, Virginia, United States. The population was 15,011 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. History The entire Shenandoah Valley including the area to become ...

Divine Mercy University Divine Mercy University (DMU) is a private Catholic graduate university of psychology and counseling located in Sterling, Virginia in the United States. Mission DMU seeks to further the science and professional practice of psychology and counse ...

, Sterling * Marymount University, Arlington

Catholic high schools

Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School (also known as DJO) is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school founded in 1957 in Arlington County, Virginia. It was established by the Diocese of Richmond, but it has been under the direction of the ...

, Arlington * Bishop Ireton High School,

* Saint Paul VI Catholic High School, Chantilly * Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School,

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from t ...

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington

The diocese coordinates and supports a range of charitable activities focused on assistance to the vulnerable, fund-raising and education. Initiatives include counselling, prison visits and foster care. Archduchess Kathleen of

Habsburg-Lorraine The House of Habsburg-Lorraine (german: Haus Habsburg-Lothringen) originated from the marriage in 1736 of Francis III, Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and Maria Theresa of Austria, later successively Queen of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary, Queen of ...

is a former communications director of the CCDA.

References

Sources

* Andreassi, Anthony D. (2002). ''Walking in Faith: the first 25 Years. A History of the Diocese of Arlington,'' Editions du Signe: Strasbourg. .
''2014 Catholic Diocese of Arlington Directory''

External links

* *
''The Catholic Herald''
- the official newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington

in

Catholic-Hierarchy ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in ...

.org database {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese Of Arlington 1974 establishments in Virginia Catholic Church in Virginia Christian organizations established in 1974 Arlington Arlington Arlington