Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage–Juneau


The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage–Juneau is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northwestern United States, comprising several boroughs and census areas in the state of Alaska. The Archdiocese is led by a prelate archbishop who serves as pastor of the mother church, the Cathedral of the Holy Family in the Municipality of Anchorage.

History

The See of Anchorage was erected on January 22, 1966, by Pope Paul VI. The archdiocese's territories came from the Diocese of Juneau. Anchorage's large population and burgeoning community development warranted the creation of a new archdiocese in the city as opposed to elevating the already existing Diocese of Juneau to that rank.
The Archdiocese hosted visits from Pope John Paul II multiple times. In 1981 he celebrated Mass on the Anchorage Park Strip before 50,000 people.
On May 19, 2020, Pope Francis merged the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Juneau into the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage–Juneau.

Bishops

The archbishops and their years of service:

Archbishops of Anchorage

The Archdiocese publishes a monthly newspaper, Catholic Anchor, which has approximately 11,000 subscribers. It was established in April 1999.

Suffragan see

The ecclesiastical province of Anchorage–Juneau comprises the state of Alaska and includes the only suffragan diocese of Fairbanks.
Until the 19th May 2020, the diocese of Juneau was a second suffragan diocese.