Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte

Diocese of Charlotte
Dioecesis Carolinana
Location
Country United States
Territory Western North Carolina Vicariates of Albemarle, Asheville, Boone, Gastonia, Greensboro, Hickory, Mecklenburg, Salisbury, Smoky Mountain, Winston-Salem
Ecclesiastical province Atlanta
Metropolitan Atlanta
Statistics
Area 53,696 km2 (20,732 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		 (as of 2013)
4,967,591
235,700 (4.7%)
Information
Denomination Roman Catholic
Rite Roman Rite
Established November 12, 1971
Cathedral Cathedral of Saint Patrick
Patron saint Mary, Mother of God
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Bishop Peter Joseph Jugis
Metropolitan Archbishop Wilton Daniel Gregory
Emeritus Bishops William G. Curlin
Map
Website
charlottediocese.org
Cathedral of St. Patrick in Charlotte, North Carolina

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte (Dioecesis Carolinana), is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the southern United States. It is made up of 46 counties in western North Carolina, which are divided into ten vicariates, named for and administered from Albemarle, Asheville, Boone, Gastonia, Greensboro, Hickory, Mecklenburg, Salisbury, Smoky Mountain and Winston-Salem.[1] Charlotte and the Piedmont Triad are the largest metropolitan areas in the diocese. The Charlotte See is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Canonically erected on November 12, 1971 by Pope Paul VI, the diocese took its territories from the neighboring Diocese of Raleigh.[2] The Charlotte See is led by a bishop who serves as pastor of the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Charlotte, North Carolina.[1] Peter Joseph Jugis is the current bishop.[2] The Diocese is also home to two of the three basilicas in North Carolina, the Basilica of St. Lawrence and the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians.

Mission statement

The Diocese of Charlotte adopted the following mission statement[3] expresses,

“ We, the people of God in the Diocese of Charlotte, fortified in the Father, redeemed in the Son, empowered in the Spirit, are called to grow ever more perfectly into a community of praise, worship, and witness. We seek to become evermore enthusiastically a leaven of service and a sign of peace through love in Piedmont and Western North Carolina. ”

History

The Diocese of Raleigh, established in 1924, was the first diocese in North Carolina.[4] It included the entire State until the formation of the Diocese of Charlotte on January 12 of 1972. At that time, Michael Joseph Begley, a priest in the Diocese of Raleigh, was ordained and installed as the first Bishop of Charlotte.[5] Bishop Begley served as Ordinary of the Diocese until his retirement at age seventy-five in May 1984, after which he was named Apostolic Administrator.[6] When the new Diocese was established, the Catholic population of the area was just over 34,000. John Francis Donoghue, a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, succeeded Bishop Begley in late 1984, and was appointed Bishop of Charlotte by the Holy See on 6 November. He was subsequently ordained and installed as second Bishop of Charlotte on 18 December 1984.[7] The population of Catholics in Charlotte continued to grow, and Bishop Donoghue declared in the early 1990s that it would be the "Decade of Evangelization.[8]" Bishop Donoghue was appointed Archbishop of Atlanta on 22 June 1993, and was installed on 18 August 1993.[7] He was replaced by William G. Curlin, Auxiliary Bishop of Washington and Titular Bishop of Rosemarkie, on 13 April 1994.[7] Bishop Curlin served the Diocese of Charlotte until his retirement on September 10, 2002.[7] At this time, the population of the diocese had grown to approximately 87,000 people. On August 1, 2003, the Pope appointed Peter J. Jugis, Judicial Vicar and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Monroe, as the fourth Bishop of Charlotte, which he remains to this day. He was consecrated on October 24, 2003.[7]

The total population of the diocese as of 2010 was approximately 4.8 million people. Of this number, 174,689 were registered Catholics (3.6% of the total population), living in a little over 63,000 households. This number does not include an estimated 230,000 undocumented Hispanic or Latino Catholics.[9] The diocese encompasses three main areas of population: the Triad Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem; Charlotte; and the mountains. It covers 20,700 square miles (54,000 km2), and includes 46 counties. A map of the parishes can be found here.

Older forms of Mass

In December 2007, 14 priests of the diocese attended a 5-day workshop on the 1962 version of the Mass, recognized in July of that year as an extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. Father Samuel Weber O.S.B was the first to offer a regularly scheduled Mass in that form in the Diocese of Charlotte since 1969 [citation?]. He celebrated this mass in October 2007 at Davis Chapel (Wake Forest University).[10] Bishop Jugis noted that it would take some time, but that the diocese was trying to accommodate those with an attachment to this form of Mass. On the following January 13, the Tridentine Latin Mass or usus antiquor (older form) was celebrated for the first time in nearly 40 years at Our Lady Of Grace Church in Greensboro, with Bishop Peter Jugis attending.

Roman Catholic Bishops

The list of bishops and their tenure of service:

  1. Michael Joseph Begley (1971–1984)
  2. John Francis Donoghue (1984–1993)
  3. William G. Curlin (1994–2002)
  4. Peter Joseph Jugis (2003–present)

Schools

MACS (Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools)

High schools[11]

6-8[11]

PK-8[11]

TK, PK, or K-5[11]

Other Schools in Diocese[12]

High Schools

PK-8

Notable parishes

Some notable churches within the Diocese of Charlotte include:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Office of Planning. "Vicariates and Churches" (PDF). Diocese of Charlotte. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Diocese of Charlotte". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Mission Statement of the Diocese of Charlotte". Diocese of Charlotte. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
  4. ↑ “Diocese.” Dioceseofraleigh.org. The Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. www.dioceseofraleigh.org/who/diocese
  5. ↑ David Hains, Voices and Places of the People of God: The Diocese of Charlotte (Strasbourg: Editions du Signe, 2006), 16.
  6. ↑ http://www.charlottediocese.org/history
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Hains, Voices and Places, 16.
  8. ↑ The Diocese of Charlotte, 2013. History of the Diocese of Charlotte. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. http://www.charlottediocese.org/component/content/article/351-history/302-2011-04-19-13-09-19
  9. ↑ The Diocese of Charlotte. Pastoral Report, 2010. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. http://charlottediocese.org/statistics
  10. ↑ Fr. Z's Blog, 4 October 2007. http://wdtprs.com/blog/2007/10/5-october-holy-mass-1962-at-wake-forest-univ-in-diocese-of-charlotte/. Web. 20 Sept. 2013.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 http://schools.charlottediocese.net/macs/about-macs
  12. ↑ http://schools.charlottediocese.org/index.php
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 http://www.ashevillecatholic.org/academics
  14. ↑ http://www.ourladyofmercyschool.org/Home.aspx?Community=27103001
  15. ↑ http://www.stleocatholic.com/school.html
  16. ↑ http://www.edline.net/pages/Immaculate_Heart_of_Mary_CS/Admissions
  17. ↑ http://www.olgsch.org/pages/Our_Lady_of_Grace/Current_Families/2014-2015_Supply_List
  18. ↑ http://www.salisburycatholic.org/school/profile.html
  19. ↑ http://www.stmichaelsgastonia.org/stmichaelsschool/
  20. ↑ http://www.spxschool.com/facultystaff.htm

External links

Coordinates: 35°13′14″N 80°51′15″W / 35.22056°N 80.85417°W