Metropolitan Archdiocese of Omaha Archidioecesis Metropolitae Omahensis | |
|---|---|
 St. Cecilia Cathedral | |
 Coat of Arms of the Archdiocese of Omaha | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Territory | 23 counties in easternNebraska |
| Ecclesiastical province | Omaha |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 14,051 sq mi (36,390 km2) |
Population
|
|
| Parishes |  122[1] |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | January 6, 1857 (168 years ago) |
| Cathedral | St. Cecilia Cathedral |
| Patron saint | Saint Cecilia |
| Secular priests | 165 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Archbishop | Michael George McGovern |
| Bishops emeritus | Elden Francis Curtiss,George Joseph Lucas |
| Map | |
 | |
| Website | |
| archomaha.org | |
TheMetropolitan Archdiocese of Omaha (Latin:Archidioecesis Metropolitae Omahensis) is aLatin Church ecclesiastical territory ordiocese of theCatholic Church in northeastern Nebraska in the United States. ArchbishopMichael George McGovern was installed on May 7, 2025.[2]
As of 2017, the Archdiocese of Omaha served over 230,000 Catholics in approximately 120 parishes and missions.[3] Its mother church isSt. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha.
The Archdiocese of Omaha includes 23 counties in northeast Nebraska:
Boyd, Holt, Merrick, Nance, Boone, Antelope, Knox, Pierce, Madison, Platte, Colfax, Stanton, Wayne, Cedar, Dixon, Dakota, Thurston, Cuming, Dodge, Burt, Washington, Douglas, and Sarpy.[4]
The first Catholic missionary to visit Nebraska wasFather Peter De Smet, who crossed theMissouri River into Nebraska to baptize two infants of theOtoe people near present-dayBellevue in 1838. At that time, the area was under the jurisdiction of theDiocese of St. Louis. DeSmet later traveled along the Platte River to a council of the tribes.[5]
In the mid-19th century, the Omaha area was part of theNebraska Territory, a vast jurisdiction that covered five states in theNorthern Plains and theRocky Mountains. For the Catholic church, the Nebraska Territory fell under theApostolic Vicariate of Indian Territory (East of the Rocky Mountains).[6] The first church of any denomination in Nebraska was St. Mary's, established inOmaha in 1856.[7]
In 1857,Pope Pius IX established a smaller jurisdiction, the Apostolic Vicariate of Nebraska. He named ReverendJames O'Gorman as the apostolic vicar in 1859.[8][9] When O'Gorman arrived in Omaha, he had three priests to assist him; he ordained another priest later that year.[9]
The construction of theUnion Pacific Railroad in 1867 brought more Catholic immigrants into Nebraska. Due to the poverty of his vicariate, O'Gorman relied heavily on financial support from theSociety for the Propagation of the Faith in Lyons, France, along with theLeopoldine Society of Austria-Hungary and the Ludwig Missionsverein of theKingdom of Bavaria.[7]
Many Irish immigrants working on the railroad in Nebraska were suffering injuries and illnesses. This prompted O'Gorman to plan a Catholic hospital in Omaha. Having a location for the hospital, he tasked theSisters of Mercy to raise funds for it. The new hospital opened in 1870. O'Gorman also worked with the Sisters of Mercy to open Mount Saint Mary's Academy, the first Catholic girls school in Omaha.[10] By the time O'Gorman died in 1874, the vicariate had 19 priests serving 12,000 Catholics in 20 parishes and 56 missions.[9]
The second apostolic vicar of Nebraska was ReverendJames O'Connor, appointed by Pius IX.[6] In 1883, Pope Leo XIII erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Montana, taking sections of Montana from the Vicariate of Nebraska.[6]
Leo XIII suppressed the Apostolic Vicariate of Nebraska in 1888 and replaced it with the Diocese of Omaha, covering all of Nebraska andWyoming.[11] O'Connor became the first bishop of Omaha. During his tenure as bishop, O'Connor introduced the Franciscan Fathers, thePoor Clares, theReligious of the Sacred Heart, the Benedictines, and the Sisters of Providence to the diocese. In 1879, he founded Creighton School, later to becomeCreighton College, in Omaha.[12]
In 1887, Leo XIII erected theDioceses of Cheyenne andLincoln, taking their territory from the Diocese of Omaha. At this point, the diocese only included eastern Nebraska.[6] With the assistance of SisterKatharine Drexel, O'Connor founded theSisters of the Blessed Sacrament, a religious order for Native Americans and African Americans, in 1889.[13] O'Connor died in 1890.
The next bishop of Omaha was BishopRichard Scannell from theDiocese of Concordia in Kansas, named by Leo XIII in 1891.[6] Under his governance, the cornerstone ofSt. Cecilia Cathedral was laid in 1907.[14] He also oversaw the diocese's expansion to 95 parishes, serving more than 80,000 Catholics.[14] The number of parochial schools and diocesan priests more than doubled and there were increases in the number ofreligious men and women.[15]
Scannell erected theSt. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Omaha in 1892. In 1895, theGood Shepherd Sisters founded the Good Shepherd Home, a residence for troubled girls.[16][17] He also introduced the following religious orders to the diocese:
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In 1912,Pope Pius X erected theDiocese of Kearney, taking its territory from the Diocese of Omaha.[6] Four years later,Pope Benedict XV added several more counties from Omaha to Kearney. Scannell died in 1916.
ArchbishopJeremiah Harty from theArchdiocese of Manila in the Philippines was named bishop of Omaha by Benedict XV in 1916.[1] Though appointed a bishop, Harty retained the personal title of archbishop. In 1917, Harty expressed skepticism of ReverendEdward J. Flanagan's establishment ofBoys Town, a home for troubled boys in Nebraska. However, Harty later endorsed its goals.[18] The Sisters of Mercy opened theCollege of Saint Mary for women in Omaha in 1923.[19] Harty died in 1927.
To replace Harty,Pope Pius XI appointed ReverendJoseph Rummel from theArchdiocese of New York in 1928.[20] Rummel became archbishop of theArchdiocese of New Orleans in 1935. Pius XI appointedJames Ryan, rector ofCatholic University in Washington, D.C., andtitular bishop of Modra, as the next bishop of Omaha in 1935.[21][22]
Pope Pius XII elevated the Diocese of Omaha to the Archdiocese of Omaha on August 4, 1945.[6][23] The pope named Ryan as the first archbishop of Omaha. Ryan died in 1947.[24][22]
The second archbishop of Omaha was BishopGerald Bergan of theDiocese of Des Moines, appointed by Pius XII in 1948.[25] During his administration, more than $80 million was spent for new Catholic schools, churches, and hospitals in the archdiocese.[26] This caused him to become known as the "building bishop".[27] After Bergan retired in 1969,Pope Paul VI selected Auxiliary BishopDaniel E. Sheehan of Omaha as the next archbishop.[28]
Sheehan's campaign for educational excellence raised more than $26 million to improve Catholic education in theOmaha Metropolitan Area.[28] In response to the reforms of theSecond Vatican Council, Sheehan established the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (APC) in the early 1970s.[28] He gathered representatives from the clergy, the religious communities and thelaity to share in the archdiocesan decision-making process. The APC placed emphasis on improving family life, youth and young adult ministry, evangelization, social and rural life issues andHispanic ministry. Sheehan led capital campaigns to raise funds for archdiocesan improvements, including a $4.5 million refurbishment of the St. James Center.[28] His final campaign had a goal of $25 million to buildSkutt Catholic High School in Omaha and take care of other capital needs in the archdiocese.[29] Sheehan retired in 1993.
Pope John Paul II in 1993 appointed BishopElden Curtiss of theDiocese of Helena as the next archbishop of Omaha. Curtiss retired in 2009. That same year,Pope Benedict XVI named BishopGeorge Joseph Lucas of theDiocese of Springfield in Illinois as the fifth archbishop of Omaha.[6]
In October 2010, Lucas suppressedIntercessors of the Lamb, a hermit religious community in Omaha, removing it from any association with the Catholic Church. Intercessors was founded in 1980 by Sister Nadine Mae Brown, a member of the Sisters of the Cross. In early 2010, Brown had requested that Lucas elevate Intercessors to the status of areligious institute. As part of the approval process, Lucas sent Reverend James Conn, acanon lawyer, on acanonical visitation to Intercessors.
In his report to Lucas, Conn noted that Intercessors had many serious discrepancies and issues in their current operation. Lucas then denied the Intercessors' application and sent the community a list of mandatory reforms to continue as a Catholic organization. Brown resigned from Intercessors and its leadership refused to enact the reforms. Lucas then stripped their approval from the church. The community dissolved soon after.[30][31]
On March 31, 2025, Pope Francis accepted Lucas resignation and named BishopMichael George McGovern from theDiocese of Belleville as his successor.[32]
During the 1980s and 1990s, Reverend John Fiala amassed accusations of inappropriate behavior toward boys in the Archdiocese of Omaha. However, when Fiala tried to transfer to theArchdiocese of San Antonio in 1995, officials in Omaha gave him a clean bill of health. The archdiocese in 2010 settled a lawsuit brought against it by a Texas boy who had been sexually abused there in 2008 by Fiala. After the alleged assault, the boy had told his story to a school counselor; the archdiocese then removed Fiala from ministry. When the boy filed his lawsuit in 2010, Fiala tried to hire ahitman in Texas to murder him. Fiala revealed his plans to an undercover policeman posing as a hitman. Fiala was convicted in Texas of attempted murder in 2010 and sentenced to 40 years in prison.[33] In 2014, he was convicted of sexually abusing the boy and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.[34]
In 1997, a housekeeper found pictures and a video of nude boys in the possessions of Reverend Daniel Herek at hisrectory in Omaha. She notified the archdiocese. Herek was convicted in 1998 of sexually assaulting and videotaping a 14-year-old boy and was sentenced to 20 months to five years in prison. He was laicized by the Vatican.[35][36] In 2002, a jury awarded $800,000 from the archdiocese to a boy who had been abused by Herek.[37] During the lawsuit, Bishop Sheehan denied that he transferred Herek to different parishes due to complaints about sexual abuse.
In 2002, Archbishop Curtiss removed Reverend Thomas Sellentin, an archdiocesan priest, from public ministry after Sellentin admitted sexually abusing boys over a 30-year period. Curtiss had received numerous complaints from parents and parishes over the previous years.[38] In 2003, three brothers, Richard, Thomas and Steven Schommer, sued the archdiocese, stating they had all been abused by Sellentin.[39] Sellentin was laicized by the Vatican in 2019.[40]
At the end of the 2010s, Lucas signed norms stronger than the 2002 Essential Norms (so called Zero Tolerance norms related to sexual abuse of parishioners). In October 2018, Lucas removed Reverend Francis Nigli, pastor of St. Wenceslas Parish in Omaha, from public ministry. A 21-year-old man had accused Nigli of kissing and groping him on church grounds. In 2013, Nigli had been sent away for mental health treatment after making advances to an 18-year-old man.[41] Nigli was permanently banned from ministry by the Vatican in 2021.
In November 2018, the archdiocese released the names of 38 priests and other clergy members who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct, an action requested by the state's top prosecutor.[35] Though the earliest incident of abuse on record was alleged to have happened in 1956, the archdiocese acknowledged that it did not record reports of sexual abuse until 1978.[35] In a written statement, Lucas wrote,
"We acknowledge this report with sorrow, and know that it will cause a great deal of pain.” He continued, "We’re deeply saddened so many innocent minors and young adults were harmed by the church’s ministers. To victims and their families, I am sorry for the pain, betrayal and suffering you have experienced in the church.”[35]
In 2020, Lucas and the archdiocese were sued for $2.1 million by Reverend Andrew Syring, an archdiocesan priest. He stated that he had suffereddefamation of character by being removed from public ministry and placed on a list of priests accused of sexual abuse. Syring said he was accused of sexual abuse in 2013, but was cleared by an archdiocesan investigation and returned to ministry. In 2018, Lucas removed Syring again from ministry, saying that his record was clean, but that the standards had changed.[42]
Archbishop of Omaha | |
|---|---|
| Archbishopric | |
| catholic | |
 The coat of arms of the Archbishop Michael George McGovern | |
| Incumbent: Michael George McGovern | |
| Location | |
| Ecclesiastical province | Metropolitan Archdiocese of Omaha |
| Information | |
| First holder | James Myles O'Gorman |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Established | 1859 |
| Diocese | Diocese of Omaha |
| Cathedral | St. Cecilia Cathedral |
| Website | |
| archomaha.org | |
The Omaha Catholic Schools is a school district in the Archdiocese of Omaha. Over 19,000 students attend Omaha Catholic Schools each year.[43] As of 2025l the school district was composed of:
| School | Type | City | Address | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Saints Catholic School[44] | K-8 | Omaha | 1335 S. 10th St. | |
| Archangels Catholic High School[45] | K-12 | Humphrey | 300 South 7th Street | 2024 |
| Archbishop Bergan High School[46] | 6–12 | Fremont | 545 East 4th St. | 1950 |
| Cedar Catholic Junior Senior High School[47] | Rural | Hartington | 401 South Broadway | 1905 |
| Creighton Prep[48] | All boys | Omaha | 7400 Western Ave. | 1878 |
| Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart[49] | All girls | Omaha | 3601 Burt St. | 1881 |
| Gross Catholic High School[50] | Private | Bellevue | 7700 South 43rd St. | 1968 |
| Guardian Angels Central Catholic High School[51] | Rural | West Point | 419 East Decatur | 1885 |
| Marian High School[52] | All girls | Omaha | 7400 Military Ave. | 1955 |
| Mercy High School | All girls | Omaha | 1501 South 48th St. | 1955 |
| Mount Michael Benedictine School[53] | All boys | Omaha | 22520 Mount Michael Rd | 1953 |
| Norfolk Catholic School[54] | Rural | Norfolk | 2300 Madison Ave. | 1926 |
| Pope John XXIII Central Catholic High School[55] | Rural | Elgin | 303 Remington St. | 1967 |
| Roncalli Catholic High School[56] | Private | Omaha | 6401 Sorensen Pwy. | 1974 |
| St. Mary's High School[57] | K-12 | O'Neill | 300 North 4th St. | 1900 |
| Scotus Central Catholic[58] | Rural | Columbus | 1554 18th Ave. | 1889 |
| Skutt Catholic High School[59] | Private | Omaha | 3131 S. 156th St. | 1993 |
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain:Mercedes, Sister. "Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 13 August 2019Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Omaha | |
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