The Roman Catholic Diocese of Juneau (Latin: ''Dioecesis Junellensis'') was 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 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 northwestern

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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, comprising the southeastern part of the state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. It was led by a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

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 c ...

who served as

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of 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 ...

, Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Juneau. The diocese of Juneau was a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Anchorage. On May 19, 2020, the Diocese of Juneau was merged with the Archdiocese of Anchorage, which was renamed the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau, and Bishop Andrew Bellisario was elevated to Archbishop.

History

The See of Juneau was erected on June 23, 1951, and took its territory from the former Apostolic Vicariate of Alaska. On October 3, 1951, Father Dermot O'Flanagan of Holy Family Church in Anchorage was installed as the first Bishop of Juneau and he served until 1968. While in office, Bishop O'Flanagan attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

. In 2007, the Juneau diocese became vacant when the previous

, Most Reverend Michael W. Warfel, was appointed bishop of Great Falls–Billings. On January 19, 2009,

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 soverei ...

named

Edward J. Burns Edward James Burns (born October 7, 1957) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Dallas in Texas since 2017. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Juneau in Alaska from 2009 ...

, a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, as Bishop of Juneau. He was installed on April 5, 2009. In December 2016,

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. ...

named Burns Bishop of Dallas. Pope Francis appointed Andrew E. Bellisario, CM bishop on July 11, 2017. He later became, concurrently, apostolic administrator of the Anchorage archdiocese. In 2020, these 2 jurisdictions were combined to form the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau, and he was appointed its Archbishop.

Bishops

The list of bishops and their years of service: * Robert Dermot O'Flanagan (1951-1968) * Francis Thomas Hurley (1971-1976), appointed Archbishop of Anchorage * Michael Hughes Kenny (1979-1995) * Michael William Warfel (1996-2007), appointed Bishop of Great Falls-Billings * Edward James Burns (2009-2017), appointed Bishop of Dallas * Andrew Eugene Bellisario, CM (2017–2020), appointed Archbishop of Anchorage-Juneau

Priests

As of 2019: * Rev. Patrick Travers (

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

) * Rev. Pat Casey, OMI * Rev. Mike Galbraith * Rev. Steve Gallagher * Rev. Perry Kenaston * Rev. Edmund J. Penisten * Rev. Andrew Sensenig, OMI

Parishes, missions and shrines

Church building in Wrangell, Alaska, 1891 (AL+CA 8253)

* Holy Family, Gustavus (''Mission'') * Sacred Heart, Haines * Sacred Heart, Hoonah * Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Juneau * St. Paul the Apostle, Juneau * National Shrine of St. Thérèse, Juneau * Catholic Community, Kake (''Mission'') * Holy Name, Ketchikan * St. John by the Sea, Klawock (Prince of Wales Island) * Holy Family, Metlakatla (''Mission'') * Body of Christ, Pelican (''Mission'') * St. Catherine of Siena, Petersburg * St. Gregory of Nazianzen, Sitka * St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Skagway * St. Francis Chapel, Tenakee Springs (''Mission'') * St. Rose of Lima, Wrangell * St. Ann, Yakutat

Popular culture

In the television series ''

The Young Pope ''The Young Pope'' is a drama television series created and directed by Paolo Sorrentino for Sky Atlantic, HBO, and Canal+. The series stars Jude Law as the disruptive Pope Pius XIII and Diane Keaton as his confidante, Sister Mary, in a Vatic ...

'', directed by

Paolo Sorrentino Paolo Sorrentino (; born 31 May 1970) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and writer. His 2013 film ''The Great Beauty'' won the Academy Awards, Academy Award, the Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe, and the British Academy of Film and Te ...

, the fictional Pope Pius XIII repeatedly assigned his enemies in the

Curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

to "

Ketchikan Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District. With a population at the 20 ...

, Alaska", to suffer its freezing weather and isolation. There is no such diocese, but it is a parish of the Diocese of Junea

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Juneau Official Site

{{Coord, 58, 18, 13, N, 134, 24, 29, W, source:kolossus-plwiki, display=title

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the s ...

Christian organizations established in 1951

Former Roman Catholic dioceses in America Religious organizations disestablished in 2020 1951 establishments in Alaska