Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond

Catholic "church on wheels" in Richmond, 1955

Prior to the American Revolution, few Catholics lived in colonial Virginia. Attempts to found Catholic settlements in Virginia were made by Lord Baltimore in 1629, and Captain George Brent in 1687. In the spring of 1634 Father John Altham, a Jesuit companion of Father Andrew White, the Maryland missionary, laboured amongst some of the Virginia tribes on the south side of the Potomac. Stringent laws were soon enacted in Virginia against Catholics. In 1687 Fathers Edmonds and Raymond were arrested at Norfolk for exercising their priestly functions. During the last quarter of the eighteenth century the few Catholic settlers at Aquia Creek, near the Potomac, were attended by Father John Carroll and other Jesuit missionaries from Maryland.[4]

It was not until the passage of Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786 that Catholics were free to worship openly in the commonwealth. Rev. Jean Dubois, afterwards third bishop of New York, accompanied by a few French priests and with letters of introduction from Lafayette to several prominent Virginia families, came to Norfolk in August, 1791, where he laboured a few months. Proceeding to Richmond towards the end of the year, he offered in the courtroom of the new State House, by invitation of the General Assembly, the first Mass ever said in the Capital City.[4] James Monroe served as his host until Father Dubois rented a house in Richmond near a major bridge and opened a school to teach French, classics and arithmetic.[5] Patrick Henry helped the priest learn English. For two years Dubois mostly celebrated mass in rented rooms or at the homes of the town's few Catholic families.[6]

According to tradition, at an early date, probably at the time of the Declaration of Independence, Alexandria had a log chapel with an unknown resident priest. Rev. John Thayer of Boston was stationed there in 1794. Rev. Francis Neale, who in 1796 constructed at Alexandria a brick church, erected fourteen years later a more suitable church where Fathers Anthony Kohlmann, and Benedict Joseph Fenwick, afterwards second bishop of Boston, frequently officiated. About 1796 Rev. James Bushe began the erection of a church at Norfolk. He was succeeded by were the Very Rev. Leonard Neale, afterwards Archbishop of Baltimore. The Diocese of Richmond was canonically erected by Pope Pius VII on July 11, 1820.[4]

The new Diocese of Wheeling was formed by splitting off the western part of this diocese in 1850, and that same year, this diocese received the small area which had been retroceded from the District of Columbia in 1846. The Civil War led to formation of the state of West Virginia, but the boundary between that state and Virginia did not coincide with the boundary of the Wheeling and Richmond dioceses. The two eastern-shore counties were transferred to the new Diocese of Wilmington in 1868, leaving Virginia split between three dioceses. In 1974, Virginia and West Virginia dioceses were realigned so that West Virginia was a diocese by itself and Virginia had the Richmond diocese and the new Arlington diocese, both in their entirety.

On February 13, 2019, Barry Knestout released a list of 42 priests who had "credible and substantiated" accusations of sexual abuse made against them. The list covers allegations dating from the 1950s to the most recent substantiated allegation in 1993.[7][8] Among those listed was future Bishop of Memphis, Carroll Dozier was accused of committing acts of sex abuse while serving in the Diocese of Richmond.[9]

The Diocese of Richmond has seen an increase in the number of seminarians preparing for the priesthood. According to Rev. Michael Boehling, the typical candidate is in his early to mid-20s, and college graduate with a degree in history, science or mathematics. "They are articulate and bright, well-rounded individuals who are mature for their age,"[10]

In early 2019 Knestout gave permission to the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia to ordain Susan B. Haynes as the new bishop at Saint Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia does not have a cathedral and usually rotates where it hosts ordinations and other events.[11] However the announcement was met with opposition by many Catholics who objected to holding a non-Catholic worship service and women's bishop ordination in a Catholic church. Over 3,000 people signed an internet petition objecting to the event. On 17 January the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia announced it would no longer hold Haynes' ordination at St. Bede.[12]

In 2019, Knestout instructed Fr. Mark White to shut down his blog, under pain of removal from the priesthood. White had criticized the church hierarchy's handling of the child sexual abuse crisis, including Theodore McCarrick, for whom Knestout had served as priest secretary, and Donald Wuerl, with whom he had worked as auxiliary bishop.[13] In May 2020 Knestout removed White from his parish and trespassed him from the parish residence.[14] Knestout ordered White to take up residence at a retreat center, and undertake a ministry to prisoners. On June 2, the Holy See denied White's appeal on technical grounds.[15]

On October 15, 2020, it was revealed that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond had paid $6.3 million to settle 51 out of 68 claims of sex abuse.[16][17]

• Servant of God Francis J. Parater (1897–1920), seminarian and candidate for canonization

The Knights of Columbus has several councils in the Richmond Diocese. The Knights serve parish and communities throughout both dioceses in the Commonwealth. One of the best known services is the KOVAR drive which raises money for assisting Virginians with intellectual disabilities.[18]

• Benedictine College Preparatory, Richmond
• Blessed Sacrament Huguenot Catholic School, Powhatan
• Catholic High School, Virginia Beach
• Peninsula Catholic High School, Newport News
• Roanoke Catholic School, Roanoke
• Saint Gertrude High School, Richmond
• Walsingham Academy, Williamsburg

• Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
• List of Catholic bishops of the United States
• List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States
• List of Roman Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
• List of Roman Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
• List of Roman Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Diocese of Richmond". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond Official Site
• Cathedral of the Sacred Heart