Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester

The Diocese of Manchester Latin: Diocensis Manchesteriensis[2] is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the region of New England in the United States, comprising the entire state of New Hampshire.

For the Anglican diocese in the UK, see Anglican Diocese of Manchester.
Diocese of Manchester

Diocensis Manchesteriensis
Cathedral of St. Joseph
Coat of arms
Location
Country United States
TerritoryNew Hampshire
Ecclesiastical provinceBoston
MetropolitanBoston
HeadquartersManchester, New Hampshire
Coordinates42°59′52″N 71°27′17″W
Statistics
Area9,305 sq mi (24,100 km2)
Population
- Total
- Catholics (including non-members)		(as of 2019)
1,356,458
330,160 (24.3%)
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedApril 15, 1884 (1884-04-15)
CathedralCathedral of Saint Joseph
Patron saintsSaint Joseph
Saint Patrick[1]
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopPeter Anthony Libasci
Metropolitan ArchbishopSeán Patrick O'Malley
Bishops emeritusFrancis Joseph Christian Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus (1996-2018)
Map
Website
www.catholicnh.org

It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archbishop of Boston, and its bishop is a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and its Region I (provinces of Boston and Hartford).

Its leading prelate also serves as pastor of the mother church, the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Manchester.[3]

History

Pope Leo XIII erected the Diocese of Manchester by canon on April 15, 1884, taking the territory of the State of New Hampshire from the Diocese of Portland in the neighboring state of Maine and making it a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston. With this action, each state became a separate diocese.

Sexual abuse

On July 31, 2019, the Diocese of New Hampshire released a list of 73 priests and religious order members who were "credibly accused" of committing acts of sexual abuse.[4][5] Some of those listed were criminally convicted, defrocked, removed from public ministry, or died without receiving punishment.[4]

Statistics

As per 2018, the diocese pastorally served 322,258 Catholics (24.3% of 1,326,813 total population) on 24,097 km² in 89 parishes with 185 priests (121 diocesan, 38 religious, 26 extern), 73 deacons, 314 lay religious (15 brothers, 299 sisters) and 14 seminarians.[3]

Bishops
Peter Anthony Libasci, tenth and current Bishop of Manchester

Bishops of Manchester
  1. Denis Mary Bradley (1883–1904)
  2. John Bernard Delany (1904–1906)
  3. George Albert Guertin (1906–1931)
  4. John Bertram Peterson (1932–1944)
  5. Matthew Francis Brady (1944–1959)
  6. Ernest John Primeau (1960–1974)
  7. Odore Joseph Gendron (1974–1990)
  8. Leo Edward O'Neil (1990–1997; coadjutor bishop 1989–1990)
  9. John Brendan McCormack (1998–2011)
  10. Peter Anthony Libasci (2011–present)

Auxiliary bishops

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

Parishes
Offices of the Diocese of Manchester

The parishes in the diocese are as follows:[6]

Catholic education

Superintendents
  • Wilfred J. Lessard (c. 1926)
  • Rev. William Collins (1940–1948
  • Msgr. George Murray (1960-1972)
  • Rev. Joseph P. Duffy (1972–1975)
  • Msgr. Thomas S. Hansberry (1975–1976) Interim
  • Rev. George J. Soberick (1976–1981)
  • Br. Roger Lemoyne, Brothers of the Sacred Heart (S.C.) (1981–1990)
  • Br. Joachim Froehlich, Order of Saint Benedict (O.S.B.) (1990–1991)
  • Rev. William T. Garland, Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.) (1991–1996)
  • Ms. Mary Moran (2006–2012)
  • Rev. Dennis J. Audet (2012–2013) Interim
  • Rev. John R. Fortin, O.S.B. (2013–2016)
  • Mr. David Thibault (2016- )

High schools

Colleges
* Schools operated independent of the Diocese

See also

References
  1. "Parable Magazine - Diocese of Manchester".
  2. "Diocese of Manchester". Catholic-Hierarchy. 20 January 2015.
  3. "Diocese of Manchester, USA". GCatholic.
  4. "View List - Diocese of Manchester". www.catholicnh.org.
  5. "Manchester diocese releases list of priests accused of abuse". WMUR. August 1, 2019.
  6. "Directory". Diocese of Manchester. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
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