The diocese comprises 12 counties with approximately 350,000 Catholics and over 125 faith communities (parishes and chapels), 22 diocesan elementary schools and seven independent parochial high schools.
During the Dutch and British rule of the Province of New York in the 17th and 18th centuries, Catholics were banned from the colony.[2]Richard Coote, the first colonial governor, passed a law at the end of the 17th century that mandated a life sentence to any Catholic priest found in the colony. The penalty for harboring a Catholic was a £250 fine plus three days in the pillory.[3] In 1763, Catholic bishop Richard Challoner of London stated that:
"... in New York, one may find a Catholic here and there, but they have no opportunity of practicing their religion as no priest visits them, and … there is not much likelihood that Catholic priests will be permitted to enter these provinces."[2]
During the American Revolution, the new State of New York in 1777 approved a constitution that guaranteed freedom of worship for Catholics. This was soon followed by the same guarantee in the US Bill of Rights.
In Auburn, the first mass for non-native Catholics was held in a private residence in 1816.[6] The first church in the future City of Rochester was St. Patrick's, built in 1823.[7] In 1832, the first church in Geneva, New York, St. Francis de Sales, was constructed.[8]Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Buffalo in 1847, include all of the present-day Diocese of Rochester.[5]
1868 to 1881
St. Patrick's Cathedral in Rochester (1868-1937)
The Diocese of Rochester was erected on March 3, 1868, by Pius IX. He transferred eight counties (Monroe, Livingston, Wayne, Ontario, Seneca, Cayuga, Yates, and Tompkins) from the Diocese of Buffalo to the new diocese.[9] The pope appointed Monsignor Bernard J. McQuaid, from the Diocese of New York as the first bishop of Rochester.[9] The new diocese included approximately 54,500 Catholics, 35 parish churches and 29 mission churches.
In February 1869, McQuaid tried to remove the Reverend Thomas O'Flaherty from his position as pastor of Holy Family Church in Auburn. This was due to O'Flaherty's alleged financial mismanagement of the parish and his refusal to provide a financial statement to McQuaid.[10] When O'Flaherty refused reassignment, McQuaid suspended him from ministry.[11] McQuaid lifted the suspension 23 years later, at the behest of the apostolic delegate, Francesco Satolli, on the condition that O'Flaherty not return to the diocese.[12]
When McQuaid first arrived in Rochester, the only true parochial schools were operated by the five German language parishes, educating a total of 2,000 students.[13] In 1870, McQuaid opened the St. Patrick minor seminary for young men wanting to enter the priesthood.[13] It was renamed St. Andrew's in 1879.[14] In 1871, McQuaid announced his plan to create a system of tuition-free parochial schools in the diocese, staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph.[15]
1881 to 1900
Bishop McQuaid
In 1881, McQuaid restricted Reverend Louis Lambert to ministry in his own parish, St. Mary's Church in Waterloo.[16] Lambert had been regularly criticizing McQuaid in newspaper columns.[17] Lambert twice appealed McQuaid's decision to the Vatican, which upheld McQuaid both times.[16] In 1888, McQuaid dismissed Lambert from the diocese, but he appealed again to the Vatican.[16] In January 1890, the Vatican refused Lambert's request for reinstatement in Waterloo, but required McQuaid to reassign him elsewhere in the diocese.[18] Lambert served as pastor of Assumption Church in Scottsville until his death in 1910.
In September 1893, Saint Bernard's Seminary opened in Rochester with 39 seminarians and eight faculty members. The faculty included Reverend Edward Hanna as professor of dogmatic theology and Reverend Andrew Breen as professor of Hebrew and Scripture.[19] McQuaid himself taught homiletics there.[20] Saint Bernard's became a national model for a seminary; by 1910, it had an enrollment of 233 seminarians, second only to St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore.[21]
In 1896, Pope Leo XIII transferred four more southern counties (Schuyler, Tioga, Chemung, and Steuben) from the Diocese of Buffalo to the Diocese of Rochester, forming its current boundaries.[9]
1900 to 1933
In 1905, Pope Pius X appointed Monsignor Thomas F. Hickey as coadjutor bishop in the diocese to assist McQuaid. McQuaid died in 1909.[22] At that time, 53 of the diocese's 93 parishes had their own parochial school, with 18,000 total students.[23] After McQuaid's death, Hickey automatically became the second bishop of Rochester.
In 1929, Monsignor John Francis O'Hern was appointed the third bishop of the Diocese of Rochester by Pope Pius XI.[26] During his tenure, O'Hern worked toward establishing ecumenical ties with non-Catholics and promoting numerous associations of the laity.[27] He supported the Community Chest and Red Cross, and provided chaplains for Catholics students attending secular colleges in the diocese.[27] O'Hern died in 1933.
To replace Mooney in Rochester, Pius IX in 1937 selected Bishop James E. Kearney of the Diocese of Salt Lake. Kearney did much of the original planning of McQuaid Jesuit High School in Brighton. Kearney resigned in 1966.[29]Pope Paul VI then named auxiliary bishop Fulton J. Sheen of the Archdiocese of New York as the next bishop of Rochester.[30] While serving in Rochester, he created the Sheen Ecumenical Housing Foundation.
In 1967, Sheen decided to give the St. Bridget's Parish building to the federal Housing and Urban Development program. Sheen wanted to let the government use it for services for African-Americans. There was a protest in the community since Sheen had acted on his own accord. The pastor disagreed with Sheen's initiative, saying that "There is enough empty property around without taking down the church and the school." The deal eventually fell through.[31] Sheen resigned as bishop in 1969 to devote more time to his writings; Pope Paul VI elevated him to a titular archbishop.
1969 to present
To replace Sheen in Rochester, Paul VI in 1969 selected Monsignor Joseph Hogan as bishop. After serving nine years as bishop, Hogan resigned in 1978.[32]Pope John Paul II then named Reverend Matthew H. Clark of the Diocese of Albany as the next bishop of Rochester.[33] In 1986, Cardinal Josef Ratzinger ordered Clark to withdraw his imprimatur, or church approval, from a sex education manual written by a diocesan priest. Ratzinger said the manual was "defective" on church teachings.[34] That same year, Clark defended one of his priests, the theologian Charles Curran, from criticism by Vatican officials for his stands on birth control, abortion rights for women, homosexuality, and divorce.[35]
In 1998, the diocese removed Reverend Jim Callan as pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Rochester. Callan had come into conflict with the diocese for opening communion to non-Catholics and blessing the unions of LGBTQ couples. He also allowed Mary Rammerman, a lay pastor, to raise the chalice during mass. After the diocese transferred Callan and fired Rammerman, the congregation split from the diocese, forming Spiritus Christi Church. The diocese later removed Callan from his ministerial duties after he appeared at a service at the new church.[36]
In 2003, Clark was criticized over his $11 million renovation and liturgical re-alignment of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Rochester.[37] Clark received some credit for clamping down on abusive priests;[38] in 2004, the diocese was deemed to be in "full compliance" with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.[39] Clark presided over the unpopular closing of many of Rochester's parochial schools and parishes, pledging to complete the "re-sizing" of the diocese prior to his retirement in 2012.[40][41]
As of July 2024, the bishop of Rochester is Salvatore Matano, formerly bishop of the Diocese of Burlington. He was appointed by Pope Francis in 2013.[42] In September 2017, the diocese inaugurated its sesquicentennial anniversary, marked by a Solemn Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral. The event marked a year-long celebration of the 150-year anniversary and the year of the Eucharist, which Matano proclaimed on the Feast of Corpus Christi.
The diocese filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2019 due to the numerous lawsuits it faced for sexual abuse of children by its clergy. As of July 2024, the bankruptcy court was still working on a settlement.[43]
Statistics
The Diocese of Rochester grew as more Catholic immigrants moved to Rochester, peaking in the 1960s. Since then, the Catholic population has stabilized while the number of priests and religious sisters has fallen.[44]
1909 – 121,000 Catholics in 93 parishes, 36 missions and 53 parish schools with 18,000 pupils. The diocese had 164 priests and over 500 sisters.
1938 – 223,657 Catholics in 129 parishes, 36 missions and 72 parish schools serving 23,796 pupils. There were 289 active diocesan priests.
1966 – 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.
1978 – 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 sisters.
1992 –162 parishes and 58 elementary schools serving 11,992 pupils. There were 208 active diocesan priests and 842 sisters.
Sexual abuse allegations
In August 1985, Brother John Walsh, vice principal of Cardinal Mooney High School in Greece, New York, was arrested on kidnapping charges. Walsh had forced two boys he encountered on the street in Rochester into his car at gunpoint and tried to pay them for sex. He later released the boys unharmed.[45] Walsh pleaded guilty in January 1986 to coercion and unlawful imprisonment and was sentenced to six months in jail.[46] A former student at Cardinal Mooney sued the diocese in January 2020, stating that he had been sexually assaulted numerous times by Walsh between 1966 and 1969.[47]
Reverend Gerard Guli of Holy Rosary Parish in Rochester was arrested in April 1989 on first-degree sexual abuse charges. He was accused of fondling the breasts of a nursing home patient who had severe Alzheimer's disease.[48] Guli pleaded guilty later that year and was sentenced to five years of probation.[49] The Vatican later laicized Guli at his own request.[50]
Reverend Eugene Emo was arrested in February 1996 on charges of sexually abusing a man with developmental disabilities in Cohocton, New York. The diocese had removed Emo from St. Januarius Parish in Naples, New York, in 1993 after he tried to cover the theft of parish funds by some boys and after a housekeeper found handcuffs and pictures of young men in his residence. The diocese sent Emo away for treatment, then transferred him to a different parish.[51] Emo pleaded guilty to one felony count of first-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation. By this time, the diocese had received several other complaints of sexual abuse by Emo.[52] In 1999, he violated his probation by having contact with a 16-year-old boy and was returned to prison.[53]
In May 2002, two men sued the diocese, stating that they had been sexually abused by Reverend Robert O'Neil, pastor of St. Christopher Parish in Chili, New York. The plaintiffs said that O'Neil took them in the 1970s to his cottage in Chaumont, New York, where he plied them with alcohol and abused them. They later complained about O'Neil to auxiliary bishop Dennis Hickey. The diocese sent O'Neil away for treatment, then re-assigned him to pastoral work. A week before the lawsuit was filed in 2002, the diocese stripped O'Neil of his ministerial duties and banned him from diocesan housing.[54]
Reverend Dennis Sewar of Annunciation Parish in Rochester was arrested in July 2005 on charges of sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.[55] The male accuser said that Sewar groped him numerous times between 1999 and 2001.[56] After a judge removed the more serious charges, Sewar pleaded guilty in August 2006 to attempted endangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to one year of probation.[57]
The diocese revealed in June 2018 that it had paid $1.6 million in compensation since 1950 to 20 individuals who had been sexually abused by diocesan clergy.[58] Most of the payments occurred after 2002, although some were decades old. In June 2019, a Rochester man sued the diocese alleging sexual abuse by Reverend Francis Vogt between 1969 and 1971. The plaintiff said that Vogt started abusing him when he was five years old and that the diocese shielded Vogt from potential prosecution.[59]
In February 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Child Victims Act. The law created a one-year lookback period in which victims of child sex abuse could file civil lawsuits against abusers that were previously barred by the statute of limitations.[60]
In September 2019, the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the wake of multiple sexual abuse lawsuits.[61][62] It became the first diocese in New York State to file for bankruptcy.[62] In February 2020, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul R. Warren ruled that Bishop Emeritus Clark had to testify in court as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. Clark's lawyer had argued that Clark was incapable of testifying due to his Alzheimer's condition.[63] In July 2020, lawyers questioned Clark for three hours in a deposition hearing. He admitted to sending Emo to a treatment facility, then later re-assigning him to another parish.[64]
In May 2020, Cuomo signed a bill extending the lookback period contained in the Child Victims Act to January 2021.[65] By August 2020, 503 people had filed sex abuse lawsuits against the diocese under the law.[66] The diocese announced in April 2021 that 300 more sex abuse lawsuits had been filed against it between August 2019 and December 2020 under the Child Victims Act.[66]
In January 2024, a jury awarded a $95 million verdict against the diocese. The defendant had accused Reverend Foster P. Rogers, assistant pastor at St. Alphonsus Parish in Auburn, of sexually abusing him in 1979 when he was 15 years old. Clark had removed Rogers from ministry in 2002 after the diocese transferred him to several parishes.[67]
The bankruptcy case is unresolved as of August 2024, meaning that people abused as children by the Diocese of Rochester have not received monetary compensation. Some told a local reporter they "may not live long enough to get justice".[68]
St. Patrick's Girls' Home – Rochester, closed in the 1930s[81]
Publishing
The Rochester Catholic Press Association, Inc. (RCPA) is the publishing arm of the Diocese of Rochester. The RCPA publishes the monthly Catholic Courier newspaper, the Spanish-language El Mensajero Católico, the Official Directory of the Diocese of Rochester and related digital media.
The Courier was founded in 1889 as The Catholic Journal. The diocese took over the newspaper during the Great Depression. The paper became the Catholic Courier in 1989, its 100th anniversary.[83] The Courier has won state and national awards for journalistic excellence.[84]
Arms
Coat of arms of Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester
Notes
Arms was designed in the 1930s by Pierre LaRose
Escutcheon
The arms of the diocese are composed of a saltire with a crescent in the center.
Symbolism
The St. Andrew's Cross (saltire) was taken from the coat of arms of the original Diocese of Rochester in England (now an Anglican diocese). The new design is distinguished from the original, by changing a scallop shell in the center to the crescent symbol of the Immaculate Conception.[85]
