Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City

On 24 July 1900, Pope Leo XIII issued a papal bull appointing John J. Keane, former Bishop of Richmond and the first rector of the Catholic University of the Catholic University of America, as Archbishop of Dubuque. This same document provided for the creation of a new diocese by the separation of twenty-four counties in northwestern Iowa from the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The Catholic population of the diocese was about 50,000 people who spoke English and/or German.[1]

The first bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City was Irish-born Philip Joseph Garrigan. Garrigan grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts and was ordained 11 June 1870 the Provincial Seminary of New York at Troy. After a short term as curate of St. John's Church, Worcester, Massachusetts, he was appointed director of the Troy seminary for three years, and later pastor of St. Bernard's Church, Fitchburg, Massachusetts. In the fall of 1888 he was appointed the first vice-rector of the Catholic University at Washington, D. C., during the tenure of Keane as rector. Garrigan held the position of vice-rector for fourteen years. He was serving as vice-rector when he was named Bishop of Sioux City on 21 March 1902, and consecrated at the see of his home diocese, Springfield, Massachusetts, on 25 May of the same year, by T.D. Beaven, and on 18 June took possession of his see.[1]

Bishop Garrigan designated the not yet completed St. Mary's Church, in the center of the city, as the Cathedral Church of the Diocese. With permission from the Holy See he renamed the church the Cathedral of the Epiphany. Bishop Garrigan carried on an extensive visitation of all the parishes of the diocese. Garrigan died 14 October 1919, and his auxiliary bishop, Edmond Heelan, was appointed his successor.[2]

Heelan was born in County Limerick, Ireland[3] and ordained to the priesthood on June 24, 1890. He was rector (1893–1897) of St. Raphael's Cathedral in Dubuque from 1893 to 1897. He was pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Fort Dodge, Iowa when named Auxiliary Bishop of Sioux City. He received his episcopal consecration on April 8, 1919 from Archbishop James Keane. As an auxiliary, he served as rector of the Cathedral of the Epiphany. Heelan was named the second Bishop of Sioux City on March 8, 1920. During his nearly thirty-year tenure, he guided the diocese through the Great Depression and World War II, and greatly expanded Catholic education. He died 20 September 1948 at age 80.

Heelan was succeeded by his coadjutor, Joseph Maximilian Mueller. Born in St. Louis, Missouri,[3] Mueller studied at Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio and was ordained on June 14, 1919. He then served as rector of St. Peter's Cathedral in Belleville, Illinois. He was named a Domestic Prelate in 1939. On August 20, 1947, Mueller was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Sioux City, Iowa. Upon the death of Bishop Edmond Heelan, Mueller became succeeded the third Bishop of Sioux City. During his 22-year-long tenure, he presided over a period of great expansion in the diocese. He built several new schools, churches, and other parish facilities. He also attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965. After reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, Mueller retired as Bishop.

Upon the resignation of Bishop Mueller, Pope Paul VI appointed a native Iowan, auxiliary bishop Frank Henry Greteman, as the fourth Bishop of Sioux City. Greteman held a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical North American College in Rome, and a Licentiate of Canon Law from the Catholic University of America. He was named a Domestic Prelate in 1953, and vicar general of the Sioux City Diocese in 1965.[3] On April 14, 1965, Greteman was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Sioux City. The primary focus of his episcopate was Catholic education. Upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, Greteman submitted his letter of resignation to Pope John Paul II in December 1982. The Pope accepted the resignation of Bishop Greteman's resignation as ordinary and named him apostolic administrator.

On June 15, 1983, John Paul appointed Lawrence D. Soens, pastor of St. Mary Church, Clinton, Iowa, as the fifth ordinary of the Diocese of Sioux City. His ordination and installation were held Aug. 17, 1983, at the Cathedral of the Epiphany, Sioux City. During his period of tenure, a number of programs were established or expanded.[2] In 1997 Soens requested a coadjutor bishop be named and on August 19, 1997, Pope John Paul II named Daniel DiNardo from the Diocese of Piitsburgh, and subsequently accepted Soens' resignation as Bishop of Sioux City was on November 28, 1998, with his coadjutor automatically succeeding him on that date.

In 2004, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop DiNardo to the office of Coadjutor Bishop of Galveston-Houston in Texas. Roger Augustine was named the administrator of the Diocese of Sioux City.[2]

On Nov. 10, 2005, it was announced that Pope Benedict XVI had appointed R. Walker Nickless of Denver as the seventh bishop of the diocese. His episcopal ordination was held on Jan. 20, 2006 at Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ Church in Sioux City. On Nov. 23, 2015, Bishop R. Walker Nickless granted permission to the Ministry Institute of Christ the Servant to identify as a Catholic institute.[4] The Ministry Institute is affiliated with Briar Cliff University.

In 2016, the Diocese announced plans to consolidate forty-one parishes due a shortage of priests and decreased attendance at Mass. Parishes being consolidated would become oratories for prayer services, funerals, and weddings but weekly Masses would not be held. Most of the parishes affected are in rural areas. With more priests reaching retirement age, the proposal is intended in part to reduce the workload of those left, that they remain healthy and not overworked.[5]

The Diocese of Sioux City is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

On October 31, 2018, it became known that the Diocese of Sioux City had for decades concealed sexual abuse committed by one of its priests, Jerome Coyle. Coyle abused at least 50 boys during his time in the priesthood, and reported his history of abuse to the diocese's bishop in 1986, who placed him on 6-month medical leave but did not report the admission to police or defrock him. Coyle was eventually forbidden to publicly function as a priest, although he remained formally a member of the priesthood and continued to collect financial assistance from the diocese while living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The diocese did not notify anyone of his admission nor of allegations against him, and it did not take any further action against him.[6]

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

Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Sioux City.

• Official website
• The Ministry Institute of Christ the Servant