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Diocese of Sioux Falls

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Diocese of Sioux Falls
Dioecesis Siouxormensis
St. Joseph Cathedral
St. Joseph Cathedral
Location
Country United States
Territory East of the Missouri River in South Dakota
Ecclesiastical province Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Statistics
Area 90,885 km2 (35,091 sq mi)
Population
Total
Catholics 		(as of 2010)
550,000
135,600 (24.7%)
Parishes 150
Information
Denomination Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established November 12, 1889 (136 years ago)
Cathedral St. Joseph Cathedral
Patron saint Saint Joseph
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop Donald DeGrood
Metropolitan Archbishop Bernard Hebda
Map
Website
sfcatholic.org

The Diocese of Sioux Falls (Latin: Dioecesis Siouxormensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church diocese in South Dakota in the United States. It is a suffragan see of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

The Diocese of Sioux Falls covers South Dakota east of the Missouri River. The mother church is St. Joseph Cathedral in Sioux Falls. Since 2020, the Diocese has been led by bishop Donald DeGrood.

History

1800 to 1889

Eastern South Dakota went through several Catholic jurisdictions before the Vatican erected the Diocese of Sioux Falls:

  • Diocese of Saint Louis (1826 to 1837)
  • Diocese of Dubuque (1837 to 1850)
  • Diocese of Saint Paul (1850 to 1879)
  • Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota (1879 to 1889)[1][2]

The Catholic presence in present-day South Dakota began in 1842 when the French missionary Reverend Augustin Ravoux from the Diocese of Saint Paul traveled up the Missouri River to baptize children at Fort Pierre. He returned to Vermilion in 1845 to minister to Catholic families there.[3] The first Catholic church in the Dakotas, St. Peter's was dedicated in Jefferson in 1867 to serve a French Catholic population.[3]

On August 12, 1879 Pope Leo XIII established the Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota, with territory taken from the Diocese of Saint Paul. The pope appointed Martin Marty, the abbot of Saint Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Indiana, as the apostolic vicar of this territory.[4] Marty worked among the Lakota/Sioux people living on the Standing Rock Reservation in the Dakota Territory.[5] The Hunkpapa Lakota called him "Black Robe Lean Chief".[6]

As the Dakota Territory had only 12 Catholic priests, Marty actively recruited priests from the Eastern United States and Europe. In 1880, Marty persuaded Benedictine sisters from Missouri to assist him in ministering at Fort Yates, a center of the Yankton Lakota people[7] The first Catholic church in Sioux Falls, St. Michael's, was dedicated in 1881. It later became the first cathedral of the Diocese of Sioux Falls.

1889 to 1922

In 1889, Leo XIII suppressed the vicariate and erected the Diocese of Sioux Falls, which included all of the new State of South Dakota. Marty was transitioned from apostolic vicar into the first bishop of the new diocese.[8][9] In 1895, Marty became bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud.

The second bishop of Sioux Falls was Reverend Thomas O'Gorman, named by Leo XIII in 1896.[10] During his 25-year tenure, O'Gorman increased the number of priests in the diocese, and erected numerous churches, schools, and hospitals.[11] In 1902, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Lead, incorporating all of South Dakota west of the Missouri River.[12][13] The Benedictine Sisters Order opened the Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Yankton in 1905, later to become Mount Marty University.[14]

O'Gorman dedicated St. Joseph's Cathedral in Sioux Falls in 1919, and founded Columbus College in Chamberlain in 1921.[11] The architect for the St. Joseph Cathedral was Emmanuel Louis Masqueray. The St. Joseph Mission school was founded on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in 1924.[15] After 25 years as bishop, O'Gorman died in 1921.

1922 to 1978

In 1922, Monsignor Bernard Mahoney, spiritual director of the Pontifical North American College in Rome, was appointed bishop of Sioux Falls by Pope Pius XI.[16] Mahoney's 17 years as bishop were marked by poor economic conditions and a heavy diocesan debt.[17] While the number of priests in the diocese increased from 156 to 174 under his tenure, the total Catholic population fell from 71,000 to 60,000.[18][19] He was forced to close Columbus College due to financial difficulties in 1929.[20] Mahoney established Cathedral High School in Sioux Falls in 1926.[21]

After Mahoney died in 1939, Pope Pius XII named William O. Brady of St. Paul that same year to serve as the next bishop of Sioux Falls.[22] In 1951, Presentation College for women opened in Aberdeen. In 1956, Brady became the coadjutor archbishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul. The pope then appointed Bishop Lambert Hoch of the Diocese of Bismarck in 1956 to take over in Sioux Falls.[23] After attending the Second Vatican Council in Rome between 1962 and 1965, Hoch dedicated much of his administration to implementing the council's reforms.[24] Hoch fostered ecumenical relations with other faiths and helped establish the South Dakota Association of Christian Churches.[24] In 1963, Hoch baptized and confirmed the Fischer quintuplets, the first known surviving set of American quintuplets.[25] Hoch retired in 1978.

1978 to present

The next bishop of Sioux Falls was Auxiliary Bishop Paul Dudley of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1978.[26] During his tenure, Dudley developed several ecumenical ministries serving the poor, and fostered many retreat and spiritual renewal programs.[27] He was active in such anti-abortion organizations as Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, Total Life Care, and Prolife Across America.[28]

In 1994, John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop Robert Carlson of Saint Paul and Minneapolis as coadjutor bishop of Sioux Falls to assist Dudley. After sixteen years as bishop, Dudley retired in 1995 and Carlson automatically succeeded him as bishop of Sioux Falls.[29] Carlson was selected in 2004 as bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw. To replace Carlson, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor Paul J. Swain of the Diocese of Madison. Swain retired in 2019.[30] As of 2023, the current bishop of the Diocese of Sioux Falls is Donald DeGrood from Saint Paul and Minneapolis. He was selected by Pope Francis in 2019.[31][32]

Sex abuse

1978 to 2000

In 1978, Rev. Bruce MacArthur, originally from the Diocese of Sioux City, was convicted in Texas of trying to rape a disabled woman in a nursing home. The diocese had previously received reports of him abusing children in the 1960s, but took no action. After MacArthur spent five years in prison, the diocese in 1981 allowed him to return to ministry in South Dakota. In 1992, a woman from the diocese accused MacArthur of abusing her 30 years ago as a minor. MacArthur was laicized by the Vatican that same year.[33][34]

The diocese was sued in 1995 by Kurt Brick, who claimed that he was sexually abused, starting at age 14, by Rev. William Neuroth at Bishop O'Gorman High School. When Brick reported the abuse to Bishop Hoch in the late 1970s, Hoch said that he would stop Neuroth from approaching Brick, but Neuroth continued to stalk him. Brick settled his lawsuit with the diocese in 1999.[35] Three other boys later accused Neuroth of sexual abuse; he was laicized by the Vatican in 1995.[34]

2000 to present

A Florida woman, Judith Glassman DeLonga, sued the diocese, along with Bishops Carlson and Dudley, in 2003. She claimed that MacArthur had sexually abused her between 1965 and 1970 when she was a child in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. By this time, MacArthur had admitted to abusing 30 children.[33]

In 2003, Native Americans alumni of several Catholic boarding and mission schools in North and South Dakota started filing lawsuits against the Dioceses of Sioux Falls and Rapid City and several religious orders. The plaintiffs claimed that they had been physically and sexually abused by clergy, nuns and other staff at these institutions. The institutions named in the lawsuits included:

  • St. Paul's Indian Mission School on the Yankton Sioux Reservation near Wagner
  • St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain
  • Tekakwitha Indian Mission School and its associated orphanage on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation in Sisseton[36]

By 2010, over 100 plaintiffs had joined sexual abuse lawsuits against the diocese.[37] In response, diocese officials claimed that they were not responsible for what happened at the schools as they were run independently by the religious orders.[37][36] A judge in March 2010 dismissed 18 of the Native American lawsuits. Under a 2010 South Dakota law, a sexual abuse victim could only initiate a lawsuit up to age 40.[37]

Bishop Carlson invited the South Dakota Attorney General to inspect the diocese's files on past and present priests. Carlson also instituted background checks for priests entering the diocese and new employee hires.[38] In March 2019, the diocese published the names of eleven priests accused of child sex abuse of parishioners between 1950 and 1992.[36]

Bishops

Vicar Apostolic of Dakota

Martin Marty, O.S.B. (1879–1889); see below

Bishops of Sioux Falls

  1. Martin Marty, O.S.B. (1889–1895), appointed bishop of Saint Cloud; see above
  2. Thomas O'Gorman, C.S.P. (1896–1921†)
  3. Bernard Joseph Mahoney (1922–1939†)
  4. William O. Brady (1939–1956), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop and later Archbishop of Saint Paul
  5. Lambert Anthony Hoch (1956–1978), retired
  6. Paul Vincent Dudley (1978–1995), retired
  7. Robert James Carlson (1995–2004), appointed Bishop of Saginaw and later Archbishop of St. Louis
  8. Paul J. Swain (2006–2019), retired
  9. Donald DeGrood (2020–present)

Coadjutor bishop

Robert James Carlson (1994–1995)

Auxiliary bishop

Paul Francis Anderson (1982–1987)

Other diocesan priests who became bishops

Education

Higher education

Mount Marty University in Yankton is a Catholic university. Presentation College in Aberdeen closed in 2023.[40]

Senior and junior/senior high schools

  • O'Gorman High School - Sioux Falls
  • Roncalli Junior/Senior High School – Aberdeen
  • St. Mary Junior/Senior High School – Dell Rapids[41]

Primary and middle schools

  • Christ the King School – Sioux Falls
  • Holy Spirit School – Sioux Falls
  • Holy Trinity School – Huron
  • Immaculate Conception School – Watertown
  • John Paul II Elementary – Mitchell
  • O'Gorman Junior High School – Sioux Falls
  • John Paul II School – Pierre
  • Risen Savior Preschool – Brandon
  • Roncalli Elementary School – Aberdeen
  • Roncalli Primary School – Aberdeen
  • Sacred Heart Elementary – Yankton
  • Sacred Heart Middle School – Yankton
  • St. Agnes School – Vermillion
  • St. Katherine Drexel School – Sioux Falls
  • St. Lambert School – Sioux Falls
  • St. Mary School – Salem
  • St. Mary School – Sioux Falls
  • St. Michael School – Sioux Falls
  • St. Peter School – Jefferson
  • St. Joseph Indian School – Chamberlain
  • St. Joseph School – Pierre
  • St. Lawrence School – Milbank
  • St. Mary Elementary – Dell Rapids
  • St. Thomas School – Madison
  • St. Thomas More School – Brookings[41]

See also

  • Catholic Church by country
  • Catholic Church in the United States
  • Ecclesiastical Province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
  • Global organisation of the Catholic Church
  • List of Roman Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
  • List of Roman Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
  • List of Roman Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
  • List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Diocese of Sioux Falls is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[42]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Sioux Falls (SIOUXORMENSIS).

Suffragan of St. Paul, comprises all that part of the State of South Dakota east of the Missouri River, an area of 34,861 square miles. The western portion of the state, forming the present Diocese of Lead, was detached from the Diocese of Sioux Falls, 8 August, 1902. The early history of religion in South Dakota (until 1879) must be sought for in the histories respectively of St. Paul, Dubuque, and Nebraska. The first Mass celebrated in South Dakota was in 1842, in Brown County, by the late Monsignor Ravoux of St. Paul on his first visit to the Sioux Indians; and the first church erected was in 1867, by the late Father Pierre Boucher, who was sent by Bishop Grace of St. Paul to Jefferson, Union County, to attend the Catholics scattered about that centre. In August, 1879, the Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota, whose boundaries corresponded with the ten existing civil boundaries of the newly formed Territory of Dakota, was established, and the Right Reverend Martin Marty, Abbot of St. Meinrad's Benedictine Abbey, Indiana, nominated Bishop of Tiberias and vicar Apostolic of the new district. Bishop Marty was consecrated in the Church of St. Ferdinand, Ferdinand, Indiana, 1 February, 1880, by the Right Reverend Francis Silas Chatard, the present Bishop of Indianapolis. The vicariate was an immense district to govern (149,112 square miles) with scarcely any mode of travelling, except by the primitive ox or mule teams. A few miles of railroad existed from Sioux City to Yankton. The new vicar Apostolic went directly to Yankton, where he took up his residence. He found 12 priests administering to a scattered Catholic population of less than 14,000 souls and 20 churches. Many and heroic were the hardships endured by both bishop and priests. At the close of 1881 the number of priests increased to 37, the number of churches to 43 with 35 stations. There were 3 convents, 2 academies for young ladies, 4 parochial schools for the white and 4 schools for the Indian children, while the Catholic population, including 700 Indians, numbered 15,800 souls. The decade beginning with 1880, witnessed a wonderful development and the population increased from 135,180 to 250,000. The statistics at the end of 1883 show 45 priests, 82 churches, 67 stations, 4 convents, 4 academies, 12 parochial schools, 6 Indian schools and a Catholic population, including 1,600 Indians, of 25,600 souls. The Territory of Dakota was divided by Act of Congress, 22 February, 1889, and the two states, North and South Dakota, were admitted to the Union, 2 November, 1889. The same month witnessed the ecclesiastical division of the vicariate, and two new dioceses were formed, Sioux Falls (South Dakota) with Bishop Marty its first bishop; and Jamestown (North Dakota), now Fargo, with Bishop Shanley (d. July, 1909) its first incumbent. In 1894 Bishop Marty was transferred to the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota, where he died 19 September, 1896.

The efforts of Bishop Marty were crowned with marvellous success. He devoted himself especially to the Indian race. He spoke their language and translated hymns and prayers into their tongue. The second and present (1911) Bishop of Sioux Falls, the Right Rev. Thomas O'Gorman, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, 1 May, 1843, he moved with his parents to St. Paul, and was one of the first two students selected for the priesthood by Bishop Cretin, the other was Archbishop Ireland. Having pursued his ecclesiastical studies in France, he returned to St. Paul, where he was ordained priest, 5 November, 1865. He was pastor in turn of Rochester and Faribault, Minn., and first president and professor of dogmatic theology at St. Thomas' College, St. Paul. In 1890 he was appointed Professor of Church History in the Catholic University, Washington, D. C., was consecrated in St. Patrick's Church, Washington, D. C. (19 April, 1896) by Cardinal Satolli, then Apostolic delegate to this country, and on 1 May, 1896, was installed in the pro-cathedral of his episcopal see. The statistics of the diocese then showed 51 secular and 14 regular priests, 50 churches with resident priests, 61 missions with churches, 100 stations, 10 chapels, 14 parochial schools, 61 Indian schools, 2 orphanages, and l hospital. There were 3 communities of men and 6 of women, while the Catholic population, white and Indian, was estimated at 30,000 souls. Bishop O'Gorman infused new life into the diocese. The population increased so rapidly that in 1902 the Diocese of Lead was erected. The statistics of the diocese (1911) are in priests, secular 102, regular 13; students 10; churches with resident priests, 91; missions with churches, 70; stations, 23; chapels, 13; parochial schools, 23 with 2,500 children in attendance; hospitals, 4. There are 3 communities of men: Benedictines, Eudists, and the Clerics of St. Viateur. The communities of women are: Dominican Sisters; Presentation Sisters; Benedictine Sisters; Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis; School Sisters of St. Francis, and the Sisters of Charity of St. Louis. Columbus College at Chamberlain, in charge of the Clerics of St. Viateur is an institution of great promise. The Catholic population, including 500 Indians, is 50,000. In the vicariate Apostolic of thirty-one years ago, where there were only 1 bishop and 12 priests, there are now (1911) 4 bishops and 284 priests.

References

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43°32′11″N 96°43′54″W / 43.53639°N 96.73167°W

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