Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown

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The Diocese of Youngstown is a particular church or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, consisting of six counties in Northeast Ohio: Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Stark, Portage, and Ashtabula.

As of 2003, the Diocese of Youngstown has 116 parishes, 158 Diocesan Priests, 22 Religious Priests, 68 Permanent Deacons, 45 Religious Men, 229 Religious Women. As of 2006, the diocese has 15 seminarians studying in several seminaries and at different levels of formation. There are approximately 250,000 Catholics within the diocesan limits.

[edit] History and bishops

St. Columba's Church (1916), which became a cathedral in 1943.

The Diocese of Youngstown was created from the Diocese of Cleveland in 1943 by Pope Pius XII. Bishop James A. McFadden (former auxiliary bishop of Cleveland) was named its first bishop and St. Columba Church on the North Side of Youngstown became the Cathedral. The new diocese comprised 3,404 square miles and featured 110 churches, three hospitals run by religious orders, 54 parochial elementary schools, one parochial junior high school, and three Catholic high schools.^[1]

When Bishop McFadden died on November 16, 1952, Emmet M. Walsh became the new bishop. Walsh had been named Coadjutor Bishop and was formerly the Bishop of Charleston, South Carolina. In 1954, St. Columba Cathedral was destroyed by a fire. Bishop Walsh undertook the task of building a new cathedral, which was dedicated in 1958. St. Patrick Church on the south side of Youngstown became the Pro-Cathedral until the new St. Columba Cathedral was ready.

In 1963, when Pope John XXIII convened the Vatican Council II, Bishop Walsh and his Auxiliary Bishop, James W. Malone, attended the council in the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter. Upon the illness of Bishop Walsh, Bishop Malone was named Apostolic Administrator; after Bishop Walsh died on March 16, 1968, Bishop Malone was named the Bishop of Youngstown on May 2, 1968. Bishop Malone was the Bishop of Youngstown for almost thirty years. Bishop William A. Hughes (Bishop Emeritus of Covington, Kentucky) was his auxiliary for several years.

Following his appointment to Covington, Bishop Benedict Franzetta was named the Auxiliary of Youngstown. In 1996, Bishop Malone reached the age at which bishops must turn in their resignation. Bishop Thomas J. Tobin was named his successor and was installed as Bishop of Youngstown on February 2, 1996. Bishop Franzetta, who retired on September 4, 1996, died on September 26, 2006. On March 31, 2005, Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Tobin as Bishop of Providence, Rhode Island. Msgr. Robert Siffrin is the Administrator of the Diocese during the Sede Vacante.