Lewis and Clark, Teton, Flathead, Lincoln, Missoula, Sanders, Powell, Granite, Ravalli, Deer Lodge, Silver Bow, Jefferson, Broadwater, Gallatin, Madison, Lake, and Beaverhead counties plus parts of Meagher, Musselshell, and Toole counties in Montana
The mother church of the Diocese of Helena is the Cathedral of Saint Helena in Helena. The diocese was erected on March 7, 1884.
Territory
The Diocese of Helena covers 51,922 square miles, encompassing 21 counties and parts of two others. As of 2023, the diocese had 57 parishes and 38 missions divided into six deaneries: Bozeman, Butte, Conrad, Helena, Kalispell, and Missoula.[2]
The diocese in 2023 was served by 61 priest, 34 permanent deacons, seven religious brothers and four nuns.[2]
History
1800 to 1880
The earliest Catholic presence in western Montana was the arrival of Catholic Iroquois/Haudenosaunee fur traders who settled with the Flathead Nation around 1811. The Flathead sent emissaries to St. Louis, Missouri four times in the 1830s to petition the Diocese of St. Louis for their own missionaries.
Finally, in 1840, the diocese sent missionary Reverend Pierre-Jean de Smet to Montana. The next year, he returned to Montana to found St. Mary's Mission near present-day Missoula. In 1844, DeSmet worked to create St. Ignatius's Mission north of Missoula.[3][4]
In 1873, Catholic missionaries built the first Catholic chapel in Missoula, then constructed St. Francis Xavier Church there in 1881.[5] In Butte, the first Catholic church, St. Patrick's, also opened in 1881.[6]
1880 to 1900
The Cathedral of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Helena's first cathedral.
In April 1883, Pope Leo XIII erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Montana, including what is present day Montana. He appointed Bishop Jean-Baptiste Brondel of the Diocese of Vancouver Island as the apostolic vicar.[7] One year later, the same pope created the Diocese of Helena to replace the vicariate, with Brondel as its first bishop.
During his tenure, Brondel traveled throughout the state, establishing several new parishes and building churches.[8] The first Catholic church in Bozeman was the Shèn White Chapel, constructed in 1886.[9]
He also significantly increased the number of priests; by 1903, the number of seminarians in Montana increased from one to thirteen.[8] Brondel took a particular interest in the evangelization of Native Americans, and the United States government often used his popularity among that community to further its aims.[10] In 1889, Montana achieved statehood. St. Matthew's Church, the first Catholic church in Kalispell, was dedicated in 1894.[11]
1900 to 1933
After Brondel died in 1903, the next bishop of Helena was Reverend John Carroll of the Diocese of Dubuque, named by Pope Pius X.[12] That same year, the pope erected the Diocese of Great Falls to cover the eastern half of the state.[1] When Carroll became bishop, the diocese had 53 priests, 65 churches, and nine parochial schools to serve 50,000 Catholics.[13] In 1904, Carroll started the construction of the Cathedral of Saint Helena.[14]
Carroll was a vocal opponent of socialism, which he believed made "no allowance for the development of man's talents, intellectual gifts, his spirit of economy or his ability."[15] He also condemned alcohol as "the most prolific source of poverty and misery"[16] and successfully lobbied the Helena City Council to require bars to close by midnight.[17] Carroll died in Europe in 1925.
When Finnigan took office, the diocese had 104 priests, 101 churches, 24 parochial schools, and a Catholic population of 64,000.[19] The Blackfoot Confederacy adopted Finnigan into the tribe in Browning in 1928. Mountain Chief gave Finnigan the name "Na-toa-ye-owa-shin" ("Holy Word"). Finnigan raised money to upgrade their churches, schools and infrastructure.[20] The diocese also responded to the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and a severe drought by increasing its care for the poor.[20] Finnigan worked hard to gain accreditation and long-term financial support for Mount St. Charles College. Finnigan died in 1932.
1933 to 1975
In 1933, Pope Pius XI appointed Reverend Ralph Hayes from the Diocese of Pittsburgh as the fourth bishop of Helena. After two years in Helena, Hayes was named rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome.[21] To replace Hayes, Pope Pius XI appointed Monsignor Joseph Gilmore of Helena. During his 26-year-long tenure, Gilmore presided over a period of great growth for the diocese. In addition to the material development, programs were developed to foster vocations, help resettle refugees from World War II, retrain unskilled workers, aid in adoptions, and promote the lay apostolate.[22]
After Gilmore died in 1969, Pope Paul VI named Monsignor Raymond Hunthausen of Helena as the next bishop of the diocese.[23] Starting in 1976, Hunthausen worked with Call to Action, a progressive Catholic group, and sought to implement their program. His tenure as bishop of Helena was marked by increased lay involvement in church matters, the establishment of a mission in Guatemala, the closure of several Catholic elementary and high schools, and the strengthening of religious education programs. Hunthausen was named archbishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle in 1975.
1975 to present
Reverend Elden Curtiss of the Diocese of Baker was the next bishop of Helena, named by Paul VI in 1976.[24] After 17 years as bishop of Helena, Curtiss became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha in 1993. Pope John Paul II appointed Monsignor Alexander Brunett of the Archdiocese of Detroit to replace Curtiss.[25] Shortly after his arrival in Helena, Brunett began touring the diocese, attending welcoming ceremonies and visiting parishes. He regularly visited local Indian reservations, and was initiated into the Blackfeet Nation, receiving the name "Holy Eagle Feather". Brunett was named archbishop of Seattle in 1997.
The current bishop of Helena, as of 2023, is Austin Vetter from the Diocese of Bismarck. He was named by Francis in 2018.[30] The diocese in 2022 sold one of their properties, the former Temple Emanu-El in Helena, to the Montana Jewish Project.[31] It is the oldest synagogue in the state.[32][33]
Sexual abuse
In 1993, Bishop Curtiss apologized to the public on the handling of sexual abuse accusations against Reverend Wilson Smart. In 1989, a victim accused Smart of sexual abuse of children. After sending Smart to a rehabilitation center for alcohol abuse in the late 70s, Curtiss had resigned him to a parish after treatment. According to Curtiss, he made this decision "without ever having examined his file and with no indication of any sexual problem." Smart admitted molesting more than 30 boys from 1957 to 1978. Curtiss discovered that the diocese knew in 1959 about Smart's attraction to boys and did nothing about it. The diocese settled with four of Smart's victims out of court, one for $1.7 million.[34]
Curtiss faced similar criticism in 2001 in regard to a priest accused of accessing child pornography. Curtiss, it was alleged, had failed to bring the case to the attention of the authorities, and had chosen to send the priest for counseling and to reassign the priest, removing him from his high-school teaching position but reassigning him to a middle-school.[35]
Arms was designed and adopted when the diocese was erected
Adopted
1884
Escutcheon
The diocesan arms consists of a field of alternating silver (white) and green chevrons. On this field are the conjoined cross and a crown.
Symbolism
The chevrons represent the mountain peaks in the diocese. The conjoined represent Helen, empress and mother of Constantine the Great, patroness of the diocese.
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in northern and western Maryland in the United States. It is the metropolitan see of the Ecclesiastical Province of Baltimore.
The Diocese of Madison is a Latin Church diocese in the southwestern part of Wisconsin in the United States. The diocese has approximately 167,000 Catholics in 102 parishes with 98 priests in active ministry.
The Archdiocese of Seattle is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in western Washington State in the United States. The Diocese was known as the Diocese of Nesqually from 1850 to 1907. The mother church of the archdiocese is St. James Cathedral in Seattle. The former cathedral is the Proto-Cathedral of St. James the Greater in Vancouver. Its archbishop since 2019 is Paul D. Etienne.
Raymond Gerhardt Hunthausen was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Helena in Montana from 1962 to 1975 and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle in Washington State from 1975 to 1991.
The Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western Oregon in the United States.
The Diocese of Baker is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Eastern Oregon in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Portland.
The Archdiocese of Omaha is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern Nebraska in the United States. Its current archbishop, George Joseph Lucas, was installed in Omaha on July 22, 2009.
The Diocese of Great Falls–Billings is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in eastern Montana in the United States.
Elden Francis Curtiss is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Helena in Montana from 1976 to 1993, and as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Omaha in Nebraska from 1993 to 2009.
Ambrose Maréchal, P.S.S. was a French-born Sulpician priest and prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Maryland.
George Leo Thomas is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as Archbishop of Las Vegas since 2023. He has been the ordinary of the diocese since 2018, when it was still a suffragan see. He previously served as Bishop of Helena from 2004 to 2018 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle from 1999 to 2004.
Alexander Joseph Brunett was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle in Washington State from 1997 until his retirement in 2010. Brunett previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Helena in Montana from 1994 to 1997 and after his retirement he served as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Oakland in California from 2012 to 2013.
Thomas Joseph Murphy was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings in Montana from 1978 to 1987, as coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle in Washington State from 1987 to 1991, and as archbishop of Seattle from 1991 until 1997.
Jean-Baptiste Brondel was a Belgian-born prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Vancouver Island in British Columbia and Alaska (1879–1883) and as vicar apostolic and bishop of the Diocese of Helena in Montana (1884–1903).
John Patrick Carroll was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Helena in Montana from 1904 until his death in 1925.
Joseph Clement Willging was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Pueblo in Colorado from 1942 until his death in 1959.
George Joseph Finnigan, C.S.C. was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Helena in Montana from 1927 to 1932.
Lawrence Harold Welsh was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota from 1991 to 1999. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Spokane in Washington State from 1978 to 1989.
Donald Joseph Hying is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Madison in Wisconsin since 2019. Hying previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Gary in Indiana from 2015 to 2019 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in Wisconsin from 2011 to 2015.
Jeffrey Michael Fleming is an American bishop of the Catholic Church and is the bishop of the Diocese of Great Falls-Billings in Montana. Fleming was named coadjutor in 2022 and bishop in 2023.
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United States 
Lewis and Clark, Teton, Flathead, Lincoln, Missoula, Sanders, Powell, Granite, Ravalli, Deer Lodge, Silver Bow, Jefferson, Broadwater, Gallatin, Madison, Lake, and Beaverhead counties plus parts of Meagher, Musselshell, and Toole counties in Montana
