Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Oklahoma, USA
The
Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
(
Latin
:
Archidioecesis Oclahomensis
) is a
Latin Church
ecclesiastical territory or
archdiocese
of the
Catholic Church
of western Oklahoma in the United States. The mother church of the archdiocese is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in
Oklahoma City
.
As of 2023,
Paul Coakley
is archbishop of Oklahoma City. As such, he is the
metropolitan bishop
of the
ecclesiastical province
which includes the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, the
Diocese of Tulsa
and the
Diocese of Little Rock
.
History
[
edit
]
1830 to 1875
[
edit
]
The first Catholic presence in Oklahoma, then known officially as the
Indian Territory
, was in 1830. Charles Van Quickenborne, a Jesuit priest, traveled from
St. Louis, Missouri
, to minister to Osage Nation people in the Cabin Creek area.
[1]
By this time, the Indian Territory was under the official Catholic jurisdiction of the
Diocese of Little Rock
. Over the next several decades, missionary priests from Arkansas would make periodic trips into the territory to visit the Native American peoples.
The first Catholic church in the Indian Territory was established in
Atoka
in 1872 for the Irish Catholic railroad workers in the area.
Isidore Robot
and Dominic Lambert, Benedictine monks from France, arrived in Atoka in 1875.
[1]
In 1876,
Pope Pius IX
erected the Apostolic Prefecture of Indian Territory, removing the Indian Territory from the Diocese of Little Rock. The pope named Robot as the first prefect of the territory.
[2]
1875 to 1905
[
edit
]
Robot purchased land in 1875 from the
Potawatomi
Nation to build a monastery for members of the Benedictine order along with a school and church for the Potawatomi. This facility became known as
Sacred Heart Mission and Abbey
. In 1880, he opened a girls school, staffed by several nuns from New Orleans. In 1884, Robot opened
Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish
at
Lehigh
, the second Catholic church in Indian Territory. Robot resigned as prefect in 1887.
[2]
The Vatican replaced Robot with the Benedictine Ignatius Jean. In 1889, Jean invited the Benedictine Sisters from Iowa to open a monastery in present-day
Guthrie
.
[3]
In 1891, recognizing the increasing population of the Indian Territory,
Pope Leo XIII
elevated the Apostolic Prefecture of Indian Territory to the Apostolic Vicariate of Indian Territory. The pope named
Theophile Meerschaert
from the
Diocese of Natchez
as the
apostolic vicar
.
[4]
At the time of Meerschaert's arrival, the new vicariate had three diocesan priests, 23
Benedictine
monks, 21 churches, seven day schools, five Native American boarding schools, one college, one monastery, six convents and a Catholic population of approximately 5,000. The first Catholic church in Oklahoma City,
St. Joseph's
, was completed in 1889.
[5]
1905 to 1972
[
edit
]
In 1905,
Pope Pius X
erected the Diocese of Oklahoma, suppressing the apostolic vicariate. The pope named Meerschaert as its first bishop of the new diocese. St. Joseph's Church was designated as its cathedral.
[5]
The Indian Territory became the State of Oklahoma in 1907. Meerschaert dedicated about 100 new churches and recruited over 12 American-born clergy during his tenures as vicar and bishop.
[6]
By the time of his death in 1924, the Catholic population had increased elevenfold.
[6]
The second bishop of Oklahoma was Francis Kelley, a Vatican diplomat named bishop by Pope Pius XI in 1924. During his years as bishop, he successfully resisted the agitation of the
Ku Klux Klan
in the diocese and continued his work as the "Extension Bishop."
[7]
In 1930, Pius XI renamed the Diocese of Oklahoma as the Diocese of Oklahoma City-Tulsa, reflected population trends in Oklahoma. Kelley remained as bishop.
[4]
In 1931,
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church
in Oklahoma City became the new cathedral for the diocese.
[7]
Bishop Eugene J. McGuinness from the
Diocese of Raleigh
was appointed
coadjutor bishop
of Oklahoma City-Tulsa in 1944 by
Pope Pius XII
to assist Kelley.
[8]
When Kelley died in 1948, McGuiness automatically succeeded him as bishop.
In 1949, McGuiness established the National Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague at St. Wenceslaus Parish in
Prague, Oklahoma
.
[9]
During his nine-year administration, McGuinness saw the Catholic population in the state grow by almost 40 percent and received 1,242 adult converts in 1957 alone.
[10]
Priestly and religious vocations increased and he made trips to
Ireland
and
Poland
to recruit clergy.
[10]
In December 1957, Pius XII selected
Victor Reed
as an
auxiliary bishop
in Oklahoma City-Tulsa. However, McGuinness died before Reed was consecrated. The pope named Reed in January 1958 to serve instead as bishop of the diocese.
[11]
After the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965, he introduced the use of
vernacular
in the
mass
and an emphasis on pastoral over administrative skills in bishops.
[12]
In 1966, a group picketed his residence and called for his removal. They accused Reed of following "un-Catholic" policies and participating in a "worldwide atheistic conspiracy for world domination" led by
communists
.
[13]
Reed died in 1971. Pope Paul VI replaced Reed with Auxiliary Bishop
John R. Quinn
from the Diocese of San Diego in 1971.
[14]
1972 to 1992
[
edit
]
On December 13, 1972,
Pope Paul VI
elevated the Diocese of Oklahoma City-Tulsa to the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. At the same time, he erected the
Diocese of Tulsa
, consisting of eastern Oklahoma. The new archdiocese now contained the counties of central and western Oklahoma. The Dioceses of Little Rock and Tulsa became
suffragan dioceses
of the archdiocese.
[15]
Quinn became the first archbishop of Oklahoma City. Quinn became archbishop of San Francisco in 1977.
The second archbishop of Oklahoma City was Bishop
Charles Salatka
from the Diocese of Marquette, appointed by Paul VI in 1977.
[16]
He founded the Office of Hispanic Ministry in the 1970s and learned to speak Spanish at age 68 so that he could celebrate mass in that language. In October 1981, Salatka celebrated a
funeral mass
in Oklahoma City for
Stanley Rother
, a priest from the diocese. Rother was murdered by three assassins in July 1981 while on a mission in
Guatemala
. Salatka had recalled Rother to Oklahoma in January 1981 due to threats on his life. However, Rother persuaded him to allow his return to Guatemala.
[17]
Salatka retired in 1992.
1992 to present
[
edit
]
Pope John Paul II
named Bishop
Eusebius J. Beltran
of Tulsa as archbishop of Oklahoma City in 1992.
[18]
Beltran became the official publisher of the
Sooner Catholic
,
a bimonthly
newspaper
for Catholics in
Oklahoma
. Beltran's sermons were featured in each number of the newspaper during his tenure. Beltran retired in 2009.
Bishop Paul Coakley of the
Diocese of Salina
became the next archbishop of Oklahoma City, named by
Pope Benedict XVI
in 2010.
[19]
In 2014, Coakley sued a Satanist group in Oklahoma City, saying that they had stolen
consecrated host
from a church to use in a so-called
black mass
ceremony at the
Civic Center Music Hall
in Oklahoma City. However, when the host was returned to the archdiocese a few days later, Coakley dropped the lawsuit.
[20]
In 2017, Rother was beatified during a mass at the
Cox Convention Center
in Oklahoma City.
Pope Francis
had declared him a
martyr
, saying he had been killed
in odium fidei
(in hatred of the faith).
[21]
As of 2023, Coakley is the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.
Sex abuse
[
edit
]
In 1999, James Rapp, a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, pleaded
no contest
to sexually abusing two boys during the 1990s in
Duncan, Oklahoma
. He was sentenced to 40 years in state prison.
[22]
Rapp had previously been accused of sexually abusing children at a Catholic junior high school in
Jackson, Michigan
, in the 1980s. After those accusations, Rapp's religious order sent him away for eight months of psychiatric treatment. When Rapp finished treatment, Archbishop Salatka approved his transfer to the archdiocese. In 2003, the archdiocese settled a sexual abuse lawsuit filed by a Rapp victim in 1999. The plaintiff, Casey Johnson, said that Rapp sexually molested him three times as a minor.
[22]
In 2018, the archdiocese announced that a laicized priest, Ben Zoeller, had been performing volunteer work at Sacred Heart Parish in Oklahoma City. After making the discovery, Archbishop Coakley banned him from volunteering anywhere in the archdiocese. Zoeller had been accused of sexual abuse in the 1980s, removed from ministry in 2002 and defrocked in 2011.
[23]
The archdiocese in October 2019 released an investigative report by an outside law firm on allegations of sexual abuse of minors by archdiocesan clergy. The report named 11 priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse.
[24]
In May 2022, the archdiocese and Mount Saint Mary High School in Oklahoma City were sued for $75 million by ten females who were students or alumni of the school. The plaintiffs said that the archdiocese and Mount Saint Mary “fostered and allowed a rape culture” and “tolerated sexual harassment and assault” by male staff members and students.
[25]
Bishops
[
edit
]
Apostolic Prefects of Indian Territory
[
edit
]
- Isidore Robot
(1876?1887)
- Ignatius Jean (1887?1890)
Apostolic Vicar of Indian Territory
[
edit
]
Theophile Meerschaert
(1891?1905), appointed Bishop of Oklahoma
Bishops of Oklahoma
[
edit
]
- Theophile Meerschaert (1905?1924)
- Francis Kelley
(1924?1930), title changed with title of diocese
Bishops of Oklahoma City-Tulsa
[
edit
]
- Francis Kelley (1930?1948)
- Eugene J. McGuinness
(1948?1957;
coadjutor bishop
1944?1948)
- Victor Reed
(1958?1971)
- John R. Quinn
(1971?1972), elevated to archbishop and title changed with title of diocese
Archbishops of Oklahoma City
[
edit
]
- John R. Quinn
(1972?1977), appointed
Archbishop of San Francisco
- Charles Salatka
(1977?1992)
- Eusebius J. Beltran
(1993?2010)
- Paul Stagg Coakley
(2011?present)
Other priests of this diocese who became bishops
[
edit
]
Newspaper
[
edit
]
The official
news
and information publication of the diocese is the
Sooner Catholic
.
High schools
[
edit
]
Closed university
[
edit
]
St. Gregory's University
? Shawnee (closed 2017)
Summer camps
[
edit
]
Our Lady of Guadalupe Summer Camp ? in between Luther and
Wellston
Ecclesiastical province
[
edit
]
Ecclesiastical Province of Oklahoma City
- See:
List of the Catholic bishops of the United States
See also
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"Catholic Church | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture"
.
Oklahoma Historical Society | OHS
. Retrieved
June 18,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"Robot, Isidore | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture"
.
Oklahoma Historical Society | OHS
. Retrieved
June 18,
2023
.
- ^
"St. Joseph Monastery | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture"
.
Oklahoma Historical Society | OHS
. Retrieved
June 18,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"Oklahoma City (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]"
.
www.catholic-hierarchy.org
. Retrieved
June 18,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
Skvorc, Krystyna.
"About Us"
. St. Joseph Old Cathedral. Archived from
the original
on November 23, 2011
. Retrieved
October 9,
2011
.
- ^
a
b
"Growth: 1891?1924"
.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
. Archived from
the original
on December 23, 2008.
- ^
a
b
"Our History"
. Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Archived from
the original
on October 9, 2011
. Retrieved
September 1,
2011
.
- ^
"Bishop Eugene Joseph McGuinness [Catholic-Hierarchy]"
.
www.catholic-hierarchy.org
. Retrieved
September 23,
2023
.
- ^
"About Us | Shrine of the Infant Jesus"
.
www.shrineofinfantjesus.com
. Retrieved
September 23,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"Oklahomanization: 1945-1957"
.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
. Archived from
the original
on December 23, 2008
. Retrieved
December 29,
2009
.
- ^
"Bishop Victor Joseph Reed [Catholic-Hierarchy]"
.
www.catholic-hierarchy.org
. Retrieved
September 23,
2023
.
- ^
Bonner, Jeremy (2008).
The Road to Renewal: Victor Joseph Reed & Oklahoma Catholicism, 1905-1971
. The Catholic University of America Press.
- ^
"Oklahoma Catholics In Vehement Dispute".
Reading Eagle
. August 14, 1966.
- ^
"Archbishop John Raphael Quinn [Catholic-Hierarchy]"
.
www.catholic-hierarchy.org
. Retrieved
September 23,
2023
.
- ^
"One Becomes Two: 1972-1977"
.
Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
. Retrieved
September 23,
2023
.
- ^
"Archbishop Charles Alexander Kazimieras Salatka [Catholic-Hierarchy]"
.
www.catholic-hierarchy.org
. Retrieved
July 12,
2022
.
- ^
"Truly an Unlikely Martyr"
.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa
. Retrieved
July 12,
2022
.
- ^
"Archbishop Eusebius Joseph Beltran [Catholic-Hierarchy]"
.
www.catholic-hierarchy.org
. Retrieved
September 23,
2023
.
- ^
Hinton, Carla (December 16, 2010).
"Vatican appoints new Oklahoma archbishop"
.
The Oklahoman
. Retrieved
December 16,
2010
.
- ^
"OKC ARCHBISHOP DROPS LAWSUIT AGAINST SATANIST GROUP"
.
KWTV News 9
. Retrieved
June 18,
2023
.
- ^
Voices, Other (September 19, 2017).
"Who is Father Stanley Rother and Why is He Being Beatified?"
.
PrayTellBlog
. Retrieved
July 12,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Baldwin, Diana.
"Molestation lawsuit settled Case against priest stricken from docket"
.
The Oklahoman
. Retrieved
July 12,
2022
.
- ^
"Former Oklahoma priest, accused of abuse in 1980s, banned from volunteer work at metro parish"
.
KFOR.com Oklahoma City
. August 24, 2018
. Retrieved
June 19,
2023
.
- ^
Dickerson, Brett (October 4, 2019).
"Eleven named in Archdiocese of OKC clergy abuse report, none still active"
.
Oklahoma City Free Press
. Retrieved
June 19,
2023
.
- ^
Yoder, Katie (May 20, 2022).
"Oklahoma Catholic High School Sued for $75M Over Alleged Sex Abuse"
.
NCR
. Retrieved
June 19,
2023
.
External links
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Miscellany
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Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Oklahoma City
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35°33′41″N
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