Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City

Former Names: Apostolic Prefecture of Indian Territory (1876-1891), Apostolic Vicariate of Indian Territory (1891-1905), Diocese of Oklahoma (1905-1930), Diocese of Oklahoma City-Tulsa (1930-1972).

Archdiocese of Oklahoma City

Archidioecesis Oclahomensis
Cathedral of Our Lady
Coat of Arms of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
Location
Country United States
Ecclesiastical provinceArchdiocese of Oklahoma City
Statistics
Area42,470 sq mi (110,000 km2)
Population
- Total
- Catholics (including non-members)		(as of 2013)
2,634,000
280,000 (8%)
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedDecember 13, 1972
CathedralCathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
ArchbishopPaul Stagg Coakley
Bishops emeritusEusebius Joseph Beltran
Map
Website
archokc.org

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City (Latin: Archidioecesis Oclahomensis) is a particular church of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the midwestern region of the United States. Its ecclesiastical territory includes 46 counties in western Oklahoma. The Most Reverend Paul Stagg Coakley is the current archbishop. As such, he is the metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province which includes the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, the Diocese of Tulsa and the Diocese of Little Rock. Previously the bishop of the Diocese of Salina in Kansas, Archbishop Coakley was appointed to Oklahoma City on December 16, 2010[1] and installed as archbishop on February 11, 2011.[1]

History

The diocese had its roots through French Benedictine monks who entered Indian Territory (the territory of the present state of Oklahoma), then under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Little Rock in 1875, establishing a Catholic presence.

On 14 May 1876, Pope Pius IX erected the Apostolic Prefecture of Indian Territory, taking Indian Territory from the Diocese of Little Rock.

On 29 May 1891, Pope Leo XIII elevated this apostolic prefecture to the Apostolic Vicariate of Indian Territory.

On 23 August 1905, Pope Pius X erected the Diocese of Oklahoma, suppressing the apostolic vicariate., appointing Belgian Theophile Meerschaert as its first bishop and designating St. Joseph's Church in downtown Oklahoma City as its cathedral[2]

On 14 November 1930, Pope Pius XI changed the title of the diocese to Diocese of Oklahoma City-Tulsa, establishing a second see. This reflected population trends in Oklahoma.

In 1931, the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was designated as the new cathedral for the diocese.[3]

In 1949, the archdiocese established the National Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague at St. Wenceslaus Parish in Prague, Oklahoma.[4]

On December 13, 1972, Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Tulsa, taking the territory of eastern Oklahoma from the Diocese of Oklahoma City-Tulsa. He simultaneously elevated the existing diocese to a metropolitan archdiocese, changed its title to Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, and assigned the Diocese of Little Rock and the new Diocese of Tulsa as its suffragans.[5] This action established both the present territory of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the present configuration of the Metropolitan Province of Oklahoma City.

On September 23, 2017, Father Stanley Francis Rother (March 27, 1935 – July 28, 1981), a priest of the Archdiocese, was beatified during a Mass at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. He had been murdered while working in Guatemala in 1981. Pope Francis had declared him a martyr, saying he had been killed "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith).

Bishops

Apostolic Prefects of Indian Territory
  1. Isidore Robot, OSB (1876–1887)
  2. Ignatius Jean, OSB (1887–1890)

Apostolic Vicar of Indian Territory
  1. Theophile Meerschaert (1891–1905), appointed Bishop of Oklahoma

Bishops of Oklahoma
  1. Theophile Meerschaert (1905–1924)
  2. Francis Kelley (1924–1930), title changed with title of diocese

Bishops of Oklahoma City-Tulsa
  1. Francis Kelley (1930–1948)
  2. Eugene J. McGuinness (1948–1957; coadjutor bishop 1944-1948)
  3. Victor Reed (1958–1971)
  4. John R. Quinn (1971–1972), elevated to archbishop and title changed with title of diocese

Archbishops of Oklahoma City
  1. John R. Quinn (1972–1977), appointed Archbishop of San Francisco
  2. Charles Salatka (1977–1992)
  3. Eusebius J. Beltran (1993–2010)
  4. Paul Stagg Coakley (2011–present)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

Newspaper

The official news and information publication of the diocese is the Sooner Catholic.

High schools

Universities

Summer Camps
  • Our Lady of Guadalupe Summer Camp, in between Luther and Wellston

Ecclesiastical province
Ecclesiastical Province of Oklahoma City
See: List of the Catholic bishops of the United States

See also

Sources
  1. "Archbishop Paul Stagg Coakley". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  2. Skvorc, Krystyna. "About Us". St. Joseph Old Cathedral. Archived from the original on November 23, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  3. "Our History". Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  4. History Archived 2012-08-30 at the Wayback Machine, ShrineofinfantJesus.com.
  5. History, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma Web site (accessed February 17, 2010).

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.