In 1851, John Miège was installed in a ceremony in St. Louis as vicar apostolic for the Indian Territory east of the Rocky Mountains. The vicariate included the present states of Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, the parts of North and South Dakota west of the Missouri River, Wyoming, Montana, and a part of Colorado.[3]
On January 6, 1857 Pope Pius IX established the Apostolic Vicariate of Nebraska from the Apostolic Vicariate of Indian Territory.[4] In 1859, Pius IX named the trappist monk James O'Gorman, prior of New Melleray Abbey, near Dubuque, Iowa, as the vicar apostolic. In 1867, O'Gorman assigned William Kelly as the first resident priest of Cheyenne. Kelly's responsibilities included visiting the railroad camps west of the town.[5] Eugene Cusson was the first resident priest assigned to Laramie. In 1875, Cusson persuaded the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth to come to Laramie, where they opened a hospital in a house donated by the Union Pacific Railroad.[6]:9 In 1884, the Jesuits established St. Stephens Mission on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Nebraska was elevated to the Diocese of Omaha by Pope Leo XIII on October 2, 1885. At the time, the diocese included all of Nebraska and Wyoming.
1887 to 1900
On August 2, 1887, Pope Leo XIII erected the Diocese of Cheyenne, removing its territory from the Diocese of Omaha.[5] He appointed Maurice Burke of the Archdiocese of Chicago as the first bishop of Cheyenne.
By 1889, the diocese had five priests and 5,000 parishioners spread over a huge area.[7] Burke faced attacks by the American Protective Association, an anti-Catholic and anti-Irish hate group. The virulence forced the Sisters of Charity to abandon their institutions in the diocese. Burke traveled to Rome to petition the Vatican to attach the diocese to a more established one, citing the dire conditions in Wyoming. The pope denied his request.[8][9] In a letter to Katharine Drexel, Burke described himself as a "bishop in name only" without parishioners or priests.[10] In 1893, Pope Leo XIII attached the Diocese of Cheyenne to the Archdiocese of Dubuque, and transferred Burke to the Diocese of Saint Joseph. The Diocese of Cheyenne was without a bishop for the next three years.
On December 18, 1896, Thomas Lenihan of the Archdiocese of Dubuque was named the second bishop of Cheyenne by Leo XIII. When Lenihan arrived in Cheyenne in 1897, the diocese contained eight priests, nine churches, and one parochial school for 3,000 Catholics.[11] By the time of his death in 1901, there were 6,000 Catholics, 26 churches, 15 priests, and four parochial schools.[12]
1900 to 1950
Bishop Keane
On June 10, 1902, Pope Leo XIII appointed James Keane from the Archdiocese of St. Paul as the third bishop of Cheyenne. Keane came to Wyoming at a time of increasing population and economic expansion. Keane successfully recruited priests to serve in the diocese.[13] The diocese was incorporated according to Wyoming law. The diocesan parishes were also incorporated, with the bishop, the pastor and two lay trustees serving as a corporate board for each parish.[14]
Keane was successful in his appeals to the newly formed Catholic Church Extension Society for funds to expand the church across the state. He also directed the building of Cheyenne's St. Mary's Cathedral and a new episcopal residence. The cathedral was dedicated in 1909. He served as bishop for nine years in Cheyenne before being named archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dubuque in 1911.[14]
On January 19, 1912, Patrick McGovern from the Diocese of Omaha was appointed the fourth bishop of Cheyenne by Pope Pius X. On August 2, 1947, Hubert Newell of the Archdiocese of Denver was appointed as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Cheyenne to assist McGovern.
1950 to present
Bishop Ricken (2023)
In 1951, after 39 years as bishop, McGovern died, and Newell automatically succeeded him as bishop. Newell established the diocesan newspaper, The Wyoming Catholic Register, in 1952. Also that year, he dedicated the new DePaul Hospital in Cheyenne. Newell set up a Council of Catholic Women in Cheyenne. It was followed by other councils in Wyoming communities and by the Wyoming Council of Catholic Women in 1953.[15] Newell resigned in 1978.
On April 25, 1978, Pope Paul VI named Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Hart as the sixth bishop of Cheyenne.[16] During his tenure as bishop, Hart established the annual Bishop's Appeal and ordained 25 priests for the diocese.[17] On December 14, 1999, David L. Ricken was appointed as coadjutor bishop of the diocese by Pope John Paul II. Hart resigned in 2001 and Ricken automatically succeeded him as bishop of Cheyenne.
While bishop of Cheyenne, Ricken co-founded Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyoming, established the Wyoming School of Catholic Thought at Wyoming Catholic College, and founded the John Paul II Catholic School in Gillette, Wyoming.[18] Ricken oversaw the building of a new building for St. Mary's Catholic School in Cheyenne.[18] In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI named Ricken as bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay.
Anthony Jablonowski was convicted in April 2004 of taking indecent, immodest or immoral liberties with a minor during the early 1980s in Guernsey. The priest was sentenced to 15 months to seven years in prison. Jablonowski was later laicized.[21]
Bishop Joseph Hart's behavior was surrounded by controversy for years. At one point, in 2015, Bishop Etienne requested an investigation by the Vatican,[22] and suspended Hart from performing masses.[22] In June 2020, the Natrona County District Attorney's Office declined to press charges against Hart. Believing that the case was prosecutable, the Cheyenne police submitted it to the Wyoming Attorney General.[23] Hart was never prosecuted. In January 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican cleared Hart of seven sexual abuse charges and stated that five other charges could not be proven. After the Congregation's decision, Bishop Biegler stated that he believed the victims.[24] The Congregation rebuked Hart "for his flagrant lack of prudence as a priest and bishop for being alone with minors."[25]
In June 2019, the diocese released a list of "credibly accused clergy" included 30 victims, 29 of whom were minors,[26] with more victims coming forth in August 2019.[26]
Statistics
As of 2020, the Diocese of Cheyenne served 54,995 Catholics (8.6% of 578,759 total) on 262,333km2 (101,287sqmi) in 32 parishes. The diocese had 56 priests (50 diocesan, six religious), 33 deacons, 15 lay religious (six brothers, nine sisters), and five seminarians.[27]
12"Bishop Ricken to be inducted into education foundation's Hall of Fame". The Compass: official newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. April 3, 2009.
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