Description
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester is a diocese of the Catholic Church in the Greater Rochester region of New York State in the United States. The region that the Diocese comprises extends from its northern border on the south shore of Lake Ontario through the Finger Lakes region to its southern border at the New York-Pennsylvania border.
The Diocese of Rochester comprises 12 counties in New York, with approximately 350,000 Catholics and over 125 faith communities (parishes and chapels), 22 diocesan elementary schools and 7 independent parochial high schools. The bishop of the diocese is currently Salvatore Ronald Matano. The metropolitan for the diocese is the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, currently Cardinal Timothy Dolan. The cathedral parish for the diocese is Sacred Heart Cathedral.
History
St. Patrick's Cathedral in Rochester (1868-1937)
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester began on March 3, 1868, when Pope Pius IX entrusted eight counties (Monroe, Livingston, Wayne, Ontario, Seneca, Cayuga, Yates, and Tompkins) within the Diocese of Buffalo to Bernard J. McQuaid, the first bishop of Rochester. The new diocese had about 54,500 Catholics in 35 parish churches and 29 mission churches.
In 1896, the counties of Schuyler, Tioga, Chemung, and Steuben were added to the Diocese of Rochester from the Diocese of Buffalo, forming the current boundaries.
The diocese grew as Catholic immigrants came to western New York, peaking in the 1960s. Since then, the Catholic population has stabilized while the numbers of ordained presbyters (priests) and religious sisters has fallen.
- In 1909, there were 121,000 Catholics in 93 parishes, 36 missions and 53 parish schools with 18,000 pupils. There were 164 priests and more than 500 sisters.
- In 1938, there were 223,657 Catholics in 129 parishes, 36 missions and 72 parish schools serving 23,796 pupils. There were 289 active diocesan priests.
- In 1966, there were 361,790 Catholics in 155 parishes, 36 mission churches and 99 elementary parish schools serving 45,540 pupils. There were 371 active diocesan priests and 1,549 sisters.
- In 1978, there were 358,850 Catholics in 161 parishes, 29 mission churches and 75 schools serving 19,526 pupils. There were 311 active diocesan priests and 1,095 women religious.
- In 1992, there were 361,384 Catholics in 162 parishes and 58 elementary schools serving 11,992 pupils. There were 208 active diocesan priests and 842 sisters.
On September 22, 2017, the Diocese of Rochester inaugurated its sesquicentennial anniversary marked by a solemn Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral. This event marks a year long celebration of the 150 year anniversary and the year of the Eucharist which was proclaimed by Bishop Salvatore Matano on the Feast of Corpus Christi.
Reports of sex abuse and bankruptcy
In June 2018, it was revealed that the Diocese had secretly paid $1.6 million since 1950 in compensation to 20 sex abuse victims. Most of the payments occurred after the eruption of the 2002 clergy sex abuse scandal, although some are decades old. On June 10, 2019, a man claiming that he had been molested between 1969 and 1971 by local priest Rev. Francis Vogt filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Rochester and several other local Catholic organizations affiliated the Diocese, claiming that they shielded Vogt from potential prosecution. On September 12, 2019, the Diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the wake of lawsuits against priests and other ministers who served in the Diocese. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester is the first Catholic diocese in the state of New York to file for bankruptcy and also the 20th Catholic diocese in the U.S. to do so.
On May 4, 2020, it was revealed that attorneys for sex abuse plaintiffs forced the Diocese of Rochester to turn over approximately 43,000 documents in exchange for delaying the sex abuse lawsuits. However, it remains to be seen if the released documents are complete. On August 3, 2020, it was announced that new lawsuits were filed against the Diocese of Rochester which accused 21 previously unidentified Catholic clergy of committing acts of sex abuse. On August 19, 2020, it was revealed that 503 people who had filed sex abuse lawsuits against the Diocese of Rochester under the 2019 New York Child Victims Act, despite the expected number being originally anticipated as 250-300. On April 6, 2021, it was revealed that more sex abuse lawsuits were filed against of Diocese of Rochester, with more than 300 lawsuits being filed between August 14, 2019, and December 31, 2020 under the 2019 New York Child Victims Act.
Bishops
The following are lists of bishops and their years of service:
Bishops of Rochester
Bernard J. McQuaid (1868–1909)
Thomas F. Hickey (1909–1928; coadjutor bishop 1905-1909), appointed Archbishop (ad personam) upon retirement
John Francis O'Hern (1929–1933)
Edward A. Mooney (1933–1937), Archbishop (ad personam), appointed Archbishop of Detroit (Cardinal in 1946)
James E. Kearney (1937–1966)
Venerable Fulton J. Sheen (1966-–1969), appointed Archbishop (ad personam) upon retirement
Joseph Lloyd Hogan (1969–1978)
Matthew H. Clark (1979–2012)
Salvatore Ronald Matano (2013–present)
Former auxiliary bishops
Lawrence B. Casey (1953–1966), appointed Bishop of Paterson
John Edgar McCafferty (1968–1980)
Dennis Walter Hickey (1968–1990)
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
Edward Joseph Hanna, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco in 1912 and later Archbishop of San Francisco
Walter Andrew Foery, appointed Bishop of Syracuse in 1937
James Michael Moynihan, appointed Bishop of Syracuse in 1995
Former primary schools
Over the years, as Catholic populations moved to the suburbs, the Diocese has closed parishes and their schools. These include the former Holy Apostles, Holy Redeemer, Holy Rosary, Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Our Lady of Victory, Sacred Heart, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Augustine, St. Casimir, St. Francis Xavier, St. Helen, St. John the Evangelist, St. Joseph, St. Lucy, St. Mary, St. Michael, St. Patrick, Ss. Peter and Paul, St. Stanislaus, and St. Theresa.
In 2008, facing growing deficits and declining enrollments, the Diocese closed the following schools:
Holy Family School, Dansville, Livingston County
All Saints Catholic Academy, Gates
Catherine McAuley, Greece
Corpus Christi, Rochester
Good Shepherd, Henrietta
Holy Cross, Rochester (reopened in 2011)
Holy Family, Rochester
Holy Trinity, Webster
St. Andrews, Rochester
St. Boniface, Rochester
St. John of Rochester, Fairport
St. John the Evangelist, Spencerport
St. Margaret Mary, Irondequoit
St. Monica, Rochester
In May 2020, it was announced that Siena Catholic Academy would close at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.
High schools
There remain five traditionally Catholic high schools (or combined junior/senior high schools) in the diocese. These schools were founded by various Roman Catholic religious orders and operate independently of the diocese itself.
Former high schools
Academy of the Sacred Heart, Rochester, Monroe County, 1855–1969
Cardinal Mooney High School, Greece, Monroe County, 1962–1989
DeSales High School, Geneva, Ontario County, 1912–2012
Nazareth Academy, Rochester, Monroe County, 1871–2010
St. Agnes High School, Rochester, Monroe County, 1954–1982
King's Preparatory, Rochester, Monroe County, 1967–1970
St. Anthony of Padua College Prep School, Watkins Glen, Schuyler County, 1949–1970
Holy Family High School, Auburn, Cayuga County 1904–1957
Mt. Carmel High School, Auburn, Cayuga County, 1957–1970
Former seminaries
St. Andrew's Preparatory Seminary, 1870–1967
Saint Bernard's Seminary, 1893–1981
Former liberal arts colleges
Nazareth College, became independent in the 1970s
St. John Fisher College, became independent in 1968
Former charitable institutions
St. Ann's Home (now St. Ann's Community)
St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum (later St. Joseph's Villa, now Villa of Hope)
St. Mary's Boys' Home
St. Mary's Hospital, Rochester, Monroe County
St. Patrick's Girls' Home
Counties
This is a list of the counties in New York State that fall into the Diocese of Rochester:
Monroe
Livingston
Wayne
Ontario
Seneca
Cayuga
Yates
Tompkins
Schuyler (added in 1896)
Tioga (added in 1896)
Chemung (added in 1896)
Steuben (added in 1896)
