Roman Catholic Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama

Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama

*Dioecesis Birminghamiensis*
Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama; Dioecesis Birminghamiensis
	Cathedral of St. Paul
	Coat of arms
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Northern Alabama
Ecclesiastical province	Mobile
Statistics
Area	28,091 sq mi (72,760 km2)
Population; - Total; - Catholics	(as of 2023); 3,187,797; 113,241 (3.5%)
Parishes	54
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	28 June 1969; (split from Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham)
Cathedral	Cathedral of Saint Paul
Patron saint	Saint Paul
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Steven John Raica
Metropolitan Archbishop	Thomas John Rodi
Bishops emeritus	Robert Joseph Baker
Map
Website
	bhmdiocese.org

The Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory. or diocese, of the Catholic Church that encompasses the northern 39 counties of Alabama in the United States.^[1] It was erected on December 9, 1969, with territory from what is now the Archdiocese of Mobile. The Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mobile.

The Cathedral of Saint Paul, in Birmingham, Alabama serves as the Episcopal see of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama. EWTN, a major Catholic media enterprise, is located in the diocese.

History

1700 to 1800

In 1703, the first Catholic church in present day Alabama, the Church of Fort Louis de la Louisiane, was founded by French explores at present-day Mobile. That next year, Henri Roulleaux De la Vente became the first resident priest in the new settlement, under the authority of the Diocese of Quebec in New France.^[2]^[3]

With the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, the British took control of the French colonies east of the Mississippi River, including Mobile. The British mandated that the French Catholic landowners in Alabama swear allegiance to the Church of England. As a result, most of them migrated to New Orleans, now held by Catholic Spain. In 1790, during the American Revolution, the Spanish took Mobile from the British.^[2]^[4]In 1793, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas centered in New Orleans to serve Catholics in the Spanish colonies.^[5]

1800 to 1900

In 1813, American forces captured Mobile. Eight years later in 1821, Spain sold all of their remaining American colonies to the United States.^[6] Recognizing these changes, Pope Leo XII in 1825 erected the Vicariate Apostolic of Alabama and the Floridas.^[7] The pope named Monsignor Michael Portier as the vicar apostolic.^[8]^[3]

The new vicariate included all of Alabama, East and West Florida, and Arkansas. At the time of his accession, Portier was the only clergyman in the vicariate; he had two churches in Florida and one in Mobile, with an estimated Catholic population of 6,000.^[3] Portier began his administration by riding through his vicariate, offering communion, preaching, and administering the sacraments.

In 1829, Pope Pius VIII erected the Diocese of Mobile, taking the Florida Territory and the new State of Alabama from the vicariate. Portier became the first bishop of Mobile.^[9]The Birmingham area would remain part of the Diocese of Mobile, succeeded by the Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham, for the next 135 years.

In 1844, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, the first Catholic church in Tuscaloosa, was opened.^[10] The first Catholic church in Birmingham was St. Paul's, opened in 1872.^[11] St. Mary of the Visitation Church in Huntsville, dedicated in 1877, is the oldest Catholic church in North Alabama.^[12]

1969 to 1993

Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Birmingham, with territory taken from the Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham, on June 28, 1969, simultaneously renaming the mother diocese to Diocese of Mobile. The pope named Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Vath from Mobile-Birmingham as the first bishop of Birmingham.^[13]

In 1980, Pope John Paul II elevated the Diocese of Mobile to a metropolitan archdiocese and designated the Diocese of Birmingham as one of its suffragans. Vath died in 1987.^[14]

Reverend Raymond Boland from the Archdiocese of Washington became the next bishop of Birmingham, named by John Paul II in 1988.^[15] The same pope appointed Boland as bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in 1993.

1993 to present

To replace Boland, John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop David Foley of the Diocese of Richmond as bishop of Birmingham.^[16] In 1999, Foley prohibited priests in his diocese, under most circumstances, from celebrating mass in the ad orientem position. Though the decree never specifically mentioned the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), observers agreed that the decree was directed at the influence of Mother Angelica's network on the practice.^[17] Foley retired in 2005. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Robert Baker from the Diocese of Charleston as bishop of Birmingham. Baker retired in 2020.

The current bishop of Birmingham is Steven J. Raica, formerly bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord. He was appointed by Pope Francis in 2020.^[18]^[19]

On February 8, 2024, the diocese launched a major re-structuring program in which they temporarily passed any diocesan-level activities in the fields of religious education, evangelization, sacred music, and youth protection. As a result of the initial stage of this restructuring program, several lay employees were laid off permanently.^[20]

Reports of sexual abuse

Bishop Vath in 1985 sent Reverend Charles V. Cross to the Servants of Paraclete Center in New Mexico for treatment after receiving complaints that Cross had sexually abused minors. When Cross returned to Birmingham, he was banned from any parish positions. In 1993, Robert W. Wilford accused Cross of sexual abuse during the 1960's when he was a teenager and sued the diocese in 1995. However, the case was dismissed due to the statute of limitations. In 2002, after receiving several more allegations against Cross, Bishop Foley permanently suspended him from ministry.^[21]

In 2004, four priests accused of sexual abuse who served in the diocese agreed to pay a settlement of $45,000 to eleven of their victims.^[22]

Reverend Francis Mary Stone (also known as David Stone) was arrested in 2013 on charges of sexually molesting his eight year-old son. He had fathered the boy with Christina Presnell, an EWTN employee, while he was serving as a host of the network's show Life on the Rock between 2001 and 2007. After the boy was born, the diocese removed Stone from public ministry. Stone was acquitted in 2016 of the sexual abuse charges.^[23]

In 2018, Bishop Baker released a list of six clergy who were accused of committing acts of sex abuse while serving the diocese.^[24]^[25] Baker stated that "they committed these deplorable acts,” and apologized to the victims.^[24]^[25] He permanently removed the five living priests from ministry.^[22]