Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester

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Diocese of Manchester Diocensis Manchesteriensis
Cathedral of St. Joseph
Coat of arms
Location
Country	United States
Territory	New Hampshire
Ecclesiastical province	Boston
Metropolitan	Boston
Coordinates	42°59′52″N 71°27′18″W / 42.99778°N 71.45500°W / 42.99778; -71.45500Coordinates: 42°59′52″N 71°27′18″W / 42.99778°N 71.45500°W / 42.99778; -71.45500
Statistics
Area	9,305 sq mi (24,100 km2)
Population - Total - Catholics (including non-members)	(as of 2010) 1,315,809 309,987 (23.6%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	April 15, 1884
Cathedral	Cathedral of Saint Joseph
Patron saint	Saint Joseph Saint Patrick[1]
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Peter Anthony Libasci
Metropolitan Archbishop	Seán Patrick O'Malley
Bishops emeritus	Francis Joseph Christian Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus (1996-2018)
Map
Website
www.catholicnh.org

The Diocese of Manchester Latin: Diocensis Manchesteriensis^[2] is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the region of New England in the United States, comprising the entire state of New Hampshire.

It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archbishop of Boston, and its bishop is a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and its Region I (provinces of Boston and Hartford).

Its leading prelate also serves as pastor of the mother church, the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Manchester.^[3]

History[]

Pope Leo XIII erected the Diocese of Manchester by canon on April 15, 1884, taking the territory of the State of New Hampshire from the Diocese of Portland in the neighboring state of Maine and making it a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston. With this action, each state became a separate diocese.

Sexual abuse[]

On July 31, 2019, the Diocese of New Hampshire released a list of 73 priests and religious order members who were "credibly accused" of committing acts of sexual abuse.^[4][5] Some of those listed were criminally convicted, defrocked, removed from public ministry, or died without receiving punishment.^[4]

Statistics[]

As per 2018, the diocese pastorally served 322,258 Catholics (24.3% of 1,326,813 total population) on 24,097 km² in 89 parishes with 185 priests (121 diocesan, 38 religious, 26 extern), 73 deacons, 314 lay religious (15 brothers, 299 sisters) and 14 seminarians.^[3]

Bishops[]

Bishops of Manchester[]

1. Denis Mary Bradley (1883–1904)
2. John Bernard Delany (1904–1906)
3. George Albert Guertin (1906–1931)
4. John Bertram Peterson (1932–1944)
5. Matthew Francis Brady (1944–1959)
6. Ernest John Primeau (1960–1974)
7. Odore Joseph Gendron (1974–1990)
8. Leo Edward O'Neil (1990–1997; coadjutor bishop 1989–1990)
9. John Brendan McCormack (1998–2011)
10. Peter Anthony Libasci (2011–present)

Auxiliary bishops[]

• Robert Edward Mulvee (1977–1985), appointed Bishop of Wilmington and later Coadjutor Bishop of Providence, subsequently succeeding to that see
• Joseph John Gerry, O.S.B. (1986–1988), appointed Bishop of Portland
• Francis Joseph Christian (1996–2018)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop[]

• Thomas Michael O'Leary, appointed Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts in 1921

Parishes[]

The parishes in the diocese are as follows:^[6]

Catholic education[]

Superintendents[]

• Wilfred J. Lessard (c. 1926)
• Rev. William Collins (1940–1948
• Msgr. George Murray (1960-1972)
• Rev. Joseph P. Duffy (1972–1975)
• Msgr. Thomas S. Hansberry (1975–1976) Interim
• Rev. George J. Soberick (1976–1981)
• Br. Roger Lemoyne, Brothers of the Sacred Heart (S.C.) (1981–1990)
• Br. Joachim Froehlich, Order of Saint Benedict (O.S.B.) (1990–1991)
• Rev. William T. Garland, Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.) (1991–1996)
• Ms. Mary Moran (2006–2012)
• Rev. Dennis J. Audet (2012–2013) Interim
• Rev. John R. Fortin, O.S.B. (2013–2016)
• Mr. David Thibault (2016- )

High schools[]

• Bishop Brady High School, Concord
• Bishop Guertin High School, Nashua
• Holy Family Academy*, Manchester
• Mount Royal Academy, Sunapee
• St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Dover
• Trinity High School, Manchester

Colleges[]

• Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts*, Warner
• Rivier University*, Nashua
• Saint Anselm College*, Goffstown
• Thomas More College of Liberal Arts*, Merrimack

* Schools operated independent of the Diocese

See also[]

Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Diocese of Manchester.

• Catholic Church by country
• Catholic Church in the United States
• Ecclesiastical Province of Boston
• List of Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
• List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
• List of Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
• List of Catholic dioceses in the United States

References[]

Sources and external links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester.

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester official site
• GCatholic, with Google map - data for most sections
• Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Diocese of Manchester
• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Diocese of Manchester" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Parable - diocesan magazine