As of 2025, the diocese contained 80 parishes, 11 missions, two minor basilicas, and 38 schools.[4] In 2011, the estimated population of the diocese was approximately 400,923 Catholics.[5] There were 208 priests, 87 religious nuns, and 181 permanent deacons.[5]
By the early 1700s, the Spanish Franciscans had established a network of 40 missions in what is now Northern and Central Florida.[6] However, raids by British settlers and their Creek Native American allies from the Carolinas eventually shut down the missions.[7]
After the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, Spain ceded all of Florida to Great Britain for the return of Cuba. Given the antagonism of Protestant Great Britain to Catholicism, the majority of the Catholic population in Florida fled to Cuba.[8] After the American Revolution, Spain regained control of Florida in 1784.[9] In 1793, the Vatican changed the jurisdiction for Florida Catholics from Havana to the Apostolic Vicariate of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, based in New Orleans.[10] In the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, Spain ceded all of Florida to the United States, which established the Florida Territory in 1821.[11]
In 1825, Pope Leo XII erected the Vicariate of Alabama and Florida, which included all of Florida, based in Mobile Alabama.[10] In 1858, Pius IX moved Florida into a new Apostolic Vicariate of Florida,[12] which in 1870 was converted into the Diocese of St. Augustine.[13] The new diocese covered all of Florida except for the Florida Panhandle region.
In 1898, St. Paul's Church was dedicated in Daytona Beach, the first Catholic church in that community.[14] The first Catholic church in Brevard County was St. Joseph, dedicated in 1914.[15]
Establishment
Former St. Charles Borromeo Cathedral, Orlando, Florida (2016)
Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Orlando on June 18, 1968,[16] taking its present territory from the Diocese of St. Augustine and making it a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Miami. He appointed Monsignor William Borders of the Diocese of Baton Rouge as the first bishop of Orlando. At its formation, the new diocese consisted of 50 parishes with 128,000 Catholics.
According to a diocesan publication, after the 1969 Apollo 11 moon mission launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Borders joked to Paul VI that he was now bishop of the moon, citing canon law about newly discovered territories.[17][18][a] In 2019, a diocesan spokesperson stated that Bishop John Noonan did not consider himself bishop of the moon (or of the International Space Station, most of which was also launched from the space center).[19]
During his tenure in Orlando, Borders oversaw the creation of parish councils and education boards, allowed the laity to serve as extraordinary ministers of the eucharist and formed a Sisters' Council for the nuns of the diocese.[20] A Social Services Board correlated the work of already-existing agencies, and developed an educational program aimed at coordinating efforts in Catholic schools, campus ministry, and religious education. Borders also initiated social outreach centers to minister to migrant workers and the poor.[21] In 1974, Paul VI named Borders as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
Later history
Archbishop Wenski (2011)Bishop Noonan (2012)Basilica of Mary, Queen of the Universe, Orlando, Florida (2016)
During Grady's tenure, the diocese saw significant growth. In 1976, St. Charles Borromeo Church in the College Park section of Orlando, the original cathedral, was destroyed by fire. St. James Church in Orlando was designated as the new cathedral.[24] To provide ministerial outreach to vacationers visiting Walt Disney World and the Lake Buena Vista Resort, Grady created a parish in the Lake Buena Vista area.[23]
In 1984, Grady started construction of the Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe in the same area. The diocese also expanded ministries to migrants and minorities, founded a scholarship program for African American students, and built apartment buildings for the elderly.[23] Grady resigned in 1989. At the end of his tenure in 1990, the Catholic population of the diocese had grown over 76% and the number of parishes had increased by more than a third.
Pope John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop Norbert Dorsey of Miami as the next bishop of Orlando. In August 1993, the Shrine of Mary was dedicated. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops designated it as a national shrine in 2004.[25] Dorsey's tenure saw further growth especially due to the growing Hispanic community. Radio Paz and health clinics for migrant and farm workers were established to minister to this community. Bishop Grady Villas, which opened in 2004, was constructed as a residential community in Orlando for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.[26] A cemetery at San Pedro Retreat Center for priests of the diocese was established. Dorsey retired in 2004.
Basilica of St. Paul, Daytona Beach, Florida (2016)
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Wenski of Miami was selected by John Paul II to replace Dorsey as bishop of Orlando in 2004. Wenski convoked the first synod for the diocese in 2004.[22] During his tenure, Wenski created six new parishes and two missions.[27] A capital and endowment campaign raised $100 million.[28] The Spanish language radio station, Buena Nueva FM, and a newspaper, El Clarin, were also started.[29] The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops held their spring convocation in the diocese in 2008.[30] Wenski also designated 2008 as the "Year of Evangelization".[22]
Benedict XVI named Wenski as archbishop of Miami in 2010.[33] Reverend Richard Walsh, pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Winter Park, served as diocesan administrator, until Auxiliary Bishop John Noonan of Miami was appointed by the pope that same year.[34] In June 2017, Noonan attended a memorial service at St. James Cathedral for victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.[35]
Reports of sex abuse
In February 1995, a man sued the Diocese of Orlando, saying that he had been sexually abused as a youth by former priest Thomas Pagni. The plaintiff claimed that Pagni, then a mental health counselor in Brevard County, sexually assaulted him for several months in 1992. The boy's father witnessed the aftermath of the final assault in his son's bedroom. The plaintiff said that the diocese has concealed Pagni's history of sexual abuse as a priest and had paid for his college courses to enter the counseling field.[36]
Pagni was arrested in March 1995 on charges of engaging in sexual activity with a minor and engaging in lewdness.[37] Another victim was added to the criminal case in June 1995. In January 1996, Pagni pleaded no contest to the ten charges against him and was sentenced to ten years in prison.[38]
In 2004, the diocese announced that it had removed from ministry 12 priests accused of committing sex abuse since the founding of the diocese in 1968.[39]
Reverend Wladyslaw Gorak (also known as Walter Fisher) of the Church of the Resurrection in South Lakeland was arrested in October 2004 after breaking down the door at the residence of a female acquaintance and sexually assaulting her. Gorak had transferred to Orlando in 2000 from the Archdiocese of Newark. Despite him having a record of inappropriate behavior with women in Newark, the archdiocese did not mention that to diocesan officials in Orlando. Gorak was sentenced to four years of probation in 2007[40] The woman later sued the Archdiocese of Newark and received a settlement from them.[40]
In November 1985, the families of four boys sued the diocese, claiming sexual abuse by Reverend William Authenrieth at St. Mary's Church in Rockledge. That same year, Bishop Grady permanently removed Authenrieth from ministry; he left the priesthood in 1986.[41] In December 1987, the diocese settled the case with the Rockledge families for $3 million.[42]
In August 2014, an Orlando man sued Bishop Noonan and the diocese. The plaintiff claimed that he was sexually assaulted when an altar boy at All Souls Church in Sanford by Authenrieth between 1976 and 1978.[43] The abuse took place in the church sacristy and Authenrieth's quarters.[44] After receiving a complaint in 1978 from a parishioner that Authenrieth had molested his son, the diocese moved the priest to St. Mary's in Rockledge.[45]
In August 2018, Noonan removed Reverend David Gillis, parochial administrator of the Our Savior Parish in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Gillis had been accused in a Pennsylvania investigation of sexual abuse of a minor years earlier.[46] Authorities in Pennsylvania determined that the allegations against Gillis were false in September 2018.[47]
The diocese has a sister diocese in La Cucarita in the Dominican Republic. Volunteers from the diocese built two churches and one community center there and the medical mission helped 2,000 patients in 2007.[53][54]
An Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) of the United States of America is a ministry located at the Stella Maris Center at Port Canaveral. It is for the benefit of anyone involved in maritime industries.[55]
Education
As of 2025, the Diocese of Orlando was operating five high schools, 29 elementary schools, one special education school, and three early childhood centers.[56]
Colleges and universities
The diocese supports Catholic campus ministries at the following institutions:
In 2008, the National Catholic Educational Association recognized the diocesan school board as "outstanding", the only diocesan board to be so recognized.[58] At the same time, the Father Lopez Catholic High School board in Daytona Beach was simultaneously recognized as outstanding; also the only school board to be so designated.
Secondary schools
These are the secondary school listings as of 2025:
↑ "About Us". Diocese of Orlando, Florida. Retrieved 5 May 2022. Mary, the Mother of God, is the patroness of the Diocese of Orlando and we seek her intercession so that our efforts to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, form leaders, harmonize ministries and enkindle deeper faith will be blessed by God.
↑ Dobson, Laura (May 21 – June 3, 2010). "Churches elevated to status of minor basilicas under leadership of Archbishop Wenski". Orlando, Florida: Florida Catholic. pp.A14.
↑ Other bishops made similar claims, notably Archbishop Terence Cooke who had jurisdiction over the Kennedy Space Center as vicar of the Military Ordinariate. The validity of the bishop's Moon argument has been questioned. In any case, the pope has ultimate authority over diocesan boundaries. Additionally, the issue remains moot as long as the moon is uninhabited.
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