Diocese of Lincoln Dioecesis Lincolnensis | |
|---|---|
_from_SE_1.JPG) Cathedral of the Risen Christ | |
 Coat of Arms of the Diocese of Lincoln | |
| Location | |
| Country |  United States |
| Territory |  The territory that lies south of thePlatte River across southernNebraska |
| Ecclesiastical province | Omaha |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 23,844 sq mi (61,760 km2) |
Population
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| Parishes | 134 |
| Schools | 30 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | August 2, 1887 (138 years ago) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of the Risen Christ |
| Patron saint | Immaculate Conception |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Bishop | James D. Conley |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Michael George McGovern |
| Bishops emeritus | Fabian Bruskewitz |
| Map | |
 | |
| Website | |
| lincolndiocese.org | |
TheDiocese of Lincoln (Latin:Dioecesis Lincolnensis) is a Roman Catholicdiocese inNebraska, United States, and comprises the majority of the eastern and central portions of the state south of thePlatte River. It is asuffragan see to thearchdiocese of Omaha. Theepiscopal see is inLincoln, Nebraska. The diocese was established in 1887, following the arrival of many Irish, German and Czech Catholic immigrants to the region. BishopJames D. Conley has been bishop there since 2012. TheCathedral of the Risen Christ is thecathedralparish of the diocese.
The first Catholic missionary to visit Nebraska was Peter DeSmet, 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.[1]
Pope Pius IX in 1850 erected the Vicariate Apostolic of Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains. This huge jurisdiction contained the present-daystates ofKansas, Nebraska,North andSouth Dakota, Colorado,Wyoming, and Montana.[2] The pope namedJohn Miège from St. Louis as the vicar apostolic. Four years later, in 1854, the US Congress created theNebraska Territory, a vast area covering six future states.
The first Catholic church in Nebraska was St. Mary's, established inOmaha in 1856. In 1857, the Vatican suppressed the Vicariate of the Indian Territory, creating instead the Vicariate of Kansas, which included all of Nebraska.[3] Miège was made vicar of the new vicariate. The second apostolic vicar of Nebraska wasJames O'Connor.
In 1862, Pastor Emmanuel Hartig dedicated St. Benedict's Church inNebraska City, the oldest standing church in the state.[1] During theAmerican Civil War, Irish Catholic workers started immigrating to Nebraska to aid in the transportation of goods and to later build theUnion Pacific railroad. Nebraska was admitted as a state in 1867.[1]
By the 1870s, large numbers of German and Czech Catholic immigrants were settling on farms in the region. On August 2, 1885, the Vatican elevated the Apostolic Vicariate of Nebraska to the Diocese of Omaha.[4]
The Diocese of Lincoln was established on August 2, 1887, byPope Leo XIII with territory taken from theDiocese of Omaha.[5] He appointedThomas Bonacum of St. Louis as the first bishop of Lincoln.[6]
When Bonacum became bishop in 1888, the diocese had a Catholic population of 23,000 with 32 priests, 29 parishes, and three parochial schools.[7] In 1888, Bonacum suedPatrick Egan, a prominent Lincoln citizen, for failing to pay a money pledge for St. Teresa's Pro-Cathedral.[8] The case went to theNebraska Supreme Court, which ordered Egan to pay the pledge.[9]
In 1891, Bonacum brought the priest Martin Corbett ofPalmyra before a diocesan court of five other priests.[10] The court dismissed the charges. Bonacum then tried to force Corbett to resign his position in 1894. Corbett refused and later sued Bonacum in civil court forlibel.[11][12] The case was dismissed.[13] Bonacum became the first Catholic bishop in the United States to be sued in civil court.[11]
By the time of Bonacum's death in 1911, there was a Catholic population of 37,000 with 84 priests, 135 churches and 65 with resident pastors, and 28 parochial schools.[14] Later that year,John Tihen of St. Louis was appointed the second bishop of Lincoln.[15] Four years later, Tihen was appointed bishop of theDiocese of Denver in 1917.[15]
BishopCharles O'Reilly from theDiocese of Baker City was named the third bishop of Lincoln in 1918 byPope Benedict XV.[16] Early into his tenure at Lincoln, O'Reilly had to contend with the1918 influenza pandemic, which claimed the lives of many priests and religious sisters.[17] He traveled to Rome in 1921 to recruit more priests, especially for the largeCzech-speaking population in the diocese. During his five years as bishop, he established six new parochial schools and three new parishes.[17]
After O'Reilly died in 1923,Pope Pius XI namedFrancis Beckman of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as his replacement.[18] In 1930, Beckman was named archbishop of theArchdiocese of Dubuque. His successor in Lincoln wasLouis Kucera of Dubuque. Kucera served as bishop for 27 years until his death in 1957.[19] Auxiliary BishopJames Casey of Lincoln succeeded Kucera that same year.[20]
During Casey's nine-year-long tenure, achancery building, a school for special needs children, aretreat house, several high schools and grade schools, and aNewman Center were built.[21] The most prominent development was the erection of theCathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln; the bishop broke ground on the new cathedral in June 1963 and dedicated it in August 1965.[22] TheSouthern Nebraska Register declared that Casey "accomplished more for the Diocese of Lincoln in 10 years than any other comparable period in our history."[21]
Casey was appointed archbishop of theArchdiocese of Denver in 1967; Auxiliary BishopGlennon Flavin of St. Louis replaced him in Lincoln. Flavin founded the School Sisters of Christ the King in 1976.[23] In 1981, Flavin prohibited women from serving aslectors duringMass; in response, ArchbishopRembert Weakland called his actions "a step backward and offensive."[24][25] Flavin retired in 1992 after 24 years as bishop of Lincoln.
To replace Flavin,Pope John Paul II selectedFabian Bruskewitz of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1992.[26] In 1996, Bruskewitz issued a statement forbidding Catholics in the diocese to join a number of organizations, including theSociety of St. Pius X,Call to Action, Planned Parenthood,Catholics for a Free Choice, the Hemlock Society, and variousMasonic groups, under pain of excommunication.[27]
In 1996, BishopFabian Bruskewitz established a task force to examine the idea of creating a seminary in the diocese. In 1998,St. Gregory the Great Seminary was opened.[28]
In 2006, Bruskewitz rejected the proposed undertaking of an audit by the National Review Board of theUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The audit would have examined whether the diocese had effectively implemented national guidelines onsexual abuse programs.[29] Bruskewitz retired in 2010.
James D. Conley, formerly an auxiliary bishop from the Archdiocese of Denver, was appointed bishop by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.[30][31]
In June 2014, the chairman of theU.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) National Review Board for the Protection of Children reported that the Diocese of Lincoln was one of four American dioceses not in audit compliance. According to a 2015 statement by Conley, the diocese had complied with all church and civil laws on child abuse reporting and child protection; he stated that the audit process had been improved, and that the diocese would now participate in the USCCB audit.[citation needed]
In 2016, Conley gave permission for lay married men to enter thepermanent diaconate in cooperation with the archdiocese of Omaha's diaconate program.[32] In early 2019, Conley reiterated diocesan policy of only allowing male altar servers, making it one of two dioceses in the country with that restriction.[33][34]
In December 2019, Conley announced that he was taking a medical leave of absence to treatdepression, anxiety, insomnia, andtinnitus. ArchbishopGeorge Joseph Lucas was appointed to serve as apostolic administrator during Conley's leave of absence. Conley returned to active service in November 2020. In 2021, Matthew Hecker became the first permanent deacon to be ordained for the diocese.[35]
In 2021, Nebraska Attorney GeneralDoug Peterson published a report on sexual abuse by priests in Nebraska. It highlighted several instances in which Bishop Bruskewitz failed to followcanon law in handling allegations:
In October 2021, the diocese published a list of diocesan clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors.[38] The list included Copenhaver and Benton.
Of 195 US bishops in 2003, Bruskewitz was the only one who refused to sign an official policy intended to prevent sexual abuse of children, called theCharter for the Protection of Children and Young People. He attributed sexual abuse by his priests to "homosexual perversion" and the consequences of society rejecting traditional Catholic teaching about marriage and birth control.[39]
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Statistics as of 2021:
As of 2025, the Diocese of Lincoln was operating 27 schools with an approximate enrollment of 7600 students.[43]
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Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Omaha | |
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40°48′35″N96°40′31″W / 40.80972°N 96.67528°W /40.80972; -96.67528
