Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo


The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo is a Roman Catholic diocese in Colorado. The diocese was created on November 15, 1941. It encompasses the southern half of Colorado, from Utah to the west, to Kansas in the east. The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pueblo is the seat of the diocese.
In 2009, the diocese had nearly 100,000 registered Catholics, about 16% of the population.

History

On November 15, 1941, Pope Pius XII separated territory from the Archdiocese of Denver to form the Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado and elevated the Denver Diocese to an Archdiocese. On November 10, 1983, Pope John Paul II separated territory from both the Archdiocese of Denver and the Diocese of Pueblo to form the Diocese of Colorado Springs.
The last official Roman Catholic "cruzado" or Crusade tax, referring to the tax taken to fund the Christian Crusades, was not abolished by the Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado until 1945.

Reports of Sex Abuse

In 1990, Diocese of Pueblo priest William Groves was arrested and plead guilty to sex abuse of sex abuse. As part his plea bargain, more serious sex abuse charges against Groves were dropped and he received a sentence of only four years probation and ordered sex abuse treatment On October 23, 2019, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser released the results of an eight-month investigation revealing that 43 Catholic clergy were credibly accused of sexually abusing at least 166 children throughout the state of Colorado since 1950. At least 36 of these children were molested by 19 clergy serving in the Diocese of Pueblo.

Bishops

Bishops of Pueblo

There was previously Pueblo Catholic High School but it closed in 1971. By 1975 all Catholic schools in Pueblo had closed.