The Diocese of Erie was founded on July 29, 1853. Its mother church is St. Peter's Cathedral in Erie.
Statistics
The Diocese of Erie is geographically the largest diocese in Pennsylvania, covering 10,167 square miles (26,332.41km2). It covers 13 counties in Northwestern Pennsylvania. About 220,000 Catholics (74,000 families) reside in the diocese. The diocese educates approximately 14,000 children and youth.[1]
History
1700 to 1853
Unlike the other British colonies in America, the Province of Pennsylvania did not ban Catholics from the colony or threaten priests with imprisonment. However, the colony did require any Catholics seeing public office to take an oath to Protestantism. In 1784, a year after the end of the American Revolution, Pope Pius VI erected the Apostolic Prefecture of United States of America, including all of the new United States.[2][3]
In 1789, Pius VI converted the prefecture to the Diocese of Baltimore, covering all of the United States.[4] With the passage of the US Bill of Rights in 1791, Catholics received full freedom of worship.
In 1808, Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Philadelphia, covering all of Pennsylvania.[5] As the Catholic population grew in Pennsylvania in the 19th century, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1843 to cover the northwestern part of the state.
1853 to 1868
On July 29, 1853, Bishop Michael O'Connor of the Diocese of Pittsburgh was appointed as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Erie by Pope Pius IX.[6] The dividing line of the new diocese ran east and west along the northern boundaries of Cambria, Indiana, Armstrong, Butler, and Lawrence Counties, giving thirteen northern counties to the Diocese of Erie.[7]
The pope named Reverend Joshua Young as the new bishop of Pittsburgh. However, Young did not want the job in Pittsburgh. In addition, a group of Pittsburgh Catholics petitioned the pope to bring back O'Connor.[8] Five months later, the Vatican changed course, returning O'Connor to Pittsburgh and making Young the second bishop of Erie.[8]
Due to the 1859 discovery of oil in Titusville and the ensuring oil rush, Young was forced to erect numerous churches to accommodate the new Catholic settlers along Oil Creek and the Allegheny River.[9] At the beginning of Young's tenure, the diocese contained 28 churches and 14 priests,[9] He established several Catholic schools and orphanages, and a hospital.[9] He also introduced into the diocese the Sisters of St. Joseph from Buffalo, New York.[10] In 1864, the sisters opened the St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum in Erie.[11]
By the time of Young's death in 1866, the number of churches and priests in the diocese were both over 50.[9]
1868 to 1920
In 1868, Monsignor Tobia Mullen of Pittsburgh was appointed the third bishop of Erie by Pope Pius IX.[12] He founded the weekly Lake Shore Visitor newspaper, an orphanage, and two hospitals.[9] His greatest accomplishment was the erection of St. Peter's Cathedral.[13] Originally dubbed as "Mullen's Folly", its cornerstone was laid in 1875 and Mullen dedicated it in 1893.[13]
The Sisters of St. Joseph established Villa Maria Academy for girls in Erie in 1892; it became Gannon University in 1944.[14]
After Mullen died in 1899, Fitzmaurice automatically succeeded him as the next bishop of Erie. During his 21-year-long tenure as bishop, Fitzmaurice established several parishes and dedicated St. Peter's Cathedral in Erie (1911).[15] The Sisters of St. Joseph added an annex to St. Vincent's Hospital in Erie and in 1901 a nursing school. Fitzmaurice died in 1920.
The Sisters of Mercy founded Mercyhurst College for women in Erie in 1926; it is today Mercyhurst University.[17] In 1933, he established Cathedral College, a two-year institution.[16] Gannon organized religious education programs under the auspices of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in the diocese and founded five regional high schools.[18] The diocese opened the Erie Day Nursery in Erie in 1929.[19] The Benedictine Sisters in 1933 took over the operation of the Andrew Kaul Memorial Hosptial in St. Marys; It is today the Penn Highlands Elk Hospital.[20] The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity in 1934 opened the Gannondale School for Girls in Erie.[21]By the time Gannon retired in 1966, he had erected 28 parishes, 49 churches, seven rectories, and 12 convents.[16]
To replace Gannon, Pope Paul VI in 1966 named Auxiliary Bishop John Whealon from the Diocese of Cleveland as bishop of Erie. However, after only two years in Erie, Paul VI appointed Whealon as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford.[22] The pope then appointed Auxiliary Bishop Alfred Watson from Erie as its next bishop. Critics accused Watson of being too slow to implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, and met considerable opposition from the diocesan clergy.[23] During his tenure, he ordained 88 priests, but was forced to close or merge several Catholic schools.[23]
When Watson retired in 1982, Murphy became the new bishop. He founded the Emmaus Program, an annual convocation of diocesan clergy in 1983. In 1984, he announced a three-year plan to raise $9 million to cover diocesan expenses, including educational and social needs and the renovation of St. Peter Cathedral; the appeal raised over $14 million in pledges.[25] In 1985, Murphy launched a spiritual growth process called RENEW, which attracted the participation of more than 20,000 people throughout the diocese and lasted until 1988.[25] He established St. Mark Catholic Center and the Diocesan Committee on Human Sexuality in 1987 and merged several parishes and closed one school in 1989.[25] Murphy retired in 1990.
John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop Donald Trautman of the Diocese of Buffalo as bishop of Erie in 1990. As bishop, he improved the diocesan youth and vocational programs, renovated the interior of St. Peter Cathedral, and established a diocesan Deposit and Loan Fund and a retirement home for clergy named after Murphy. Trautman retired in 2011.
Sean O'Hara reported to the diocese in April 2002 that he had been sexually assaulted by Reverend Chester Gawronski in 1977. O'Hara said that Gawronski fondled his genitals in the shower once and attacked him in a swimming pool on another occasion. When Sean told his father Donald O'Hara about the assaults in 1984, Donald immediately reported the allegations to the diocese. A diocesan official said that they were sending Gawronski away for treatment and that he would be restricted from minors in the future. The official asked the O'Hara family to not say anything about Gawronski for the sake of the parish.[27] Gawronski confessed in 1987 to abusing as many as 20 boys.
The 2018 Pennsylvania grand jury report criticized Bishops Trautman and Murphy for allowing Gawronski to remain in ministry despite numerous allegations of sexual abuse.[28][29] The two bishops had reassigned Gawronski multiple times between 1987 and 2002, and Trautman renewed Gawronski's five-year term as a chaplain in St Mary's Home in Erie in 2001.[28] In his own defense, Trautman noted that he had set guidelines in 1993 on handling sexual abuse and established the diocesan Office for the Protection of Children and Youth in 2003.[30]
Presley case
Also in April 2002, three individuals accused Reverend William Presley of physical and sexual abuse when they were minors between 1963 and 1974. The victims said that Presley would punch and slap them as well as force them into sodomy and oral sex.[31] When Trautman confronted Presley that month, he admitted to sexually abusing the victims. Trautman then permanently removed him from ministry. In 1987, two different victims had approached the diocese with similar complaints about Presley. Conceding that Presley had violent tendencies, the diocese sent him in 1990 to a psychologist for evaluation. After the evaluation, the diocese returned Presley to ministry.[31]
In 2005, the Vatican tasked Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, who had served as a priest in Erie, with investigating Presley. During his investigation, Bartchak continuously re-interviewed a male victim who had made allegations about Presley in 1982, 1987 and 2002.[32] In August 2005, Bartchak sent a secret memo to Trautman.[32] Parts of the memo read
"I was not surprised to learn from other witnesses from the Elk County area, that there are likely to be other victims" and that "it is likely that there may be others who were also of the age for the offenses to be considered delicts, but to what end is it necessary to follow every lead?"[32]
Bartchak stated in another memo, following a meeting with Trautman on August 29, 2005:
"Bishop Trautman decided that in order to preclude further scandal, these additional witnesses should not be contacted, especially given the fact that it is not likely that they will lead to information concerning delicts involving minors under 16 years of age."[32]
The 2018 grand jury report criticized Bartchak for how he interviewed the Presley's victim and for his communications with Trautman.[32]
Grand jury report
In early 2016, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro convened a special grand jury to investigate allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy in six Pennsylvania dioceses, including the Diocese of Erie.[33] In April 2018, the diocese published a list of 34 priests and 17 laypeople who had been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.[34][35] By July 2018, the list had grown to 64 names.[36]
In August 2018, the Pennsylvania grand jury report was released, revealing 41 clergy in the Diocese of Erie with credible accusations of sexually abusing children.[37][38] The report praised Bishop Persico, who acknowledged there had been a cover-up of sexual abuse crimes in the diocese.[28]
In October 2018, Reverend David Lee Poulson pleaded guilty to charges of corruption of minors and endangering the welfare of children. Poulson had been accused of repeatedly sexually abusing one boy and attempting to sexually abuse another.[39] In January 2019, Poulson received a two-and-a-half to 14-year prison sentence.[40] In March 2019, the Vatican laicized Poulson.[41][42][43]
In July 2020, it was revealed that the diocese was undergoing a potential new sex abuse lawsuit. The plaintiffs alleged that the diocese's compensation fund had yet to pay victims of abuse allegedly committed at St. Hedwig Catholic Church and its long-closed school.[44]
Also in July 2020, a woman alleging abuse by Reverend Michael G. Barletta sued the diocese. She accused the diocese of shielding Barletta from potential prosecution after Barletta molested her when she was in grade school in the 1970s.[45] By this point, at least three other sex abuse lawsuits were filed against the diocese in between July 15, 2020,[clarification needed] as well.[45] In August 2020, it was revealed that a total of 21 lawsuits were filed against the diocese since the 2018 grand jury report was released.[46]
As of 2025, the Diocese of Erie has 76 parishes with 87 active diocesan priests and 61 permanent deacons.[49] Its historically significant parishes include:
Church
Dedication
Location
History
St. Mary (closed)
1840
Erie
First church built in 1839 by German immigrants, second church dedicated in 1885. Church closed in 2015, parish merged with St. Stanislaus[50]
St. Philip
1847
Crossingville
First mass celebrated in 1807. Current church dedicated in 1847. Parish merged in 2007 into Saint Lawrence the Martyr in Albion.[51]
Parish founded in 1834, current church dedicated in 1888[57]
St. Nicholas of Tolentino
1893
Crates
Founded as a parish in 1828, first church dedicated by Kenrick in 1835. Current church dedicated in 1893. Now a mission church of St. Charles Parish in New Bethlehem.[58]
First church built in 1837, current church built in 1903. Served as co-cathedral from 1852 to 1993[60]
Education
As of 2025, the Diocese of Erie has 28 schools with an approximate enrollment of 4,600 students.[49] Unlike other dioceses, the Diocese of Erie does not operate a central school system.
School systems
Many of the schools in the diocese are run by independent school systems:[61]
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