Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana Dioecesis Lafayettensis in Indiana | |
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.jpg) St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Country |  United States |
| Territory | Central Indiana |
| Ecclesiastical province | Indianapolis |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 9,832 sq mi (25,460 km2) |
Population
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| Parishes | 61 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | October 21, 1944 (81 years ago) |
| Cathedral | The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception |
| Patron saint | Immaculate Conception Théodore Guérin |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Bishop | Timothy L. Doherty |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Charles C. Thompson |
| Map | |
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| Website | |
| dol-in.org | |
TheDiocese of Lafayette in Indiana (Latin:Dioecesis Lafayettensis in Indiana) is aLatin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of theCatholic Church in centralIndiana in the United States. The current bishop isTimothy L. Doherty. The Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana is asuffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitanArchdiocese of Indianapolis.
The Indiana area was part of the French colony ofNew France during the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century. It was explored by French fur traders and missionaries under theBishop of Quebec. It became British territory after theFrench Indian War ended in 1763; however, the British government refused to allow American colonists to enter the region.
Several years after theAmerican Revolution in 1789,Pope Pius VI erected theDiocese of Baltimore, covering the entire United States.[1] John Francis served as vicar-general in the west from 1798 until his death in 1804. In 1808,Pope Pius VII erected theDiocese of Bardstown, with jurisdiction over theIndiana Territory and other areas in the Midwest.[2]
TheDiocese of Vincennes was created in 1834 byPope Gregory XVI to cover the entire state of Indiana and part of Illinois.[3] The diocese sent many French missionaries to this veryanti-Catholic area. The most notable missionary was MotherTheodore Guerin, who made her way tosouthern Indiana with herSisters of Providence in 1841. Guerin and the other sisters formedSt. Mary of the Woods College atTerre Haute, Indiana. Many alumni of St. Mary traveled throughout Indiana preaching.
In 1857,Pope Pius IX established theDiocese 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.[4]
Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana on October 21, 1944, with territory of the Diocese of Fort Wayne.[4] The new diocese had 54 parishes and an approximate population of 31,700 Catholics. In 1945, the pope named ReverendJohn Bennett of Fort Wayne as the first bishop of the new diocese.[4]
MonsignorJohn Carberry of theDiocese of Brooklyn was appointedcoadjutor bishop of Lafayette in Indiana to assist Bennett in 1956 by Pius XII. When Bennett died in 1957, Carberry automatically became the next bishop of Lafayette in Indiana.[5][6]
Carberry convened the first diocesansynod and established the Diocesan Council of Men and the Society for Priestly Vocations during his tenure. A 1964 census of the diocese found a population of 73,822 Catholics and noted a move from mostly rural populations to scattered suburban areas. In 1965,Pope Paul VI appointed Carberry as bishop of theDiocese of Columbus.[5]
In August 1965, Paul VI appointed MonsignorRaymond Gallagher of theDiocese of Cleveland as the next bishop of Lafayette in Indiana.[7] Within his first five years, Gallagher dedicated many churches in northern Indiana.
With Gallagher's retirement in 1982, Auxiliary BishopGeorge Fulcher of the Diocese of Columbus was appointed byPope John Paul II as his replacement.[8] In January 1984, Fulcher died in a car crash. The pope selected MonsignorWilliam Higi in 1984 to succeed Fulcher.[9]
Higi openedSt. Theodore Guerin High School in Noblesville. In addition to working within the diocese, he also established outreach programs toHaiti. After over 26 years as bishop, Higi retired in 2010.[10]
The current bishop of Lafayette in Indiana isTimothy Doherty from theDiocese of Rockford. Doherty was named byPope Benedict XVI in 2010. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of priests in the diocese had fallen from 154 to 129. To alleviate the shortage, Doherty recruited priests fromNigeria and Mexico.[11]
In July 2020, Doherty suspended Reverend Theodore Rothrock, a priest at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish inCarmel, from public ministry. In a Sunday bulletin, Rothrock had described theBlack Lives Matter organizers as parasites and maggots. Rothrock later apologized for his remarks.[12]
In 1988, Reverend Ron Voss was first accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy. After undergoing therapy, Voss transferred to Haiti. He was ultimatelaicized in 1993. Eight men eventually accused Voss of sexual abuse when they were teenagers.[13] Also in 1988, Reverend Ken Bollinger was removed from public ministry by the diocese after it received complaints of him sexually abusing teenage boys. He confessed to plying his victims with alcohol and playing sexual games with them. Bollinger was laicized in 2009.[14]
The diocese was sued in 1995 by a woman who claimed she was sexually abused by Monsignor Arthur Sego. However, the case was dismissed in court as the crime was past thestatute of limitations.[15] Sego was removed permanently from ministry in 1994. He was accused of fondling adult women and photographing young nude girls.[13]
In 1997, theIndianapolis Star and News published a series of articles on sexual abuse allegations against priests in the diocese and the mishandling of these cases by diocesan officials.[16] The paper reported that Bishop Higi established two tiers of response to sexual abuse claims:
In 2003, Higi reported that 18 priests serving in the diocese since 1950 had been accused by 26 parishioners of sexually abusing them as minors. The diocese had removed nine priests from ministry due to credible accusations.[17]
The diocese was sued in September 2018 by a man who claimed that he had been sexually abused as a minor by Reverend James Grear at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in 1982. When the boy reported the alleged crime to another priest at that time, the priest told him to pray to God for forgiveness and forget about the incident. Two other men were later added to the lawsuit.[18] Grear was permanently removed from ministry in 2001.[14]
In 2020, aNavajo Nation man sued the diocese, claiming that he had been abused by Grear after the priest moved to Arizona. The 2020 plaintiff accused the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana of covering up Grear's history of sexual abuse crimes when he transferred.[19]
The diocese in March 2022 suspended Reverend James DeOreo from ministry after it received allegation of sexual abuse and other offenses from a minor. DeOreo sued the diocese in April 2022, saying that it had investigated the allegations twice and found no evidence to support them.[20]
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From its beginning in 1944, the patron of the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana has been theImmaculate Conception. Thefeast day for the Immaculate Conception is December 8.
During the early 21st century, the diocese began contemplating a second patron. With the formation ofSt. Theodore Guerin High School in Noblesville in 2004, the diocese namedThéodore Guérin as another patron.
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The Diocese of Lafayette publishes a weekly newspaper,The Catholic Moment, started in 1945. Its circulation is approximately 28,000.[22]
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Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Indianapolis | |
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40°25′02″N86°52′43″W / 40.41722°N 86.87861°W /40.41722; -86.87861
