Diocese of Brooklyn Diœcesis Bruklyniensis | |
|---|---|
 Cathedral Basilica of St. James  Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Country |  United States |
| Territory | Brooklyn andQueens |
| Ecclesiastical province | Archdiocese of New York |
| Headquarters |
|
| Statistics | |
| Area | 179 sq mi (460 km2) |
| Population - Total - Catholics | (as of July 2017) 5,007,353 1,506,000 (30.1%) |
| Parishes | 185 |
| Churches | 211 |
| Schools | 99 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | July 29, 1853; 171 years ago (1853-07-29) |
| Cathedral | Cathedral Basilica of St. James |
| Co-cathedral | Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph |
| Secular priests | 472 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Robert J. Brennan |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | |
| Auxiliary Bishops | |
| Bishops emeritus | |
| Map | |
 | |
| Website | |
dioceseofbrooklyn | |
TheDiocese of Brooklyn (Latin:Diœcesis Bruklyniensis) is aLatin Church ecclesiastical territory, ordiocese, of theCatholic Church in theState ofNew York. It is headquartered inBrooklyn and its territory encompasses theNew York City boroughs of Brooklyn andQueens.
The Diocese of Brooklyn is asuffragan diocese in theecclesiastical province of themetropolitanArchdiocese of New York. The diocesancathedral is theCathedral Basilica of St. James in Downtown Brooklyn and its co-cathedral is theCo-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights. Brooklyn is one of the few dioceses in the United States that is made up of 100% urban territory.[1]
As of March 2025, the bishop of Brooklyn isRobert J. Brennan. He presides from both the Cathedral Basilica of St. James and the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph.
In 1784,Pope Pius VI erected theApostolic Prefecture of United States of America, creating a separate jurisdiction for the new United States from the Catholic Church of Great Britain.[2] That same year, the new State of New York repealed the Colonial-era law prohibiting Catholic priests from residing in New York.[3]
With the anti-priest law repealed, the French consul in New York City,Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, organized a group of laymen in 1785 to openSt. Peter's Parish in Manhattan, the first Catholic parish in New York City. In 1800, the congregation opened a school at St. Peter's, the first Catholic school in New York.[4]
In 1789, Pius VI raised the Apostolic Prefecture of United States to theDiocese of Baltimore, headed by the first American bishop,John Carroll. For the next nine years, Carroll was in charge of the Catholic Church in New York State along with the rest of the nation.[5][2]
Catholic immigration to Brooklyn started with the opening of theBrooklyn Navy Yard in 1801. It attracted many Catholic immigrants fromNorthern Ireland to work there. Since there was no Catholic parish in Brooklyn, they would cross theEast River to Manhattan on Sundays to attend mass atSt. Peter's Church. BishopJohn Power, the vicar apostolic of New York, would celebrate mass in Brooklyn in private homes.[6]
In 1808,Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of New York, with jurisdiction over the entire State of New York. By 1814, the diocese had four priests and two churches in New York City, both in Manhattan.[7] The Catholic population of the diocese was approximately 15,000, primarily Irish with some English, French and Germans.[8]
The first Catholic parish in the City of Brooklyn was St. James, founded in 1822.[9] By 1826, the Diocese of New York had grown to 18 priests, 12 churches and a Catholic population of 150,000.[10] TheSisters of Charity arrived in Brooklyn in 1834, becoming the first women'sreligious institute in that city.[11]
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Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Brooklyn in 1853 out of theArchdiocese of New York. The new diocese included the City of Brooklyn,Queens County and the two counties inLong Island. The pope named ReverendJohn Loughlin of New York as its first bishop. Loughlin chose St. James Church as his cathedral.[12] The first Catholic church in Queens, St. Monica's, was dedicated in 1856. During his episcopate, Loughlin founded 120 parishes. He started construction of the new, larger Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in 1868, but then stopped work on it to fund charities.[11]
St. Francis Academy for boys was founded in 1858 in Brooklyn by a group ofFranciscans from Ireland. It is todaySt. Francis College.[13]
During Loughlin's 38-year tenure, the Catholic population of the diocese increased from about 15,000 to nearly 400,000. During this time, 125churches andchapels, 93parochial schools, two colleges, 10orphanages, fivehospitals, two homes for the elderly and a residence for homeless boys were built.[14] He erected the Chapel of the Resurrection at Holy Cross Cemetery in 1855.[15] Loughlin started construction of a new cathedral in 1868, but stopped the project so as to spend the funds on diocesan charities.[11]
The Sisters of Charity opened St. Mary's Female Hospital in Brooklyn in 1868.[16] That same year, the massive St. John’s Home for Boys opened in Brooklyn.[17] TheCongregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd opened the House of the Good Shepard, areformatory and industrial school for "fallen women".[18]
In 1870, Loughlin invited theVincentianOrder to establish a college for the increasing immigrant population. They opened St. John's College in Brooklyn, which is todaySt. John's University.[19]
After Loughlin died in 1891,Pope Leo XIII appointed MonsignorCharles McDonnell of New York as the second bishop of Brooklyn. The diocese at that time included 250,000 Catholics. As more immigrants from different nationalities entered Brooklyn, McDonnell founded severalnational parishes that ministered to this immigrants in their native languages.[20] He also built three hospitals.
The St. Dominic Congregation of the Holy Cross opened theMary Immaculate Hospital in theJamaica section of Queens in 1902.[21] McConnell in 1903 dedicated the Pro-Cathedral of St. James. It replaced the original St. James Cathedral, which had been severely damaged by fire.[22]
In 1916, theCongregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph opened St. Joseph College for Women in theClinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. It is todaySt. Joseph's University.[23]
Auxiliary BishopThomas Molloy of Brooklyn was named the third bishop of that diocese byPope Benedict IV in 1921.[24] During his 35-year tenure, the number of Catholics in the diocese exceeded one million, making it the most populous one in the country.[25] During theGreat Depression, Molloy established a labor school to teach working men the Catholic principles that apply totrade unionism.[26] He also ordered the diocesan clergy to take courses in industrial issues to better instruct their parishioners.[26] Molloy died in 1956.
Pope Pius XII split theDiocese of Rockville Centre from Brooklyn on April 6, 1957. Ten days later, the pope named BishopBryan McEntegart, rector of theCatholic University of America in Washington, D.C., as the next bishop of Brooklyn. During his tenure he launched a multimillion-dollar building program, which included sixhigh schools, a hospital and a four-year theologicalseminary.[27]
In 1967, McEntegart restructured Cathedral College due to shrinking enrollment and fewer students becoming priests. The Brooklyn and Queens campuses became four-year seminary high schools. The college programs were transferred into an independent four-year college seminary inDouglaston in Queens.[28] The college was established to serve seminarians from the Diocese of Brooklyn, the Diocese of Rockville Centre and the Archdiocese of New York. The college's inaugural class had 38 students, 22 of whom eventually became priests.[29] By the early 1970s, the college had over 370 students and offered over a dozen college majors.[30]
McEntegart promoted outreach to the growingHispanic population, sending priests andreligious sisters to studySpanish language and culture.[31] McEntegart retired in 1968.
Pope Paul VI named ReverendFrancis Mugavero of Brooklyn as the first Italian-American bishop of Brooklyn in 1968.[32] In 1971, Mugavero established the Catholic Migration Office to serve immigrants and refugees. He created the firstapostolates in 1972 for the Italian, Haitian, Polish, Korean, Croatian, and Spanish communities.[33] Mugavero often called Brooklyn "the diocese of immigrants," and was proud that mass was celebrated there in 14 languages.[34]
Mugavero announced theNehemiah project, in association with East Brooklyn Churches, at a press conference in June 1982. The plan was to build houses in theBrownsville area of Brooklyn for lower income families. By 1985, the Nehemiah project had produced 300 new row houses.[35]
In 1970, a woman fromBayside in Queens,Veronica Lueken, had stated that she was seeing apparitions of theVirgin Mary, Jesus, and numerous Catholic saints. Over the years, these apparitions became known as the "visions of Bayside". In 1986, Mugavero issued a declaration on Lueken's visions;
"I, the undersigned Diocesan Bishop of Brooklyn, in my role as the legitimate shepherd of this particular Church, wish to confirm the constant position of the Diocese of Brooklyn that a thorough investigation revealed that the alleged "visions of Bayside" completely lacked authenticity".[36]
Mugavero in 1972 renamed the Pro-Cathedral of St. James as the Cathedral of St. James.[9] In 1987, Mugavero established the Immaculate Conception Center at the site of the former Cathedral College to house diocesan offices, ministries and a retreat center.[37] The Vatican in 1982 designated the Cathedral of St. James as aminor basilica.[9] Mugavero retired in 1990.
To replace Mugavero,Pope John Paul II in 1990 appointed BishopThomas Daily from theDiocese of Palm Beach as the next bishop of Brooklyn.[38] Shortly after his installation, he stated that New York GovernorMario Cuomo, would not be welcomed as a speaker in the diocese's parishes because of Cuomo'spro-choice position onabortion rights for women.[39] Dailey retired in 2003.
The next bishop of Brooklyn was BishopNicholas DiMarzio of the Diocese of Camden, appointed by John Paul II in 2003. DiMarzio issued threepastoral letters as bishop of Brooklyn.
St. Joseph's Church in theProspect Heights section of Brooklyn as designated as a co-cathedral in February 2013, by PopeBenedict XVI. DiMarzio had requested the designation due to the small seating capacity of the Cathedral Basilica of St. James.[40]
In November 2019, Mark Matzek, a New Jersey resident, alleged that DiMarzio and another priest had repeatedly molested him while he was analtar server at St. Nicholas Parish and a student at St. Nicholas School inJersey City, New Jersey, in the mid-1970s. DiMarzio was assigned to St. Nicholas during that time. DiMarzio, who retired in 2020, denied the charges.
A burglar in May 2020 broke intoSt. Augustine Church in thePark Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn and stole a gold tabernacle valued at $2 million. The thief emptied the host in the tabernacle on the altar and the floor.[41] As of 2025, the tabernacle had not been recovered. In September 2021, after an investigation led by former FBI DirectorLouis Freeh, theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican said that the accusations against DiMarzio were groundless.[42]
Pope Francis named BishopRobert J. Brennan from theDiocese of Columbus as bishop of Brooklyn in September 2021.[43]
The diocese in November 2021 fired Matthew LaBanca from his two music jobs at St. Joseph Catholic Academy in Astoria and Corpus Christi Church inWoodside. He was terminated after entering asame-sex marriage in August of that year.[44]
Brennan in November 2023 expressed his shock at a music video for singerSabrina Carpenter that was filmed inside Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn. Staged for the songFeather, the video showed Carpenter dancing on top of the altar in one sequence. In another sequence, she was not wearing pants.[45] Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, the church pastor, later apologized to the parish and was disciplined by Brennan.[46]
In September 2018, the Diocese of Brooklyn agreed to a $27.5 million settlement for victims of sexual abuse by its clergy.[47] In February 2019, the diocese published a list of 108 clergy who were credibly accused of committing sexual abuse,[48][49][50] some of whom have also been convicted for their crimes.[51][50] Along with the list, Bishop DiMarzio also issued a letter of apology, asking for forgiveness.[52]
In June 2020, theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Reverend Francis Hughes, a priest serving in Queens, onchild pornography charges and sex-related charges involving underage minors.[53] In a separate case, the Vatican exonerated Bishop DiMarzio of allegations of sexual abuse dating back a half century. After an investigation led by former FBI DirectorLouis Freeh, theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican said that the accusations against DiMarzio were groundless.[42]
In April 2024, the diocese reached an agreement with New York Attorney GeneralLetitia James to strengthen it policies for handling sexual abuse allegations against priests. The changes included the appointment of a secular, independent monitor to observe how the diocese handles its reporting of abuse.[54]
As of 2025, the Diocese of Brooklyn operates 185 parishes and 211 churches to serve 1.5 million Catholic residents.[55]
Leo Joseph White, Apostolic Prefect ofGarissa, Kenya, 1976-1984 – incardinated in 1990.
The Catholic Schools of Brooklyn and Queens operates the schools for the Diocese of Brooklyn.[56] As of 2025, it runs 15 high schools.[57] The total student population in 2025 was approximately 30,000.[58] During the early 2000s, the diocese closed 45 schools.[59]
The diocese operates theCathedral Preparatory High School and Seminary in Queens. It is the only high school in the United States that prepares students for the priesthood.[60]
The Diocese of Brooklyn has nine Catholic cemeteries; two in Brooklyn, five in Queens and three in Long Island in theDiocese of Rockville Centre.
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Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of New York | |
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