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Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

May 03, 2023

The Diocese of Charlotte (Dioecesis Carolinana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in western North Carolina in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Diocese of Charlotte

Dioecesis Carolinana
Cathedral of St. Patrick
Coat of arms
Location
Country United States
TerritoryWestern North Carolina Vicariates of Albemarle, Asheville, Boone, Gastonia, Greensboro, Hickory, Mecklenburg, Salisbury, Smoky Mountain, Winston-Salem
Ecclesiastical provinceAtlanta
MetropolitanAtlanta
Statistics
Area53,696 km2 (20,732 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2013)
4,967,591
235,700 (4.7%)
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedNovember 12, 1971
CathedralCathedral of Saint Patrick
Patron saintMary, Mother of God
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopPeter Joseph Jugis
Metropolitan ArchbishopGregory John Hartmayer
Map
Website
charlottediocese.org

The Diocese of Charlotte is led by its bishop who serves as pastor of the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Charlotte.[1] Peter Jugis is the current bishop.[2] The diocese is home to two of the three basilicas in North Carolina:

  • Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville, North Carolina
  • Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians in Belmont, North Carolina

Statistics

The Diocese of Charlotte covers 20,700 square miles (54,000 km2) in North Carolina and includes 46 counties. It encompasses three main population centers:

The diocese has ten vicariates. They are Albemarle, Asheville, Boone, Gastonia, Greensboro, Hickory, Mecklenburg, Salisbury, Smoky Mountain and Winston-Salem.[4]

The total population of the diocese in 2010 was approximately 4.8 million. Of this number, 174,689 were registered Catholics (3.6% of the total population), living in over 63,000 households. This number did not include an estimated 230,000 undocumented Hispanic or Latino Catholics.[5] St. Matthew Catholic Parish in Charlotte, with over 35,000 members, was the most populous parish in the country as of 2017.[3]

History

Early history

Before and during the American Revolutionary War, the Catholics in all of the British colonies in America were under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Vicariate of the London District in England. Discrimination and persecution of Catholics in the North Carolina colony was common until it became a royal colony in 1729. Anyone wanting to hold public office had to sign a oath stating that Protestantism was the true Christian faith.[6]

With the passage of the U.S. Constitution in 1789 after the American Revolution, Catholics were guaranteed freedom of worship throughout the new nation.

Pope Pius VI erected the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States in 1784, encompassing the entire United States. Five years later, he converted the prefecture into the Diocese of Baltimore.[7] The Diocese of Charleston was erected by Pope Pius VII on July 11, 1820. He removed the states of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina from what was now the Archdiocese of Baltimore[8]

During the early 19th century, Irish Catholic immigrants started entering North Carolina to work on the railroads and other construction projects. St. Peter's Church, founded in Charlotte in 1851, was the first permanent Catholic church in the region. Much of its funding came from Protestants, who were impressed by the preaching ability of the first priest, Reverend Jeremiah J. O'Connell.[9]

Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina and Belmont Abbey

On March 3, 1868, Pope Pius IX erected the Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina, removing North Carolina from the Diocese of Charleston. At that time, the pope appointed Reverend James Gibbons from the Archdiocese of Baltimore as the first vicar apostolic.

When Gibbons became vicar apostolic, North Carolina counted fewer than 700 Catholics. In his first four weeks in office, he traveled almost a thousand miles, visiting towns and mission stations and administering the sacraments. He also befriended many Protestants, who greatly outnumbered Catholics in the state, and preached at their churches. Gibbons made many converts to Catholicism.[10]In 1872, Pius IX appointed Gibbons as bishop of the Diocese of Richmond. The Vatican would not replace Gibbons in North Carolina for the next 11 years.

St. Benedict's Church was the first Catholic church in Greensboro, founded in 1877. It later received funding from Sister Katharine Drexel to guarantee seating for African Americans.

In 1876, Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, sent a party of Benedictine monks to Western North Carolina. They bought land outside of Charlotte and started a new priory. Eight years later, Pope Leo XIII elevated the priory to an abbey, known as Belmont Abbey, on December 19, 1884.[11] At that time, the monks elected Father Leo Haid as their first abbot. in 1882, Leo XIII appointed Henry P. Northrop from the Diocese of Charleston as the new vicar apostolic of North Carolina. Northrop resigned from this post in 1888 to serve full time as bishop of Charleston.

On February 4, 1888, Pope Leo XIII appointed Haid to also serve as apostolic vicar of North Carolina.[12] Haid was consecrated in Baltimore on July 1, 1888. Pope Pius X later designated Belmont Abbey as a territorial abbey. He transferred eight counties in Western North Carolina (which today make up the Diocese of Charlotte) from the Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina to Belmont Abbey. This made Belmont a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. This decision created two particular churches united in the person of their ordinary, neither of which was a diocese. This arrangement endured until Haid's death on July 24, 1924.[13]

Diocese of Raleigh

On December 12, 1924, Pope Pius XI elevated the Apostolic Vicariate of North Carolina into the Diocese of Raleigh. It became the first Catholic diocese in the state.[14] The pope appointed Reverend William Hafey of the Archdiocese of Baltimore as its first bishop. In 1937, Pius XI named Hafey as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Scranton. To replace Hafey as bishop of Raleigh, the pope appointed Reverend Eugene J. McGuinness from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that same year. Pope Pius XII transferred seven counties from Belmont Abbey to the new diocese on April 17, 1944. Later in 1944, Pius XII named McGuiness as the new bishop of the Diocese of Oklahoma City.

Pius XII appointed Vincent Waters from the Diocese of Richmond as the new bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh in 1944. Waters was accused by some of the diocesan clergy of holding on to idle church property worth millions of dollars while some parishes were in debt.[15] He also denied requests for the creation of a priests' senate, and had his resignation requested by around twenty percent of the clergy.[15]In 1953, a year before Brown v. Board of Education decision by the US Supreme Court, Waters ordered the desegregation of all Catholic churches and schools in the diocese.[16][17] He described racial segregation as a product of "darkness," and declared that "the time has come for it to end."[18] He also said,

"I am not unmindful, as a Southerner, of the force of this virus of prejudice among some persons in the South, as well as in the North. I know, however, that there is a cure for this virus, and that is our faith."[19]

Pope John XXIII transferred Gaston County from Belmont Abbey to the diocese in July 1960.[20] Although it remained a territorial abbey, Belmont only had jurisdiction now over the abbey grounds.[21]On February 10, 1962, John XXIII elevated the Diocese of Atlanta to the Archdiocese of Atlanta. He transferred the Diocese of Raleigh and Belmont Abbey from the Archdiocese of Baltimore to the new archdiocese.

Diocese of Charlotte

Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Charlotte on November 12, 1971. The new diocese contained Belmont Abbey and the counties previously under its jurisdiction from the Diocese of Raleigh. The Diocese of Charlotte was designated a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. When the new diocese was established, the Catholic population of the area was just over 34,000.

The first bishop of Charlotte was Reverend Michael Begley, a priest from the Diocese of Raleigh, who was installed on January 12, 1972.[22]Paul VI transferred Belmont Abbey into the Diocese of Charlotte, ending its status as a territorial abbey on January 1, 1977. Begley served as bishop until his retirement in May 1984.[14] Pope John Paul II appointed Reverend John Donoghue from the Archdiocese of Washington as the second bishop of Charlotte on November 5, 1984, with his installation on December 18, 1984.[22] The Catholic population in Charlotte continued to grow, leading Donoghue declared in the early 1990's that it would be the Decade of Evangelization.[14] In 1993, John Paul II appointed him as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Donoghue was succeeded as bishop of Charlotte by Auxiliary Bishop William G. Curlin from the Archdiocese of Washington on April 13, 1994.[22] Curtin started the first affordable housing initiative in the diocese and concentrated on ministry to the elderly, sick and dying.[23] As bishop, Curlin continued his ministry to the poor, ordained 28 men to the priesthood and opened numerous Churches throughout the diocese. On June 13, 1995, Curlin invited Mother Teresa to speak at the Charlotte Coliseum, drawing a crowd of over 19,000. In 1995, Curlin stated that any priest in the diocese who had been accused of sexual abuse of a minor would be immediately removed from ministry.[24]Curlin served until his retirement on September 10, 2002. By 2002, the diocese had grown to approximately 87,000 Catholics.

On August 1, 2003, John Paul II appointed Monsignor Peter J. Jugis, judicial vicar of the Diocese of Charlotte, as its fourth bishop. He was consecrated on October 24, 2003.[22] Jugis is the current bishop of Charlotte.

Sexual abuse cases

In December 2019, Reverend Father Patrick T. Hoare, pastor at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Charlotte, was placed on administrative leave by the diocese after it received an accusation that Hoare had inappropriate relations with minors before and after entering the priesthood. Hoare denied the charges.[25] He was removed permanently as pastor in 2020. Hoare has appealed his removal to the Vatican Dicastery for the Clergy, but it was rejected. He then appealed in 2022 to the Apostolic Signatura, but was rejected again. Hoare has made a final appeal to a larger body of the Apostolic Signatura.[26]

On November 1, 2019, the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina Senate passed legislation extending the statute of limitations for filing sex abuse lawsuits.[27][28] While North Carolina has no statute of limitations for criminal sex abuse cases, there still are statute of limitations in place for civil sex abuse lawsuits.[29]

On December 30, 2019, Bishop Jugis released a list of 14 priests credibly accused of sexual abuse in the diocese since 1972.[30][31][32] On March 2, 2020, the diocese added two more names to this list.[33] This list did not include clergy accused of sexual abuse in territory controlled by the diocese prior to 1972; these men were named in a list titled "Western North Carolina."[34] Former clergy who served in the diocese, but were accused of committing sex abuse "elsewhere", were listed separately as well.[34]

Yurgel case

In 2009, Robert Yurgel, a former priest at St. Matthew's Parish, was arrested after pleading guilty to second-degree sexual offense of a minor.[35] Yurgel had sexually abused a 14-year-old altar boy in 1999. In February 2009, Yurgel pleaded guilty to child molestation and was sentenced to seven years in state prison.[36] He was dismissed from the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and laicized in 2000. The victim sued Yurgel and the Diocese of Charlotte. The case was settled for $1 million in damages and an additional $40,000 to pay for the victim's therapy. Yurgel was released from prison in August 2016.[37] On December 14, 2020, a California man filed a lawsuit against the diocese, claiming that Robert Yurgel had sexually abused him when he was five to seven years old at St. Mathew's Parish in the late 1990s.[38]

Spangenberg case

On August 14, 2018, a grand jury report released by the Pennsylvania attorney general named 301 priests responsible for allegedly abusing over 1,000 children within six Pennsylvania dioceses over 70 years. One of them was Robert Spangenberg, a Spiritan priest who served in the Dioceses of Charlotte and Raleigh. Spangenberg was a pastor at St. James Parish in Hamlet, North Carolina, in the 1990s. David Hains, diocese spokesperson, stated that the Diocese of Charlotte never received any concerns from Congregation of the Holy Spirit about Spangenberg's behavior in Pennsylvania, and that there had been no complaints about him in North Carolina.[39]

West case

On March 25, 2019, the diocese announced that Monsignor Mauricio West, its vicar general and chancellor, had resigned from his posts. The diocese had received allegations against West of unwanted sexual advances towards an adult student at Belmont Abbey College in the 1980s. Taking a leave of absence, West denied all the accusations. The Lay Review Board of the diocese found these allegations to be credible.[40] In November 2019, four more complaints of sexual misconduct were lodged against West. Two of the accusations came from diocese employees, the other two from Belmont students.[41]

Kelleher and Farwell cases

On April 14, 2020, two sex abuse lawsuits were filed against the diocese. The plaintiffs alleged that the diocese shielded two credibly accused priests, Richard Farwell and Joseph Kelleher.[42] The lawsuits were filed previously, but both were dismissed due to the previous statute of limitations.[42] The plaintiffs were able to sue again because of the 2019 changes to state law.

  • The Kelleher lawsuit was filed by a Georgia man who claimed that Kelleher sexual assaulted him multiple times when he was a teenager between 1977 and 1978. A judged dismissed the 2010 lawsuit due to the passing of the statute of limitations. Another judge dismissed a 2014 criminal case because Kelleher had been diagnosed with dementia.[42]
  • The Farwell lawsuit was filed by a North Carolina man who was a teenager in 1977. He alleged that Farwell started abusing him after he went to the priest for counseling. The plaintiff file a lawsuit against Farwell in 2011, but it was dismissed due to the statute of limitations. Farwell was later accused by a second man. Farwell was later convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, sentenced to probation, and removed from ministry in 2005.[42][43]

Baker case

In November 2021, the diocese was sued by man who claimed he had been sexually assaulted by Donald Baker, a diocese priest, in the 1980s. The plaintiff had made his accusation to the diocese in 2017. Baker left the ministry in 1994 and is on the list of diocese priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors.

Older Mass form

In December 2007, 14 priests of the diocese attended a five-day workshop on the 1962 version of the Mass, the legitimacy of whose continued public use in certain circumstances was recognized in July of that year. Father Samuel Weber OSB was the first to offer a regularly scheduled Mass in that form in the Diocese of Charlotte since 1969.[citation needed] He celebrated this version in October 2007 at Davis Chapel of Wake Forest University.[44] Bishop Jugis noted that it would take some time, but that the diocese was trying to accommodate those with an attachment to this form of mass. On the following January 13, the Tridentine Latin Mass or usus antiquor (older form) was celebrated for the first time in nearly 40 years at Our Lady Of Grace Church in Greensboro, with Jugis attending.

Bishops of Charlotte

  1. Michael Joseph Begley (1971–1984)
  2. John Francis Donoghue (1984–1993)
  3. William G. Curlin (1994–2002)
  4. Peter Joseph Jugis (2003–present)

Catholic News Herald

Not to be confused with Catholic Herald (disambiguation).
Catholic News Herald
 
Catholic News Herald cover (July 31, 2020)
TypeBiweekly
FormatPrint and online
Owner(s)Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte
Founded1991
Headquarters1123 South Church St., Charlotte, N.C. 28203-4003 U.S.A.
Websitewww.catholicnewsherald.com

Catholic News Herald is the official publication of the diocese. It has the slogan "Serving Christ and Connecting Catholics in Western North Carolina." It publishes news from the diocese, general Catholic and world news with a Catholic perspective. The newspaper was established in 1991 and publishes 26 issues per year. It also carries a regular supplement in Spanish within the publication. It is not the same as the British publication Catholic Herald.

Schools

Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools (MACS)

High schools

Grades six to eight

  • Holy Trinity Catholic Middle School

Pre-kindergarten through grade eight

  • Our Lady of Assumption Catholic School
  • St. Mark Catholic School

Other preschools and elementary schools

  • St. Ann Catholic School (PK, TK-5)
  • St. Gabriel Catholic School (K-5)
  • St. Matthew Catholic School (TK-5)
  • St. Patrick Catholic School (K-5)

Other schools in the diocese

High schools

Pre-kindergarten through grade eight

  • Asheville Catholic School (Asheville)
  • Immaculata Catholic School (Hendersonville)
  • Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School (Winston-Salem)
  • St. Leo Catholic School (Winston-Salem)
  • Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School (High Point)
  • Sacred Heart Catholic School (Salisbury)
  • St. Michael Catholic School (Gastonia)
  • St. Pius X Catholic School (Greensboro)
  • Our Lady of Grace Catholic School (Greensboro)[46]

Notable parishes

See also

References

  1. ^ "Welcome to the Cathedral of Saint Patrick". Cathedral of Saint Patrick. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  2. ^ "Diocese of Charlotte". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Lessons on evangelization from the largest parish in the United States". America Magazine. April 5, 2017.
  4. ^ "Pastoral Report 2010". Diocese of Charlotte. pp. 10–11. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  5. ^ "Statistical Overview 2010". Pastoral Report, 2010. Diocese of Charlotte. p. 4. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  6. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: North Carolina". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
  7. ^ . Archdiocese of Baltimore. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  8. ^ "Diocese of Charleston". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  9. ^ "History of Catholics in the Carolinas". catholicnewsherald.com. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  10. ^ Blog, McNamara's (2013-07-02). "Cardinal James Gibbons, Baltimore (1834-1921)". McNamara's Blog. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
  11. ^ History on Web Site of Belmont Abbey.
  12. ^ Page about Bishop Leo Michael Haid, O. S. B., on Catholic Hierarchy web site.
  13. ^ Ibid.
  14. ^ a b c "History of the Diocese". Diocese of Raleigh. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  15. ^ a b "Bishop Waters, Led Raleigh Diocese". The New York Times. 1974-12-05.
  16. ^ "Bishop Waters, Led Raleigh Diocese". The New York Times. 1974-12-05.
  17. ^ "Bishop Vincent S. Waters (1904-1974)". North Carolina History Project.
  18. ^ . TIME Magazine. 1953-06-08. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008.
  19. ^ . TIME Magazine. 1953-06-29. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008.
  20. ^ Diocese of Raleigh Page on Catholic Hierarchy Web Site
  21. ^ History on Belmont Abbey web site.
  22. ^ a b c d Hains, David (2006). Voices and Places of the People of God. Strasbourg: Éditions du Signe. p. 16. ISBN 978-2746817371.
  23. ^ "History of the Diocese of Charlotte - Diocese of Charlotte". 50years.charlottediocese.org. 2022-01-04. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  24. ^ Longwood, Merle (2018-10-24). Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church: Trusting the Clergy?. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-95528-3.
  25. ^ "Pastor who decried sexually abusive clerics accused of sexually abusing a minor". NBC News. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  26. ^ "Bishop updates St. Matthew parishioners on case involving former pastor". catholicnewsherald.com. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  27. ^ Padilla, Mariel (2 November 2019). "North Carolina Lawmakers Pass Bill to Close Sexual Assault Loopholes". The New York Times.
  28. ^ https://webservices.ncleg.net/ViewBillDocument/2019/6791/0/S199-PCCS15432-TV-5
  29. ^ "NC lawmakers pass bill to extend statute of limitations for child sex crime victims".
  30. ^ "Charlotte diocese publishes list of 14 clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse".
  31. ^ "Bishop Peter Jugis announces release of list of credibly accused clergy".
  32. ^ https://accountability.charlottediocese.org/
  33. ^ Delia, Sarah (March 2, 2020). "Charlotte Diocese Adds 2 New Names To List Of Clergy 'Credibly Accused' Of Abuse". WFAE. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  34. ^ a b To the People of God of Western North Carolina Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, Accessed September 18, 2020
  35. ^ "Priest Charged with Sex Crimes in Charlotte Rev Robert Yurgel Accused of Having Sex with 14-Year-Old Boy in 1999, by Gary L. Wright and Tim Funk, Charlotte Observer, April 3, 2008".
  36. ^ "Former Charlotte priest pleads guilty to molesting alter boy". WBTV. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  37. ^ "9 Investigates: Charlotte family speaks out about son's abuse by a priest". 21 February 2017.
  38. ^ "Former Capuchin priest Yurgel accused of abuse in new lawsuit". catholicnewsherald.com. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  39. ^ "Allegations of sexual misconduct by priests, cover-up by Church leaders have people talking".
  40. ^ "Catholic Diocese of Charlotte chancellor leaves after 'credible' sexual misconduct allegation". 29 March 2019.
  41. ^ "New sexual misconduct allegations against former Chancellor of Diocese of Charlotte". wcnc.com. November 26, 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  42. ^ a b c d "2 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse filed against Diocese of Charlotte". 14 April 2020.
  43. ^ "Man files suit against Diocese of Charlotte claiming sexual abuse". WBTV. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  44. ^ "5 October: Holy Mass (1962) at Wake Forest Univ. in Diocese of Charlotte". Fr. Z's Blog. 4 October 2007. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  45. ^ "Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools". Diocese of Charlotte. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  46. ^ a b "Diocese of Charlotte Catholic Schools". Diocese of Charlotte. Retrieved 2016-02-26.

External links

  • Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte Official Site
  • Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Diocese of Charlotte
  • Catholic News Herald - diocesan newspaper

Coordinates: 35°13′14″N 80°51′15″W / 35.22056°N 80.85417°W / 35.22056; -80.85417

May 03, 2023
roman, catholic, diocese, charlotte, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates,. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as Reflinks documentation reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation September 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Diocese of Charlotte Dioecesis Carolinana is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in western North Carolina in the United States It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Atlanta Diocese of CharlotteDioecesis CarolinanaCathedral of St PatrickCoat of armsLocationCountry United StatesTerritoryWestern North Carolina Vicariates of Albemarle Asheville Boone Gastonia Greensboro Hickory Mecklenburg Salisbury Smoky Mountain Winston SalemEcclesiastical provinceAtlantaMetropolitanAtlantaStatisticsArea53 696 km2 20 732 sq mi Population Total Catholics as of 2013 4 967 591235 700 4 7 InformationDenominationCatholicSui iuris churchLatin ChurchRiteRoman RiteEstablishedNovember 12 1971CathedralCathedral of Saint PatrickPatron saintMary Mother of GodCurrent leadershipPopeFrancisBishopPeter Joseph JugisMetropolitan ArchbishopGregory John HartmayerMapWebsitecharlottediocese orgThe Diocese of Charlotte is led by its bishop who serves as pastor of the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Charlotte 1 Peter Jugis is the current bishop 2 The diocese is home to two of the three basilicas in North Carolina Basilica of St Lawrence in Asheville North Carolina Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians in Belmont North CarolinaContents 1 Statistics 2 History 2 1 Early history 2 2 Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina and Belmont Abbey 2 3 Diocese of Raleigh 2 4 Diocese of Charlotte 3 Sexual abuse cases 3 1 Yurgel case 3 2 Spangenberg case 3 3 West case 3 4 Kelleher and Farwell cases 3 5 Baker case 4 Older Mass form 5 Bishops of Charlotte 6 Catholic News Herald 7 Schools 7 1 Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools MACS 7 1 1 High schools 7 1 2 Grades six to eight 7 1 3 Pre kindergarten through grade eight 7 1 4 Other preschools and elementary schools 7 2 Other schools in the diocese 7 2 1 High schools 7 2 2 Pre kindergarten through grade eight 8 Notable parishes 9 See also 10 References 11 External linksStatistics EditThe Diocese of Charlotte covers 20 700 square miles 54 000 km2 in North Carolina and includes 46 counties It encompasses three main population centers Greensboro High Point and Winston Salem Charlotte The North Carolina mountain region 3 The diocese has ten vicariates They are Albemarle Asheville Boone Gastonia Greensboro Hickory Mecklenburg Salisbury Smoky Mountain and Winston Salem 4 The total population of the diocese in 2010 was approximately 4 8 million Of this number 174 689 were registered Catholics 3 6 of the total population living in over 63 000 households This number did not include an estimated 230 000 undocumented Hispanic or Latino Catholics 5 St Matthew Catholic Parish in Charlotte with over 35 000 members was the most populous parish in the country as of 2017 3 History EditEarly history Edit Before and during the American Revolutionary War the Catholics in all of the British colonies in America were under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Vicariate of the London District in England Discrimination and persecution of Catholics in the North Carolina colony was common until it became a royal colony in 1729 Anyone wanting to hold public office had to sign a oath stating that Protestantism was the true Christian faith 6 With the passage of the U S Constitution in 1789 after the American Revolution Catholics were guaranteed freedom of worship throughout the new nation Pope Pius VI erected the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States in 1784 encompassing the entire United States Five years later he converted the prefecture into the Diocese of Baltimore 7 The Diocese of Charleston was erected by Pope Pius VII on July 11 1820 He removed the states of Georgia North Carolina and South Carolina from what was now the Archdiocese of Baltimore 8 During the early 19th century Irish Catholic immigrants started entering North Carolina to work on the railroads and other construction projects St Peter s Church founded in Charlotte in 1851 was the first permanent Catholic church in the region Much of its funding came from Protestants who were impressed by the preaching ability of the first priest Reverend Jeremiah J O Connell 9 Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina and Belmont Abbey Edit On March 3 1868 Pope Pius IX erected the Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina removing North Carolina from the Diocese of Charleston At that time the pope appointed Reverend James Gibbons from the Archdiocese of Baltimore as the first vicar apostolic When Gibbons became vicar apostolic North Carolina counted fewer than 700 Catholics In his first four weeks in office he traveled almost a thousand miles visiting towns and mission stations and administering the sacraments He also befriended many Protestants who greatly outnumbered Catholics in the state and preached at their churches Gibbons made many converts to Catholicism 10 In 1872 Pius IX appointed Gibbons as bishop of the Diocese of Richmond The Vatican would not replace Gibbons in North Carolina for the next 11 years St Benedict s Church was the first Catholic church in Greensboro founded in 1877 It later received funding from Sister Katharine Drexel to guarantee seating for African Americans In 1876 Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe Pennsylvania sent a party of Benedictine monks to Western North Carolina They bought land outside of Charlotte and started a new priory Eight years later Pope Leo XIII elevated the priory to an abbey known as Belmont Abbey on December 19 1884 11 At that time the monks elected Father Leo Haid as their first abbot in 1882 Leo XIII appointed Henry P Northrop from the Diocese of Charleston as the new vicar apostolic of North Carolina Northrop resigned from this post in 1888 to serve full time as bishop of Charleston On February 4 1888 Pope Leo XIII appointed Haid to also serve as apostolic vicar of North Carolina 12 Haid was consecrated in Baltimore on July 1 1888 Pope Pius X later designated Belmont Abbey as a territorial abbey He transferred eight counties in Western North Carolina which today make up the Diocese of Charlotte from the Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina to Belmont Abbey This made Belmont a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Baltimore This decision created two particular churches united in the person of their ordinary neither of which was a diocese This arrangement endured until Haid s death on July 24 1924 13 Diocese of Raleigh Edit On December 12 1924 Pope Pius XI elevated the Apostolic Vicariate of North Carolina into the Diocese of Raleigh It became the first Catholic diocese in the state 14 The pope appointed Reverend William Hafey of the Archdiocese of Baltimore as its first bishop In 1937 Pius XI named Hafey as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Scranton To replace Hafey as bishop of Raleigh the pope appointed Reverend Eugene J McGuinness from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that same year Pope Pius XII transferred seven counties from Belmont Abbey to the new diocese on April 17 1944 Later in 1944 Pius XII named McGuiness as the new bishop of the Diocese of Oklahoma City Pius XII appointed Vincent Waters from the Diocese of Richmond as the new bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh in 1944 Waters was accused by some of the diocesan clergy of holding on to idle church property worth millions of dollars while some parishes were in debt 15 He also denied requests for the creation of a priests senate and had his resignation requested by around twenty percent of the clergy 15 In 1953 a year before Brown v Board of Education decision by the US Supreme Court Waters ordered the desegregation of all Catholic churches and schools in the diocese 16 17 He described racial segregation as a product of darkness and declared that the time has come for it to end 18 He also said I am not unmindful as a Southerner of the force of this virus of prejudice among some persons in the South as well as in the North I know however that there is a cure for this virus and that is our faith 19 Pope John XXIII transferred Gaston County from Belmont Abbey to the diocese in July 1960 20 Although it remained a territorial abbey Belmont only had jurisdiction now over the abbey grounds 21 On February 10 1962 John XXIII elevated the Diocese of Atlanta to the Archdiocese of Atlanta He transferred the Diocese of Raleigh and Belmont Abbey from the Archdiocese of Baltimore to the new archdiocese Diocese of Charlotte Edit Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Charlotte on November 12 1971 The new diocese contained Belmont Abbey and the counties previously under its jurisdiction from the Diocese of Raleigh The Diocese of Charlotte was designated a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Atlanta When the new diocese was established the Catholic population of the area was just over 34 000 The first bishop of Charlotte was Reverend Michael Begley a priest from the Diocese of Raleigh who was installed on January 12 1972 22 Paul VI transferred Belmont Abbey into the Diocese of Charlotte ending its status as a territorial abbey on January 1 1977 Begley served as bishop until his retirement in May 1984 14 Pope John Paul II appointed Reverend John Donoghue from the Archdiocese of Washington as the second bishop of Charlotte on November 5 1984 with his installation on December 18 1984 22 The Catholic population in Charlotte continued to grow leading Donoghue declared in the early 1990 s that it would be the Decade of Evangelization 14 In 1993 John Paul II appointed him as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta Donoghue was succeeded as bishop of Charlotte by Auxiliary Bishop William G Curlin from the Archdiocese of Washington on April 13 1994 22 Curtin started the first affordable housing initiative in the diocese and concentrated on ministry to the elderly sick and dying 23 As bishop Curlin continued his ministry to the poor ordained 28 men to the priesthood and opened numerous Churches throughout the diocese On June 13 1995 Curlin invited Mother Teresa to speak at the Charlotte Coliseum drawing a crowd of over 19 000 In 1995 Curlin stated that any priest in the diocese who had been accused of sexual abuse of a minor would be immediately removed from ministry 24 Curlin served until his retirement on September 10 2002 By 2002 the diocese had grown to approximately 87 000 Catholics On August 1 2003 John Paul II appointed Monsignor Peter J Jugis judicial vicar of the Diocese of Charlotte as its fourth bishop He was consecrated on October 24 2003 22 Jugis is the current bishop of Charlotte Sexual abuse cases EditIn December 2019 Reverend Father Patrick T Hoare pastor at St Matthew Catholic Church in Charlotte was placed on administrative leave by the diocese after it received an accusation that Hoare had inappropriate relations with minors before and after entering the priesthood Hoare denied the charges 25 He was removed permanently as pastor in 2020 Hoare has appealed his removal to the Vatican Dicastery for the Clergy but it was rejected He then appealed in 2022 to the Apostolic Signatura but was rejected again Hoare has made a final appeal to a larger body of the Apostolic Signatura 26 On November 1 2019 the North Carolina House of Representatives and the North Carolina Senate passed legislation extending the statute of limitations for filing sex abuse lawsuits 27 28 While North Carolina has no statute of limitations for criminal sex abuse cases there still are statute of limitations in place for civil sex abuse lawsuits 29 On December 30 2019 Bishop Jugis released a list of 14 priests credibly accused of sexual abuse in the diocese since 1972 30 31 32 On March 2 2020 the diocese added two more names to this list 33 This list did not include clergy accused of sexual abuse in territory controlled by the diocese prior to 1972 these men were named in a list titled Western North Carolina 34 Former clergy who served in the diocese but were accused of committing sex abuse elsewhere were listed separately as well 34 Yurgel case Edit In 2009 Robert Yurgel a former priest at St Matthew s Parish was arrested after pleading guilty to second degree sexual offense of a minor 35 Yurgel had sexually abused a 14 year old altar boy in 1999 In February 2009 Yurgel pleaded guilty to child molestation and was sentenced to seven years in state prison 36 He was dismissed from the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and laicized in 2000 The victim sued Yurgel and the Diocese of Charlotte The case was settled for 1 million in damages and an additional 40 000 to pay for the victim s therapy Yurgel was released from prison in August 2016 37 On December 14 2020 a California man filed a lawsuit against the diocese claiming that Robert Yurgel had sexually abused him when he was five to seven years old at St Mathew s Parish in the late 1990s 38 Spangenberg case Edit On August 14 2018 a grand jury report released by the Pennsylvania attorney general named 301 priests responsible for allegedly abusing over 1 000 children within six Pennsylvania dioceses over 70 years One of them was Robert Spangenberg a Spiritan priest who served in the Dioceses of Charlotte and Raleigh Spangenberg was a pastor at St James Parish in Hamlet North Carolina in the 1990s David Hains diocese spokesperson stated that the Diocese of Charlotte never received any concerns from Congregation of the Holy Spirit about Spangenberg s behavior in Pennsylvania and that there had been no complaints about him in North Carolina 39 West case Edit On March 25 2019 the diocese announced that Monsignor Mauricio West its vicar general and chancellor had resigned from his posts The diocese had received allegations against West of unwanted sexual advances towards an adult student at Belmont Abbey College in the 1980s Taking a leave of absence West denied all the accusations The Lay Review Board of the diocese found these allegations to be credible 40 In November 2019 four more complaints of sexual misconduct were lodged against West Two of the accusations came from diocese employees the other two from Belmont students 41 Kelleher and Farwell cases Edit On April 14 2020 two sex abuse lawsuits were filed against the diocese The plaintiffs alleged that the diocese shielded two credibly accused priests Richard Farwell and Joseph Kelleher 42 The lawsuits were filed previously but both were dismissed due to the previous statute of limitations 42 The plaintiffs were able to sue again because of the 2019 changes to state law The Kelleher lawsuit was filed by a Georgia man who claimed that Kelleher sexual assaulted him multiple times when he was a teenager between 1977 and 1978 A judged dismissed the 2010 lawsuit due to the passing of the statute of limitations Another judge dismissed a 2014 criminal case because Kelleher had been diagnosed with dementia 42 The Farwell lawsuit was filed by a North Carolina man who was a teenager in 1977 He alleged that Farwell started abusing him after he went to the priest for counseling The plaintiff file a lawsuit against Farwell in 2011 but it was dismissed due to the statute of limitations Farwell was later accused by a second man Farwell was later convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor sentenced to probation and removed from ministry in 2005 42 43 Baker case Edit In November 2021 the diocese was sued by man who claimed he had been sexually assaulted by Donald Baker a diocese priest in the 1980s The plaintiff had made his accusation to the diocese in 2017 Baker left the ministry in 1994 and is on the list of diocese priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors Older Mass form EditIn December 2007 14 priests of the diocese attended a five day workshop on the 1962 version of the Mass the legitimacy of whose continued public use in certain circumstances was recognized in July of that year Father Samuel Weber OSB was the first to offer a regularly scheduled Mass in that form in the Diocese of Charlotte since 1969 citation needed He celebrated this version in October 2007 at Davis Chapel of Wake Forest University 44 Bishop Jugis noted that it would take some time but that the diocese was trying to accommodate those with an attachment to this form of mass On the following January 13 the Tridentine Latin Mass or usus antiquor older form was celebrated for the first time in nearly 40 years at Our Lady Of Grace Church in Greensboro with Jugis attending Bishops of Charlotte EditMichael Joseph Begley 1971 1984 John Francis Donoghue 1984 1993 William G Curlin 1994 2002 Peter Joseph Jugis 2003 present Catholic News Herald EditNot to be confused with Catholic Herald disambiguation Catholic News Herald Catholic News Herald cover July 31 2020 TypeBiweeklyFormatPrint and onlineOwner s Roman Catholic Diocese of CharlotteFounded1991Headquarters1123 South Church St Charlotte N C 28203 4003 U S A Websitewww wbr catholicnewsherald wbr comCatholic News Herald is the official publication of the diocese It has the slogan Serving Christ and Connecting Catholics in Western North Carolina It publishes news from the diocese general Catholic and world news with a Catholic perspective The newspaper was established in 1991 and publishes 26 issues per year It also carries a regular supplement in Spanish within the publication It is not the same as the British publication Catholic Herald Schools EditMecklenburg Area Catholic Schools MACS Edit High schools Edit Charlotte Catholic High School Charlotte Christ the King Catholic High School Huntersville Canongate Catholic High School Arden 45 Grades six to eight Edit Holy Trinity Catholic Middle SchoolPre kindergarten through grade eight Edit Our Lady of Assumption Catholic School St Mark Catholic SchoolOther preschools and elementary schools Edit St Ann Catholic School PK TK 5 St Gabriel Catholic School K 5 St Matthew Catholic School TK 5 St Patrick Catholic School K 5 Other schools in the diocese Edit High schools Edit Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School Kernersville 46 Pre kindergarten through grade eight Edit Asheville Catholic School Asheville Immaculata Catholic School Hendersonville Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School Winston Salem St Leo Catholic School Winston Salem Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School High Point Sacred Heart Catholic School Salisbury St Michael Catholic School Gastonia St Pius X Catholic School Greensboro Our Lady of Grace Catholic School Greensboro 46 Notable parishes EditCathedral of St Patrick Charlotte St Matthew Catholic Church Charlotte St Peter s Charlotte Basilica of St Lawrence Asheville Basilica of Our Lady Mary Help of Christians Belmont Our Lady of Grace Church Greensboro St Benedict Catholic Church Greensboro St Philip s Roman Catholic Church Statesville Sacred Heart Church Salisbury See also Edit Catholicism portalHistorical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States List of Roman Catholic archdioceses by country and continent List of Roman Catholic dioceses alphabetical including archdioceses List of Roman Catholic dioceses structured view including archdioceses References Edit Welcome to the Cathedral of Saint Patrick Cathedral of Saint Patrick Retrieved 2016 02 26 Diocese of Charlotte Catholic Hierarchy org David M Cheney Retrieved 23 January 2015 a b Lessons on evangelization from the largest parish in the United States America Magazine April 5 2017 Pastoral Report 2010 Diocese of Charlotte pp 10 11 Retrieved 2016 02 26 Statistical Overview 2010 Pastoral Report 2010 Diocese of Charlotte p 4 Retrieved 2016 02 26 CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA North Carolina www newadvent org Retrieved 2017 07 07 Our History Archdiocese of Baltimore Archived from the original on July 24 2008 Retrieved 2009 03 30 Diocese of Charleston Catholic Hierarchy org David M Cheney Retrieved 23 January 2015 History of Catholics in the Carolinas catholicnewsherald com Retrieved 2023 04 12 Blog McNamara s 2013 07 02 Cardinal James Gibbons Baltimore 1834 1921 McNamara s Blog Retrieved 2020 08 23 History on Web Site of Belmont Abbey Page about Bishop Leo Michael Haid O S B on Catholic Hierarchy web site Ibid a b c History of the Diocese Diocese of Raleigh Retrieved 2016 02 26 a b Bishop Waters Led Raleigh Diocese The New York Times 1974 12 05 Bishop Waters Led Raleigh Diocese The New York Times 1974 12 05 Bishop Vincent S Waters 1904 1974 North Carolina History Project Light in Newton Grove TIME Magazine 1953 06 08 Archived from the original on May 16 2008 Cure for the Virus TIME Magazine 1953 06 29 Archived from the original on December 22 2008 Diocese of Raleigh Page on Catholic Hierarchy Web Site History on Belmont Abbey web site a b c d Hains David 2006 Voices and Places of the People of God Strasbourg Editions du Signe p 16 ISBN 978 2746817371 History of the Diocese of Charlotte Diocese of Charlotte 50years charlottediocese org 2022 01 04 Retrieved 2022 05 25 Longwood Merle 2018 10 24 Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church Trusting the Clergy Routledge ISBN 978 1 317 95528 3 Pastor who decried sexually abusive clerics accused of sexually abusing a minor NBC News Retrieved 2023 02 21 Bishop updates St Matthew parishioners on case involving former pastor catholicnewsherald com Retrieved 2023 02 21 Padilla Mariel 2 November 2019 North Carolina Lawmakers Pass Bill to Close Sexual Assault Loopholes The New York Times https webservices ncleg net ViewBillDocument 2019 6791 0 S199 PCCS15432 TV 5 NC lawmakers pass bill to extend statute of limitations for child sex crime victims Charlotte diocese publishes list of 14 clergy credibly accused of sexual abuse Bishop Peter Jugis announces release of list of credibly accused clergy https accountability charlottediocese org Delia Sarah March 2 2020 Charlotte Diocese Adds 2 New Names To List Of Clergy Credibly Accused Of Abuse WFAE Retrieved September 18 2020 a b To the People of God of Western North Carolina Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte Accessed September 18 2020 Priest Charged with Sex Crimes in Charlotte Rev Robert Yurgel Accused of Having Sex with 14 Year Old Boy in 1999 by Gary L Wright and Tim Funk Charlotte Observer April 3 2008 Former Charlotte priest pleads guilty to molesting alter boy WBTV Retrieved 2022 04 10 9 Investigates Charlotte family speaks out about son s abuse by a priest 21 February 2017 Former Capuchin priest Yurgel accused of abuse in new lawsuit catholicnewsherald com Retrieved 2022 04 10 Allegations of sexual misconduct by priests cover up by Church leaders have people talking Catholic Diocese of Charlotte chancellor leaves after credible sexual misconduct allegation 29 March 2019 New sexual misconduct allegations against former Chancellor of Diocese of Charlotte wcnc com November 26 2019 Retrieved 2022 04 10 a b c d 2 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse filed against Diocese of Charlotte 14 April 2020 Man files suit against Diocese of Charlotte claiming sexual abuse WBTV Retrieved 2022 04 10 5 October Holy Mass 1962 at Wake Forest Univ in Diocese of Charlotte Fr Z s Blog 4 October 2007 Retrieved 2016 02 26 Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools Diocese of Charlotte Retrieved 2016 02 26 a b Diocese of Charlotte Catholic Schools Diocese of Charlotte Retrieved 2016 02 26 External links EditRoman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte Official Site Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Diocese of Charlotte Catholic News Herald diocesan newspaperCoordinates 35 13 14 N 80 51 15 W 35 22056 N 80 85417 W 35 22056 80 85417 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte amp oldid 1151340644, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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