The Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana ( la, Dioecesis Lafayettensis in Indiana) 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, 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 central

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

in the United States. The current bishop is Timothy L. Doherty. The Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan

Archdiocese of Indianapolis The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis ( la, Archidioecesis Indianapolitana) is a division of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. When it was originally erected as the Diocese of Vincennes on May 6, 1834, it encompassed all of ...

History

Early history

The Indiana area was part of the French colony of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

during the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century. It was explored by French fur traders and missionaries under the Bishop of Quebec. It became British territory after the French Indian War ended in 1763; however, the British government refused to allow American colonists to enter the region. Several years after the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

in 1789, Pope Pius VI erected the Diocese of Baltimore, covering the entire United States. Reverend John Francis served as vicar-general in the west from 1798 until his death in 1804. In 1808, Pope Pius VII erected the

Diocese of Bardstown The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bardstown was a Catholic diocese in the United States established in Bardstown, Kentucky on April 8, 1808, along with the Diocese of Boston, Diocese of New York, and Diocese of Philadelphia, comprising the former ...

, with jurisdiction over the

Indiana Territory The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by a congressional act that President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, ...

and other areas in the Midwest.Alerding, Herman Joseph. ''The Diocese of Fort Wayne, 1857-September 1907'', Fort Wayne, Indiana., Archer Print Company, 1907
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Diocese of Vincennes

The Diocese of Vincennes was created in 1834 by

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 ...

to cover the entire state of Indiana and part of Illinois. The diocese sent many French missionaries to this very

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...

area. The most notable missionary was Sister

Theodore Guerin Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Sask ...

who made her way to

southern Indiana Southern Indiana is a region consisting of the southern third of the state of Indiana. The region's history and geography has led to a blend of Northern and Southern culture distinct from the remainder of Indiana. It is often considered to be par ...

with her Sisters of Providence in 1841. Guerin and the other sisters formed St. Mary of the Woods College at Terre Haute, Indiana. Many alumni of St. Mary traveled throughout Indiana preaching. In 1857, Pope Pius IX established the Diocese of Fort Wayne, taking its territory from the Diocese of Vincennes. The Lafayette area would be part of this diocese for the next 87 years.

Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana

1944 to 1965

Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana on October 21, 1944, with territory of the Diocese of Fort Wayne. The new diocese had 54 parishes and an approximate population of 31,700 Catholics. In 1945, the pope named Reverend John Bennett as the first bishop of the new diocese. Reverend

John Carberry John Joseph Cardinal Carberry (July 31, 1904 – June 17, 1998) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in Missouri from 1968 to 1979, and was created a cardinal in 1969. ...

of the Diocese of Brooklyn was appointed coadjutor bishop of the diocese to assist Bennett in 1956 by Pius XII. When Bennett died in 1957, Carberry automatically became the next bishop of Lafayette in Indiana. Carberry convened the first diocesan synod and established the Diocesan Council of Men and the Society for Priestly Vocations during his tenure. In 1964, Carberry announced that a census would be held in the diocese. The census found a population of 73,822 Catholics and noted a move from mostly rural populations to scattered suburban areas. On January 20, 1965,

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 State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

appointed Carberry as bishop of the

Diocese of Columbus The Diocese of Columbus ( la, Dioecesis Columbensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church covering 23 counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The episcopal see of the diocese is situated at Columbus. The dioce ...

1965 to 2010

In August 1965, Paul VI appointed Reverend Raymond Gallagher of the Diocese of Cleveland as the next bishop of Lafayette in Indiana. Within his first five years, Gallagher dedicated many churches in northern Indiana. With Gallagher's retirement in 1982, Auxiliary Bishop George Fulcher of the Diocese of Columbus was appointed 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 ...

as his replacement. In January 1984, Fulcher died in a car crash. The pope selected Monsignor William Higi in 1984 to succeed Fulcher.

2010 to present

During Higi's reign, he opened St. Theodore Guerin High School in Noblesville. In addition to working within the diocese, he also made connections to Haiti with many outreaches to the third-world country. After over 26 years as bishop, Higi retired in 2010. The current bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana is Timothy Doherty from the

Diocese of Rockford The Diocese of Rockford ( la, Diœcesis Rockfordiensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern Illinois region of the United States. The prelate is a bishop serving as the pastor of the Moth ...

. Doherty was named by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. In 1990 there were 154 priests in the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana. By 2010, the number had dropped to 129. To alleviate the shortage, Doherty recruited priests from

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and Mexico. On July 1, 2020, Doherty suspended Theodore Rothrock, a priest at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Carmel, from public ministry. In a Sunday bulletin, Rothrock had describe

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...

organizers as parasites and maggots. Rothrock later apologized for his statement.

Sex abuse

On December 31, 2003, Bishop Higi reported that 18 priests serving in the diocese since 1950 had been accused by 26 parishioners of sexually abusing them as minors. Nine priests were removed from ministry due to credible accusations.

Bishops

# John George Bennett (1944–1957) #

John Joseph Carberry John Joseph Cardinal Carberry (July 31, 1904 – June 17, 1998) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, Archdiocese of St. Louis in Missouri from 1968 to 19 ...

(1957–1965), appointed Bishop of Columbus and later Archbishop of Saint Louis (elevated to Cardinal in 1969) #

Raymond Joseph Gallagher Raymond Joseph Gallagher (November 19, 1912 – March 7, 1991) was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana from 1965 to 1982. Biography Early life Raymond Ga ...

(1965–1982) # George Avis Fulcher (1983–1984) # William Leo Higi (1984–2010) # Timothy Doherty (2010–present)

Patron saint

:''See:

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

'' :''See: St. Mother

Théodore Guérin Anne Thérèse Guérin (2 October 1798 – 14 May 1856), designated by the Vatican as Saint Theodora, was a French-American saint and the foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, a congregation of Catholic sisters at S ...

'' From its beginning in 1944, the patron of the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana has been the

because the seat of the diocese, The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Lafayette shares the namesake. The feast day for the Immaculate Conception is on December 8th. It was in the early first decade of the 21st century that the diocese began contemplating adding another patron. With the formation of St. Theodore Guerin High School in Noblesville in 2004, Guerin was officially named as another patron of the diocese.

Arms

Schools

Colleges

* Saint Joseph's College, Rensselaer in February 2017 the university's trustees announced the temporary closure of their Rensselaer campus at the end of the Spring 2017 semester. The trustees stated the university needs to raise $100 million in order to continue operations. The nursing campus in Lafayette remains open.

High schools

Lafayette Central Catholic Jr/Sr High School Lafayette Central Catholic Jr/Sr High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school serving grades 7– 12 in Lafayette, Indiana. History Central Catholic was founded in 1956. In 1959, Senator John F. Kennedy brought his presidential campaign ...

, Lafayette * St. Theodore Guerin High School, Noblesville

Media

;Catholic radio within the diocese *

WRDF WRDF (106.3 FM) is a radio station licensed to Columbia City, Indiana located near Fort Wayne, Indiana. The station offers a Catholic Talk format branded as "Redeemer Radio". The station is owned by Fort Wayne Catholic Radio Group, Inc. History ...

"Redeemer Radio" 106.3 FM licensed to Columbia City and based in Fort Wayne, plus audiostream. * WSQM "Catholic Radio Indy" 90.9 FM in Noblesville.(repeater of WSPM 89.1 based in Indianapolis and licensed in Cloverdale), plus audiostream. ;Publications The Diocese of Lafayette publishes a weekly newspaper, '' The Catholic Moment'', which was established on January 21, 1945. Its circulation is about 28,000.

Ecclesiastical province

:''See: List of the Catholic bishops of the United States#Province of Indianapolis''

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese Of Lafayette In Indiana Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Indianapolis Roman Catholic Dioceses in Indiana History of Catholicism in Indiana Lafayette in Indiana Christian organizations established in 1944 1944 establishments in Indiana Lafayette in Indiana