Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester


The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester is a diocese of the Catholic Church in the Greater Rochester region of New York State in the United States. The region that the Diocese comprises extends from its northern border on the south shore of Lake Ontario through the Finger Lakes region to its southern border at the New York-Pennsylvania border.
The Diocese of Rochester comprises 12 counties in New York, with approximately 350,000 Catholics and over 125 faith communities, 22 diocesan elementary schools and 7 independent parochial high schools. The bishop of the diocese is currently Salvatore Ronald Matano. The metropolitan for the diocese is the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, currently Cardinal Timothy Dolan. The cathedral parish for the diocese is Sacred Heart Cathedral.

History

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester began on March 3, 1868, when Pope Pius IX entrusted eight counties within the Diocese of Buffalo to Bernard J. McQuaid, the first bishop of Rochester. The new diocese had about 54,500 Catholics in 35 parish churches and 29 mission churches.
In 1896, the counties of Schuyler, Tioga, Chemung, and Steuben were added to the Diocese of Rochester from the Diocese of Buffalo, forming the current boundaries.
The diocese grew as Catholic immigrants came to western New York, peaking in the 1960s. Since then, the Catholic population has stabilized while the numbers of ordained presbyters and religious sisters has fallen.
On September 22, 2017, the Diocese of Rochester inaugurated its sesquicentennial anniversary marked by a solemn Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral. This event marks a year long celebration of the 150 year anniversary and the year of the Eucharist which was proclaimed by Bishop Salvatore Matano on the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Reports of sex abuse and bankruptcy

In June 2018, it was revealed that the Diocese had secretly paid $1.6 million since 1950 in compensation to 20 sex abuse victims. Most of the payments occurred after the eruption of the 2002 clergy sex abuse scandal, although some are decades old. On June 10, 2019, a man claiming that he had been molested between 1969 and 1971 by local priest Rev. Francis Vogt filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Rochester and several other local Catholic organizations affiliated the Diocese, claiming that they shielded Vogt from potential prosecution. On September 12, 2019, the Diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the wake of lawsuits against priests and other ministers who served in the Diocese. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester is the first Catholic diocese in the state of New York to file for bankruptcy and also the 20th Catholic diocese in the U.S. to do so.
On May 4, 2020, it was revealed that attorneys for sex abuse plaintiffs forced the Diocese of Rochester to turn over approximately 43,000 documents in exchange for delaying the sex abuse lawsuits. However, it remains to be seen if the released documents are complete.

Bishops

The following are lists of bishops and their years of service:

Bishops of Rochester

  1. Bernard J. McQuaid
  2. Thomas F. Hickey, appointed Archbishop upon retirement
  3. John Francis O'Hern
  4. Edward A. Mooney, Archbishop, appointed Archbishop of Detroit
  5. James E. Kearney
  6. Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, appointed Archbishop upon retirement
  7. Joseph Lloyd Hogan
  8. Matthew H. Clark
  9. Salvatore Ronald Matano

    Coadjutor Bishop

Primary schools

Former primary schools

Over the years, as Catholic populations moved to the suburbs, the Diocese has closed parishes and their schools. These include the former Holy Apostles, Holy Redeemer, Holy Rosary, Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Our Lady of Victory, Sacred Heart, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Augustine, St. Casimir, St. Francis Xavier, St. Helen, St. John the Evangelist, St. Joseph, St. Lucy, St. Mary, St. Michael, St. Patrick, Ss. Peter and Paul, St. Stanislaus, and St. Theresa.
In 2008, facing growing deficits and declining enrollments, the Diocese closed the following schools:
There remain five traditionally Catholic high schools in the diocese. These schools were founded by various Roman Catholic religious orders and operate independently of the diocese itself.
SchoolFounding Religious OrderLocationEstablishedGrades
Aquinas InstituteBasilianRochester, Monroe County1902Grades 6 through 12
Bishop Kearney High SchoolChristian Brothers, Sisters of Notre DameIrondequoit, Monroe County1962Grades 7 through 12
McQuaid Jesuit High SchoolJesuitsBrighton, Monroe County1954Grades 6 through 12
Notre Dame High SchoolSisters of MercyElmira, Chemung County1955Grades 7 through 12
Our Lady of Mercy High SchoolSisters of MercyBrighton, Monroe County1928Grades 6 through 12

Former high schools

This is a list of the counties in New York State that fall into the Diocese of Rochester: