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Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California

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The Diocese of Monterey in California (Latin: Dioecesis Montereyensis in California) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese, of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the central coast region of California. It comprises Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties.

Diocese of Monterey in California

Dioecesis Montereyensis in California
Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo
Coat of arms
Location
CountryUnited States
TerritoryCounties of Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Cruz, California, Region XI, United States
Ecclesiastical provinceArchdiocese of Los Angeles
Statistics
Population
- Total
- Catholics
1,040,498
208,100[1] (20.0%)
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedApril 27, 1840, reestablished October 6, 1967
CathedralCathedral of San Carlos Borromeo
Patron saintOur Lady of Bethlehem
Saint Charles Borromeo
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopDaniel E. Garcia
Metropolitan ArchbishopJosé Gómez
Bishops emeritusSylvester Donovan Ryan
Map
Website
dioceseofmonterey.org

The mother church of the Diocese of Monterey in California is the Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo in Monterey. The diocese serves close to 200,000 Catholics in 46 parishes and 18 schools. It is also home to seven of California's 21 Franciscan missions, more than any other California diocese.

Name changes

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Since 1849, four different dioceses in California have included the Monterey name:[citation needed]

  • Diocese of Monterey (1849 to 1859, now defunct) – covered all of central and southern California
  • Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles (1859 to 1922, now defunct) – covered all of central and southern California
  • Diocese of Monterey-Fresno (1922 to 1967, now defunct) – covered the central coast and the central valley of California
  • Diocese of Monterey in California (1967 to present, current diocese ) – covers the central coast of California[2]

History

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1770 to 1840

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The history of the Catholic Church in Monterey began with the establishment of Mission San Carlos Borromeo on Monterey Bay in 1770 by Reverend Junípero Serra. Serra moved the mission to present day Carmel the next year. It would serve as the headquarters of the Spanish missions along the Alta California coast.

After the end of the Mexican War of Independence, the new Mexican Government in 1835 secularized all of the still existing Catholic missions in Alta California.

1840 to 1848

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In 1840, Pope Gregory XVI set up the Roman Catholic Diocese of California.[2] The new diocese included the following Mexican territories:

Gregory XVI set the episcopal see at present-day San Diego in Alta California and made the Diocese of California a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mexico City.[5] The first bishop of the new diocese was Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno. Moreno designated the Mission Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara as his pro-cathedral.

1848 to 1967

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After ceding Alta California to the United States at the close of the Mexican–American War in 1848, the government of Mexico objected to San Diego, a see city now located in the United States, having jurisdiction over Mexican parishes. In response, the Vatican divided the Diocese of California into American and Mexican sections in 1849. The American section became the Diocese of Monterey; the see city was moved to Monterey because of its more central location. The Royal Presidio Chapel in Monterey became the cathedral of the new American diocese.

Pope Pius IX split the Diocese of Monterey in 1853, erecting the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Francisco. He designated the Diocese of Monterey as a suffragan diocese of the new archdiocese.[6]

In 1859, Pius IX changed the name of the diocese to the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles due to the growth of the City of Los Angeles.[7] In 1922, Pope Pius XI suppressed the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles, erecting in its place the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego[8] and the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno.[9]

In 1936, Pope Pius XI elevated the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles[10] and designated the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno as one of its suffragan sees.

1967 to present

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In 1967, Pope Paul VI divided the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno into the Diocese of Fresno[11] and the Diocese of Monterey in California.[12] The pope named Auxiliary Bishop Harry Anselm Clinch of Monterey-Fresno in 1967 as the first bishop of Monterey in California.[13] During his 14-year tenure, Clinch implemented the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, ordained 22 priests, and established five new parishes.[14] Clinch resigned in 1982.

The second bishop of Monterey in California was Auxiliary Bishop Thaddeus Anthony Shubsda of Los Angeles, appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1982. [15] Shubsda was widely regarded as an expert on labor issues and social justice, and earned a reputation as an outspoken advocate of farm and factory workers in the diocese.[16] He acted as a mediator in the Watsonville frozen food strikes. Shubsda spoke out forcefully for better living conditions for field workers, some of whom were living in caves in Salinas.[17] His actions prompted labor leader César Chávez to remark, "The church has many flaws, but in many ways it is still the best friend we have."[16] Shubsda hosted John Paul II's visit to the Monterey Peninsula in 1987, and actively promoted the beatification of Junípero Serra.[16]

After Shubsda died in 1991, John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester Donovan Ryan of Los Angeles as the next bishop of Monterey that same year.[18] Ryan retired in 2006. He was succeeded by Auxiliary Bishop Richard John Garcia of the Diocese of Sacramento, named by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.[19] Richard Garcia resigned due to Alzheimer's disease in 2018.

Pope Francis in 2018 appointed Auxiliary Bishop Daniel E. Garcia (no relation to the previous bishop) of the Diocese of Austin as the next bishop of Monterey. As of 2023, Daniel Garcia is the bishop of Monterey.

Sex abuse

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Reverend Gregory Kareta was charged in February 2003 with two counts of child molestation. The accuser said that Kareta, then serving at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Pismo Beach, molested him as an 11-year-old altar boy in the summers of 1972 and 1973. The victim said that he reported the abuse to a bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1985, but was encouraged to remain silent about it.[20] The charges were dismissed in July 2003 due to the statute of limitations.[21]

The diocese was sued in March 2003 by a San Luis Obispo man who claimed to have been sexually assaulted in the early 1970s by Reverend Orlando Battagliola. The plaintiff said that Battagliola abused him during car rides when he was a ninth grader.[22] Battagliola was murdered in 1977 in San Francisco, possibly by a male escort.[23]

In April 2009, Reverend Antonio Cortes of St. Mary of the Nativity Catholic Church in Salinas was arrested on charges of unlawful sexual behavior with a minor and providing alcohol to a minor.[24] His accuser was Chris Lavorato, who said he was 16 years old when Cortes assaulted him. Cortes was convicted in March 2012 of felony charges of sodomy involving a minor and possession of child pornography and sentenced to one year in prison. After his release from prison, Cortes fled to Mexico. Lavorato sued the diocese in 2018, which settled the lawsuit that same year.[25]

The diocese paid a $1.2 million settlement in June 2009 to a man from Yuma, Arizona, who had been sexually assaulted by two priests in Salinas when he was a child.[26]

  • The first priest was Reverend Juan Guillen, who the victim said raped him multiple times when he was an altar boy between age eight and 15. The crimes happened both in Arizona and in Salinas. Guilen was sentenced to ten years in prison in Arizona in 2003.[27]
  • The second priest was Reverend John Velez, a visiting priest from Mexico, who assaulted the victim in the rectory bedroom in Salinas multiple times in 1991. According to the diocese, officials expelled Velez from the diocese in 1991 and representatives of his order escorted him back to Mexico.[28]

The Diocese of Monterey published a list in January 2019 of 30 clerics with credible accusations of sexual abuse.[29]

Bishops

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Bishops of Monterey in California

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  1. Harry Anselm Clinch (1967–1982)
  2. Thaddeus Anthony Shubsda (1982–1991)
  3. Sylvester Donovan Ryan (1992–2006)
  4. Richard John Garcia (2007–2018)
    - Gerald Eugene Wilkerson, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles (apostolic administrator 2018–2019)
  5. Daniel E. Garcia (2019–present)

Other diocesan priests who became bishops

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Tod David Brown, appointed Bishop of Boise City in 1988

Churches

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Main article: List of churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey

The Diocese of Monterey is home to the Cathedral of San Carlos in Monterey, the oldest stone building and the first cathedral in California. The other former Spanish missions in the diocese include:

High schools

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See also

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Sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California.

References

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  1. ^ Diocese of Monterey in California
  2. ^ a b "Monterey in California (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  3. ^ "Welcome to Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa". Mission San Luis Obispo de Toulosa. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  4. ^ "Mission Santa Cruz – Holy Cross Catholic Church of Santa Cruz". Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  5. ^ The papal bull Apostolicam sollicitudinem, in Raffaele de Martinis, Iuris pontificii de propaganda fide. Pars prima, Tomus V, Romae 1890, pp. 233–235
  6. ^ "San Francisco (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  7. ^ "Monterey in California (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  8. ^ Greg Erlandson, Editor-in-Chief, Catholic Almanac, 2015 Ed., Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., Huntington, IN, 2015, p. 378.
  9. ^ Ibid., p. 377
  10. ^ Ibid., p. 378.
  11. ^ Ibid., p. 377.
  12. ^ Ibid., p. 379.
  13. ^ "Bishop Harry Anselm Clinch". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.[self-published source]
  14. ^ Beck, David L. (2003-03-12). "BISHOP HARRY CLINCH, 94, LAUNCHED VATICAN REFORMS". San Jose Mercury News.
  15. ^ "Bishop Thaddeus Anthony Shubsda". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  16. ^ a b c Connell, Joan (1991-04-27). "BISHOP SHUBSDA DIES AT 66". San Jose Mercury News.
  17. ^ "Bishop Thaddeus Shubsda". Orlando Sentinel. 1991-04-28.
  18. ^ "Bishop Sylvester Donovan Ryan [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  19. ^ "Bishop Richard John Garcia [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  20. ^ "Priest Who Served in Pismo Charged with Sex Abuse Former Altar Boy Alleges He Was Victim of Molestation, by Patrick S. Pemberton, San Luis Obispo Tribune, February 7, 2003". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  21. ^ "Case against Ex-Pismo Priest Likely to End Effect of US Supreme Court Decision Is Felt Locally, by Lisa P. White, San Luis Obispo Tribune, July 2, 2003". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  22. ^ "Diocese Named in Abuse Suit, by Alex Friedrich, Monterey County Herald, March 15, 2003". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  23. ^ "Litigant Wants Info on Priest Suspect in Child Molestation Was Slain in 1977, by Patrick S. Pemberton, San Luis Obispo Tribune, March 29, 2003". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  24. ^ "Salinas priest jailed on sex abuse claim". www.vcstar.com. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  25. ^ "Fugitive priest misses another court date, losing lawsuit". Monterey Herald. 2013-06-14. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  26. ^ STAR, Stephanie Innes ARIZONA DAILY (2009-06-03). "2nd diocese adds $1.2M to settlement for molesting". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  27. ^ "Former priest sought as Yuma County's most wanted | Sylvia's Site". Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  28. ^ "Man Sues Dioceses over Alleged Abuse in Salinas, Arizona The Rev. John Velez and the Rev. Juan Guillen Both Allegedly Celebrated Mass As Visiting Priests at Christ the King Church". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  29. ^ "Diocese of Monterey names 30 clergymen 'credibly accused' of sexual misconduct". KSBW. 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  30. ^ "Parish map". Diocese of Monterey. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
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36°36′00″N 121°54′00″W / 36.6000°N 121.9000°W / 36.6000; -121.9000

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