As of 2023, the total population of the diocese was 3,014,103 inhabitants, of whom 1,244,400 were registered Catholic. The diocese maintains 87 parishes, several charities, two high schools, numerous elementary schools, a small newspaper, retreat center and several cemeteries.[3]
History
1770 to 1848
During the 18th century, the Fresno area was part of the province of Las Californias in the Spanish colony of New Spain. In 1804, the Spanish Government split Las Californias into two provinces, with most of present-day California becoming part of the new province of Alta California.
Mexico ceded Alta California to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. At that time, the Mexican government complained to the Vatican about the Diocese of California. They didn't want the American bishop to have jurisdiction over parishes in Mexico. In 1849, Pope Pius IX split the Diocese of California into American and Mexican dioceses; the American diocese was named the Diocese of Monterey.[4] The first Catholic church in Mariposa, St. Joseph's, was dedicated in 1857.[5]
In 1859, Pius IX renamed the Diocese of Monterey as the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles to recognize the growth of Los Angeles. St. Mary's Parish was founded in Visalia in 1861; it is the oldest parish in the Southern part of the Central Valley.[6]In 1867, Our Lady of Mercy Church was dedicated in Merced.[5] St. John's Church was established in Fresno in 1882; it would later become a cathedral.[7]In Bakersfield, St. Francis was erected a parish in 1884, the first in that city.[8]Four member of the Sisters of Mercy in 1910 expanded a small hospital in Bakersfield to start Mercy Hospital; it is today Mercy Hospital Downtown.[9]
Pope Paul VI created the new Diocese of Fresno in 1967 by splitting the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno into two dioceses. He named Auxiliary Bishop Timothy Manning of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles as the first bishop of Fresno.[4][5] The estimated Catholic population of the new diocese was 307,000.[5]
As of 2026, the current bishop of Fresno is Joseph Vincent Brennan, formerly an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles. He was appointed by Pope Francis in 2019.[18]
The diocese in November 2020 removed Reverend Guadalupe Rios from St. Joseph's Church in Selma and obtained a restraining order barring him from the church and its employees. While serving the order on Rios, the Selma police seized an assault rifle and handgun of his from church property. The church secretary said that Rios threatened her with a gun at one point.[19] Rios' housekeeper sued the diocese in 2021, claiming that he physically and emotionally abused her during a four-year romantic relationship.[20]
In February 2019, Bishop Ochoa announced an outside investigation of the diocesan for all allegations of sexual abuse against clerics since 1922, with a report to be issued to the public after the investigation had concluded.[22] In 2021, the diocese released a list of priests who had been "credibly accused" of abuse.[23]
In May 2024, the diocese announced that they were preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy by August 2024, claiming that it was now facing over 150 sex abuse lawsuits from victims.[24] On July 1, 2025, the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it tries to overcome and settle many of its 153 sex abuse lawsuits.[25]
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