Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo

Last updated
Diocese of Toledo in America

Dioecesis Toletana in America
ToledoCathedralHolyRosary.jpg
Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral
Coat of arms of the Diocese of Toledo.svg
Coat of arms
Location
CountryFlag of the United States.svg  United States
TerritoryThe counties of Allen, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot in northwestern Ohio.
Ecclesiastical province Cincinnati
Statistics
Area8,222 sq mi (21,290 km2)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2010)
1,461,436
321,516 (22%)
Parishes123
Information
Denomination Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
EstablishedApril 15, 1910 (114 years ago)
Cathedral Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral
Patron saint Our Lady of the Rosary (principal)
Francis de Sales (secondary)
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Daniel Edward Thomas
Metropolitan Archbishop Dennis Marion Schnurr
Vicar GeneralRev. Msgr. William Kubacki
Map
Diocese of Toledo (Ohio) map 1.jpg
Website
toledodiocese.org

The Diocese of Toledo in America (Latin : Dioecesis Toletana in America) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church covering nineteen counties in northwestern Ohio in the United States.

Contents

The diocese is a suffragan see of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The See city for the diocese is Toledo. The eighth and current bishop of Toledo is Daniel Thomas. Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral is the mother church of the diocese.

History

1700 to 1900

During the 17th century, present day Ohio was part of the French colony of New France. The Diocese of Quebec, had jurisdiction over the region. However, unlike other parts of the future American Midwest, there were no attempts to found Catholic missions in Ohio.

In 1763, Ohio Country became part of the British Province of Quebec, forbidden from settlement by American colonists. After the American Revolution ended in 1783, Pope Pius VI erected in 1784 the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States, encompassing the entire territory of the new nation. In 1787, the Ohio area became part of the Northwest Territory of the United States. Pius VI created the Diocese of Baltimore, the first diocese in the United States, to replace the prefecture apostolic in 1789. [1] [2]

In 1808, Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Bardstown in Kentucky, with jurisdiction over the new state of Ohio along with the other midwest states. Pope Pius VII on June 19, 1821, erected the Diocese of Cincinnati, taking all of Ohio from Bardstown. [3] In 1842, the first Catholic church in Toledo, St. Francis de Sales, was constructed. [4]

Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Cleveland in 1847, with territory taken from Cincinnati. Northwest Ohio would be part of the Diocese of Cleveland for the next 63 years.

1900 to 1950

Pius X erected the Diocese of Toledo on April 15, 1910, in territory taken from the Diocese of Cleveland. [5] [6] The pope named Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Schrembs of the Diocese of Grand Rapids as the first bishop of the new diocese. Schrembs requested that the Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota, send nuns to Toledo to work with Polish immigrant children. Sister Adelaide Sandusky, director of the College of St. Teresa, and 22 other sisters began teaching in Toledo schools. This community became the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania [7] From 1911 to 1921, Schrembs established 13 new parishes and 33 schools. At Schrembs' invitation, Visitation nuns came to Toledo in 1915 from their Georgetown monastery in Washington, D.C. [8]

In 1921, Pope Pius XI appointed Schrembs as bishop of Cleveland. His replacement in Toledo was Reverend Samuel Stritch, named by Pius XI in 1921. During his tenure as bishop, Stritch established Mary Manse College in Toledo in 1922 and incorporated the diocesan Catholic Charities in 1923. He also began construction of Holy Rosary Cathedral, whose cornerstone was laid by Cardinal János Csernoch in 1926. [9] In 1930, Pius XI named Stritch as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. To replace Stritch, the pope named Reverend Karl Alter, the first priest from Toledo to become its bishop.

During his tenure as bishop, Alter completed construction of Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo and built an addition to Central Catholic High School in Toledo. He established DeSales College in Toledo in 1942 and donated a 12-acre (49,000 m2) parcel of land in East Toledo for the construction of St. Charles Hospital. In 1950, after 20 years as bishop of Toledo, Alter was named archbishop of Cincinnati by Pope Pius XII.

1950 to 2010

Alter was replaced in Toledo by Auxiliary Bishop George Rehring of Cincinnati by Pius XII in 1950. He retired in 1967. Pope Paul VI then named Auxiliary Bishop John Donovan from the Archdiocese of Detroit as the new bishop of Toledo.

Donovan implemented the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the diocese by joining the Ohio Council of Churches, and establishing a permanent diaconate and a chancery office for divorced, separated, and widowed Catholics. [10] In 1967, he issued a pastoral letter endorsing open housing ballot initiative, which was defeated in a city referendum that fall. [11] He also established the Diocesan Development Fund and special programs for Spanish-speaking, African American and elderly Catholics. [10] During his tenure, Donovan also established Resurrection Parish in Lexington in 1969 and St. Joan of Arc Parish in Toledo in 1978. The Catholic population in the diocese increased from 301,000 to 348,000. [10] Donovan retired in 1980.

The next bishop of Toledo was Auxiliary Bishop James Hoffman, appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1980. Hoffman died in 2003 and was replaced by Auxiliary Bishop Leonard Blair of Detroit, named by John Paul II. On May 9. 2005, Blair directed the Sisters of St. Francis to cancel a three-workshop by New Ways Ministry at the order's campus in Tiffin. [12] In stating his objections, Blair stated:

The positions of New Ways Ministry are not at all in accord with the guidelines for pastoral care which the bishops of the United States issued in 2006 regarding 'Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination. [12]

Reverend Gerald Robinson was convicted in 2006 of the 1980 murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl at Mercy Hospital in Toledo. Pahl had been strangled and stabbed 31 times. Prosecutors in 1980 did not charge Robinson, who denied any guilt, citing insufficient evidence. The Pahl case was reopened in 2003 after a diligent reexamination of the case file. Robinson was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, where he died in 2014. [13]

2010 to present

In July 2011, Blair told parishes and parochial schools in the diocese not to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. He cited concerns that the money could be used to fund embryonic stem-cell research. [14] Pope Francis appointed Blair as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford in 2013. Francis in 2014 appointed Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Thomas from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as the new bishop in Toledo.

As of 2023, Thomas is the bishop of Toledo.

As of 2023, the diocese had a weekly attendance of 52,840 people at its 123 parishes. This is a decline of 43.23% from the year 2014, when the church recorded a weekly attendance of 75,681. [15]

Sex abuse

In 1988, Reverend Robert J. Fisher, then associate pastor at St. Rose Church in Perrysburg, pleaded guilty to sexual imposition and contributing to the sexual abuse of a minor. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and four years of counseling. [16] In 1992, Bishop Hoffman returned Fisher to active ministry. [17]

Following a new policy from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on priests convicted of sexual abuse, Hoffman permanently suspended Fisher and three other priests from ministry in 2002. Hoffman blamed "the media climate" for the new policy and said he had no plans to remove other such priests. He later declared, "My difficulty with zero tolerance is that the Gospel teaches reconciliation. We believe in forgiveness." [17]

The diocese announced in 2004 that it had settled 23 lawsuits by victims of sexual abuse by diocesan priests; the diocese would pay $1.19 million. [18]

In August 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Reverend Michael Zacharias, a diocesan priest, on charges of sex trafficking, coercion and enticement. [19] Zacharias was accused of grooming and engaging in sexual conduct with three boys since the late 1990s. [19] He introduced his victims to pain medications and heroin, then convinced them to engage in prostitution once they had developed drug dependencies. Zacharias was convicted in May 2023 of five counts of sex trafficking. [20]

In September 2020, the Toledo Blade reported that there were flaws in the diocese's efforts to combat sex abuse, such as the lack of psychological evaluations. [21]

Bishops

Bishops of Toledo

  1. Joseph Schrembs (1911–1921), appointed Bishop of Cleveland and archbishop (personal title) in 1939
  2. Samuel Alphonsius Stritch (1921–1930), appointed Archbishop of Milwaukee and later Archbishop of Chicago and Pro-Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (elevated to cardinal in 1946)
  3. Karl Joseph Alter (1931–1950), appointed Archbishop of Cincinnati
  4. George John Rehring (1950–1967)
  5. John Anthony Donovan (1967–1980)
  6. James Robert Hoffman (1980–2003) [22]
  7. Leonard Paul Blair (2003–2013), appointed Archbishop of Hartford
  8. Daniel Edward Thomas (2014–present)

Auxiliary bishops

  1. Albert Henry Ottenweller (1974–1977), appointed Bishop of Steubenville
  2. James Robert Hoffman (1978–1980) [22]
  3. Robert William Donnelly (1984–2006) [23]

Other priests from the diocese who became bishops

Coat of arms

In the coat of arms for the Diocese of Toledo, the field is one half blue (dexter) and one half red (sinister). A silver tower with a red cross appears on the field. [24] This coat of arms is based on the coat of arms for the City of Toledo in Spain.

Heraldist Pierre de Chaignon la Rose designed the diocesan arms in 1912. The formal heraldic blazon is Per pale azure and gules, a tower triply-turreted, the central turret the tallest, argent, charged with a cross-humetty of the second. [25]

General information

The Diocese of Toledo covers 8,222 square miles (21,290 km2) in the following counties:

Williams, Defiance, Paulding, Van Wert, Fulton, Henry, Putnam, Allen, Lucas, Wood, Hancock, Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, Wyandot, Crawford, Erie, Huron, and Richland. [26]

As of 2016, the diocese had approximately 319,907 Catholics out of an area population of 1,465,561. [26]

Parishes

The Diocese of Toledo as of 2014 had 124 parishes.

 

Personnel

In 2014, the Diocese of Toledo had the following personnel:

In 2018, the diocese had the following personnel:

Catholic Charities

Food assistance

Housing shelters

Housing services

Family support

Community services

Education

As of 2018, the Diocese of Toledo had:

Elementary schools

  • All Saints Elementary – Rossford
  • Bishop Hoffman Elementary – Fremont
  • Blessed Sacrament Elementary – Toledo
  • Calvert Elementary – Tiffin
  • Cardinal Stritch Catholic Academy – Oregon
  • Christ the King Elementary – Toledo
  • Divine Mercy Elementary – Payne
  • Gesu – Toledo
  • Holy Cross Elementary – Defiance
  • Holy Rosary Elementary – Saint Marys
  • Holy Trinity Elementary – Assumption
  • Holy Trinity Elementary – Bucyrus
  • Immaculate Conception Elementary – Bellevue
  • Immaculate Conception Elementary – Port Clinton
  • Cardinal Stritch Catholic Academy – Oregon
  • Lial Catholic – Whitehouse
  • Norwalk Catholic – Norwalk
  • Our Lady of Consolation Elementary – Carey
  • Our Lady of Perpetual Help – Toledo
  • Queen of Apostles Elementary – Toledo
  • Regina Coeli Elementary – Toledo
  • Rosary Cathedral Elementary – Toledo
  • Sacred Heart Elementary – Bethlehem
  • Saint Aloysius Elementary – Bowling Green
  • Saint Anthony of Padua Elementary – Columbus Grove
  • Saint Augustine Elementary – Napoleon
  • Saint Benedict Elementary – Toledo
  • Saint Boniface Elementary – Oak Harbor
  • Saint Catherine Preschool – Toledo
  • Saint Charles Elementary – Lima
  • Saint Francis Xavier Elementary – Willard
  • Saint Gerard Elementary – Lima
  • Saint Joan of Arc Elementary – Toledo
 

High schools

 

Former schools

Catholic radio within the diocese

Catholic Radio began broadcasting in the Diocese of Toledo in 2010, beginning with WJTA followed by WNOC. Several local stations owned by separate entities. These include:

WNOC 89.7 FM is licensed to Bowling Green and is based in Toledo as "Annunciation Radio". It has four sister stations:

Other stations in the diocese include:

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References

  1. ↑ "Our History". Archdiocese of Baltimore. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  2. ↑ "Freedom of Religion Comes to Boston | Archdiocese of Boston". www.bostoncatholic.org. Retrieved 2023-02-25.
  3. ↑ Shearer, Donald (June 1933). "Pontificia Americana: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 1784 -1884". Franciscan Studies. 11 (11): 343. JSTOR   41974134 – via JSTOR.
  4. ↑ "St. Mary Church – toledopgs.com" . Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  5. ↑ "Diocese of Toledo". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  6. ↑ "Diocese of Toledo". GCatholic.org. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
  7. ↑ Sylvania Franciscans
  8. ↑ The Sisters of the Visitation, Toledo, Ohio
  9. ↑ Thornton, Francis. "Samuel Cardinal Stritch". Our American Princes.[ page needed ]
  10. 1 2 3 Steele, Lee (1980-07-29). "Bishop Donovan Retiring As Leader Of Toledo Diocese". The Toledo Blade .
  11. ↑ Tarjanyi, Judy (1991-09-19). "John Donovan, fifth bishop to serve Toledo". The Toledo Blade .
  12. 1 2 CNA. "Bishop Blair bans New Ways homosexual ministry workshop". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  13. ↑ Schwartz, John (2014-07-05). "Gerald Robinson, Priest Convicted of Killing Ohio Nun, Dies at 76". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  14. ↑ ABC7. "Outrage grows after Bishop Blair pulls support for charity | ABC7 Chicago | abc7chicago.com". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved 2022-01-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ Catholic Church. Diocese of Toledo (Ohio). "October Mass Count 2014-2023." Excel, Spreadsheet. Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo, November 22, 2023. https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/toledodiocese/documents/October-Mass-Count-2014-2023-22-November-2023.xlsx. This dataset is found on the diocese "About" page, located here: Catholic Church. Diocese of Toledo (Ohio). "About." Diocese of Toledo, September 16, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240916030731/https://toledodiocese.org/about.
  16. ↑ "Four priests removed by Toledo diocese". Morning Journal. 2002-07-08. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  17. 1 2 "Catholic Bishops and Sex Abuse". The Dallas Morning News . 2002-06-12.
  18. ↑ admin (2004-08-23). "Toledo Catholic Diocese will Pay $1.19M to Alleged Abuse Victims". Insurance Journal. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  19. 1 2 "Findlay priest charged with sex trafficking".
  20. ↑ "Office of Public Affairs | Jury Convicts Priest of Sex Trafficking Three Victims in Northern Ohio | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2023-05-12. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  21. ↑ "Catholic institutions try – but don't always succeed – to weed out would-be offenders".
  22. 1 2 "Bishop Hoffman remembered". The Toledo Blade . 2003-02-10.
  23. ↑ Barger, TK (29 July 2014). "Bishop Donnelly's life celebrated". The Toledo Blade . Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  24. ↑ "About Our Diocese". Diocese of Toledo.
  25. ↑ "Some Recent Episcopal Arms: Arms of the Bishop of Toledo". The American Ecclesiastical Review. 46 (1). Philadelphia: The Dolphin Press: 93–94. January 1912.
  26. 1 2 3 "The Diocese of Toledo in America Statistical Overview" (PDF). Diocese of Toledo. August 2014. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  27. 1 2 Diocese of Toledo (July 2018). "The Diocese of Toledo in America: 2018-2019 Statistical Overview" (PDF).
  28. ↑ "The Catholic Diocese of Toledo - Schools". toledodiocese.org. Retrieved 2021-08-23.

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