The following is a list of bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, including Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Marianas and Samoa.
The Catholic Church in the United States comprises:
The 176 Latin Church dioceses in the United States are divided into 33 ecclesiastical provinces. Each province has a metropolitan archdiocese led by an archbishop, and at least one suffragan diocese. Each suffragan diocese is led by a bishop. The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA is the only American archdiocese that is not designated as a metropolitan archdiocese. The pope appoints all archbishops and bishops, who must be at least ordained priests. The pope chooses from a list of candidates provided by the papal nuncio of the United States to the Congregation of Bishops in Rome. [2]
In some rare cases, the pope will name a titular archbishop as the bishop of a suffragan diocese. The most recent example in the United States was that of Celestine Damiano, whom Pope John XXIII named as bishop of the Diocese of Camden in 1960. [3]
There are several dioceses in the American inhabited territories:
All active and retired bishops and archbishops in the United States —diocesan, coadjutor, and auxiliary—are members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Most nations with large Catholic populations in non-missionary geographical areas propose and elect native-born clergy to the episcopacy. An exception to this rule is the United States, which has a significant number of foreign-born bishops, with most serving as auxiliaries in culturally-diverse dioceses. As of 2024, 33 active foreign-born bishops are serving in the United States, representing about 10% of all active American bishops.
The following nations produced at least one bishop who is serving in the United States: Italy, Haiti, Ireland, Colombia, Lebanon, Peru, Spain, Cuba, South Africa, Malta, Argentina, El Salvador, and Cameroon.
The Archdioceses of Los Angeles and San Antonio and seven dioceses (Raleigh, Fall River, Charleston, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Las Cruces, and St Thomas) are led by foreign-born archbishops and bishops. [6] Two American archdioceses and two dioceses have more than one foreign-born active bishop assigned to them:
Additionally, there are several dozen bishops currently serving in the United States who are first-generation American-born children of immigrant parents.
The United States has two Eastern Catholic metropoliae, each led by a metropolitan archbishop called an archeparch:
As of October 2022, [update] the Vatican has designated seven American metropolitan archbishops in the Latin Church as cardinals:
One suffragan diocese is led by a cardinal:
Four American archdioceses have retired archbishops who served as cardinal-archbishops:
Three American archdioceses have former archbishops whom the Vatican created as cardinals after they completed their tenures as diocesan archbishops:
The Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Province of Philadelphia consists of four eparchies of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and covers the entire United States.
Metropolia | Metropolia map | Archeparchy or eparchy | Archeparch or eparch | Title | Eparch coat of arms |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Philadelphia | Archeparchy of Philadelphia | Borys Gudziak | Archeparch of Philadelphia | ||
Eparchy of Chicago | Venedykt Aleksiychuk | Eparch of Chicago | |||
Eparchy of Parma | Bohdan Danylo | Eparch of Parma | |||
Eparchy of Stamford | Paul Patrick Chomnycky | Eparch of Stamford | |||
The Metropolis of Pittsburgh is a sui iuris metropolitan province of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. The metropolis consists of four eparchies and covers the entire United States. It's geographic remit also includes the Exarchate of Toronto in Canada.
The metropolis has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all Ruthenian Catholics in the United States, as well as other Byzantine Rite Catholics without an established hierarchy in the country.
Metropolia | Metropolia map | Archeparchy or eparchy | Archeparch or eparch | Title | Eparch coat of arms |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pittsburgh | Archeparchy of Pittsburgh | William C. Skurla | Archeparch of Pittsburgh | ||
Eparchy of Parma | Robert Mark Pipta | Eparch of Parma | |||
Eparchy of Passaic | Kurt Burnette | Eparch of Passaic | |||
Eparchy of Phoenix | Sede vacante | Eparch of Phoenix | |||
The other Eastern Catholic Churches with eparchies (dioceses) or exarchates established in the United States are not grouped into metropoliae. All are immediately subject to the Holy See, with limited oversight by the head of their respective sui iuris churches.
Church | Eparchy | Eparch | Title |
---|---|---|---|
Chaldean Catholic Church | Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Detroit | Francis Y. Kalabat | Eparch of Detroit |
Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of San Diego | Emanuel Hana Shaleta | Eparch of San Diego | |
Maronite Church | Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Brooklyn | Gregory John Mansour | Eparch of Brooklyn |
Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Los Angeles | Abdallah Elias Zaidan | Eparch of Los Angeles | |
Melkite Greek Catholic Church | Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton | Francois Beyrouti | Eparch of Newton |
Syriac Catholic Church | Syrian Catholic Eparchy of Newark | Yousif Habash | Eparch of Newark |
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church | Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Chicago | Joy Alappatt | Eparch of Chicago |
Several Eastern Catholic churches have jurisdictions that include members and congregations in both the United States and Canada.
Church | Eparchy | Eparch | Title |
---|---|---|---|
Armenian Catholic Church | Armenian Catholic Eparchy of the US and Canada | Mikaël Mouradian | Eparch |
Romanian Catholic Church | Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Canton | John Michael Botean | Eparch of Canton |
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church | Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of the US and Canada | Philippos Stephanos Thottathil | Eparch |
Coptic Catholic Church | Pola Ayoub Matta Usama Shafik Akhnoukh | Apostolic Visitator [8] |
Archeparch or Eparch | Title | Archeparchy or eparchy |
---|---|---|
Ibrahim Ibrahim | eparch emeritus | Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Detroit |
Sarhad Yawsip Jammo | eparch emeritus | Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of San Diego |
Nicholas James Samra | eparch emeritus | Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton |
John Michael Kudrick | eparch emeritus | Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Parma |
John Stephen Pazak | eparch emeritus | Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix |
Jacob Angadiath | eparch emeritus | Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Chicago |
Stefan Soroka | archeparch emeritus | Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia |
Basil H. Losten | eparch emeritus | Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford |
The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter is a special diocese comprising Anglican converts to Catholicism. Under canon law, if the personal ordinary is not a bishop, he is treated as the equivalent of a diocesan bishop. [9] [1]
Province | Ecclesiastical province map | Diocese coat of arms | Bishop | Title | Bishop coat of arms |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter | Steven Joseph Lopes | Bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter |
The Washington post is a key one in the Vatican diplomatic corps both for the importance of the U.S. in world affairs and for its large Catholic population, which is counted on for its financial help to the Holy See and its contributions to papal charities.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. The archdiocese's cathedra is in Los Angeles, the archdiocese comprises the California counties of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, and its present archbishop is José Horacio Gómez Velasco. With over five million professing members and weekly liturgies celebrated in 32 languages, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is numerically the single largest and most ethnically diverse archdiocese in the United States.
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan", "titular archbishop" or "titular bishop", which normally goes by the status conferred on the titular see.
An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese, or is a diocese, archdiocese, eparchy or similar permanent ordinariate that either has no bishop or archbishop or, in very rare cases, has an incapacitated (arch)bishop.
A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor is a bishop himself, although he is also appointed as vicar general. The coadjutor bishop is, however, given authority beyond that ordinarily given to the vicar general, making him co-head of the diocese in all but ceremonial precedence. In modern times, the coadjutor automatically succeeds the diocesan bishop upon the latter's retirement, removal, or death.
The Archdiocese of Anchorage–Juneau is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, in southern Alaska in the United States. The archdiocese has a single suffragan diocese, the Diocese of Fairbanks.
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gifts and ministries necessary for genuine unity.
The Archeparchy of Changanacherry is a Syro-Malabar Catholic archeparchy with an area of 24,595 km2 comprising the districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and also Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in India in terms of area. Joseph Perumthottam is the current Metropolitan Archbishop, serving since 2007. Thomas Tharayil has been the auxiliary bishop since 2017. Suffragan eparchies of the Changanassery archeparchy includes Palai, Kanjirappally-Nilackal, and Thuckalay-Thiruvithancode.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or archeparchy of the Catholic Church in the Eastern United States. Its episcopal see is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Archeparchy of Philadelphia is a metropolitan see with three suffragan eparchies in its ecclesiastical province. The Archeparchy of Philadelphia's territorial jurisdiction includes the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and the eastern and central portions of Pennsylvania.
The Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix, commonly known as the Eparchy of Phoenix and formerly known as the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Van Nuys, is a Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church territory jurisdiction or eparchy of the Catholic Church in the western United States. Its episcopal see is Phoenix, Arizona. The last bishop was the Most Reverend John Stephen Pazak.
A diocesan bishop, within various Christian traditions, is a bishop or archbishop in pastoral charge of a diocese or archdiocese. In relation to other bishops, a diocesan bishop may be a suffragan, a metropolitan or a primate. They may also hold various other positions such as being a cardinal or patriarch.
The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas is a Latin Church ecclesiastical province, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Kansas in the United States.
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders and is responsible for teaching doctrine, governing Catholics in his jurisdiction, sanctifying the world and representing the Church. Catholics trace the origins of the office of bishop to the apostles, who it is believed were endowed with a special charism and office by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Catholics believe this special charism and office has been transmitted through an unbroken succession of bishops by the laying on of hands in the sacrament of holy orders.
The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the highest Orthodox authority in the Coptic Orthodox Church. It formulates the rules and regulations regarding matters of the Church's organisation and faith.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dar-es-Salaam is a Latin Metropolitan archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Tanzania.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka is the Latin, main Metropolitan Metropolitan diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bangladesh, but no longer the only one. It still depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The Major Archeparchy of Kyiv–Galicia (Kyiv–Halych) is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Major Archeparchy of the Catholic Church, that is located in Ukraine. It was erected on 21 August 2005 with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI. There are other territories of the Church that are not located in Ukraine. The cathedral church — the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ — is situated in the city of Kyiv. The metropolitan bishop is — ex officio — the Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The incumbent major archbishop is Sviatoslav Shevchuk.
A metropolis, metropolitanate or metropolitan (arch)diocese is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces.