The Diocese of San Bernardino ( la, Dioecesis Sancti Bernardi, es, Diócesis de San Bernardino) 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 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 ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. Erected by

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 ...

on July 14, 1978, and its jurisdiction extends over

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

and Riverside counties. The territory to form the Diocese of San Bernardino was taken from the Diocese of San Diego. , the diocese has 92

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 o ...

es and 12 missions in its territory. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

is Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral in San Bernardino. The diocese has become well known as one of the leaders among Catholic dioceses in implementing the "parish coordinator" model of parish leadership. The Diocese of San Bernardino is a suffragan diocese 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 seve ...

of the metropolitan

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 ...

Demographics

In 2019 the Diocese claimed that there were 1,740,655 Catholics in its territory, a reported 22,000 increase from the previous year. If the numbers are correct it would make San Bernardino the fifth largest Catholic diocese in terms of population in the United States. The main cause of this increase is thought to be the increasing migration of

Hispanics The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

to the area in part due to the economic opportunities and affordable housing in comparison to the rest of California.

Bishops

Bishops of San Bernardino

# Phillip Francis Straling (1978–1995), appointed Bishop of Reno # Gerald Richard Barnes (1995–2020) #

Alberto Rojas Alberto Rojas (born January 5, 1965) is a Mexican prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of San Bernardino in Southern California since 2020. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archd ...

(2020–present)

Coadjutor Bishops

(2019–2020)

Auxiliary Bishops

* Gerald Richard Barnes (1992–1995) * Dennis Patrick O'Neil (2001–2003) * Rutilio del Riego Jáñez (2005–2015)

High schools

* Aquinas High School,

* Notre Dame High School, Riverside * Xavier College Preparatory High School,

Palm Desert Palm Desert is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley, approximately east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The population was 48,445 at the 2010 census. The city has been ...

Our Lady of the Desert School Our Lady of the Desert School (OLDS) is a coeducational private school combination Elementary, Middle School and High school located in Yucca Valley, San Bernardino County, California California is a state in the Western United States, lo ...

Yucca Valley Yucca Valley is an incorporated town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 20,700 as of the 2010 census. Yucca Valley lies west of Twentynine Palms, north of Palm Springs, south of Barstow via State Route ...

, not associated with the Diocese, though offers traditional Catholic education.

References

External links

Diocese of San Bernardino Pastoral Center

Organizations based in San Bernardino County, California

Culture of San Bernardino, California Religion in Riverside County, California Christian organizations established in 1978

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