Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno is a particular church of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in the western region (XI) of the United States, in the State of California. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Geographically, the diocese consists of 35,239 square miles (91,270 km²) of the Southern San Joaquin Valley of California, a portion of the Sierra Nevada and some eastern valleys. The diocese consists of all of the Counties of Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, and Tulare. The total population of the diocesan region is about 2.4 million inhabitants, of whom 1,074,944 are registered Catholic as of 2012. For administrative purposes the diocese is sub-divided into five deaneries: Fresno City, Fresno (rural), Tulare/Kings, Kern/Inyo, and Merced/Mariposa.

Diocese of Fresno Dioecesis Fresnensis
St. John's Cathedral
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Counties of Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Mariposa, and Tulare
Ecclesiastical province	Los Angeles
Metropolitan	José Gómez
Statistics
Population - Total - Catholics (including non-members)	(as of 2016) 2,906,023 1,200,000 (41.3%)
Parishes	89
Congregations	41
Schools	38 (Pre-School, Elementary, Middle, and High School)
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	October 6, 1967[1]
Cathedral	Saint John the Baptist Cathedral
Patron saint	St. Therese of Lisieux
Secular priests	179 (Diocesan and Religious)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Joseph Vincent Brennan
Metropolitan Archbishop	José Gómez Archbishop of Los Angeles
Vicar General	Rev. Msgr. Raymond C. Dreiling, V.G.
Bishops emeritus	Armando Xavier Ochoa
Map
Website
dioceseoffresno.org

History

The see was created in 1967 by splitting the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno into two sees. Historically the area of the current diocese belonged to the Dioceses of Guadalajara, Durango, Sonora, Californias, Monterey, Monterey-Los Angeles, and lastly Monterey-Fresno. Timothy Manning (first Bishop of Fresno) and Roger Mahony (Auxiliary Bishop) have both served in the diocese.

The most recent ordinary, John Thomas Steinbock, was appointed the fourth Bishop of Fresno on October 15, 1991, taking over from Apostolic Administrator Most Rev. Norman McFarland, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. He served in that position until his death from lung cancer on December 5, 2010. Since 1922 the diocesan see has been in the City of Fresno with the cathedra remaining at St. John's Cathedral (which also served as the seat of the former Diocese of Monterey-Fresno). The diocese maintains 86 parishes, several charities, two high schools, numerous elementary schools, a small newspaper, television station (KNXT), retreat center and several cemeteries.

In 2003, the Diocese of Fresno was one of only four Latin Church dioceses in the United States that did not participate in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops review of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.[2]

Bishops

Bishops of Fresno

1. Timothy Manning (1967-1969), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop and later Archbishop of Los Angeles (elevated to Cardinal in 1973)
2. Hugh Aloysius Donohoe (1969-1980)
3. José de Jesús Madera Uribe (1980-1991, coadjutor bishop 1979-1980), appointed Auxiliary Bishop for the Military Services, USA
4. John Thomas Steinbock (1991-2010)
5. Armando Xavier Ochoa (2011-2019)
6. Joseph Vincent Brennan (2019–present)

Auxiliary Bishops

1. Roger Mahony (1975-1980), appointed Bishop of Stockton and later Archbishop of Los Angeles (created a Cardinal in 1991)

Other priest of this diocese who became a bishop

• Myron Joseph Cotta, appointed auxiliary bishop of Sacramento in 2014, appointed Bishop of Stockton in 2018

Churches

Schools

Parishes

See also

• Catholic Church by country
• Catholic Church hierarchy
• List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States

Notes

1. "Diocese of Fresno". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
2. http://www.nccbuscc.org/ocyp/audit2003/sectionone.htm#6

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno Official Site