Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

History of the archdiocese

The history of the Catholic Church in the area dates back to William Penn and when Mass was said publicly as early as 1707. On April 8, 1808, the suffragan dioceses of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Bardstown (moved to Louisville in 1841) were erected by Pope Pius VII from the territory of the Diocese of Baltimore, which was simultaneously raised to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese. Michael Egan was appointed as the first bishop and was consecrated as a bishop on October 28, 1810, by Archbishop John Carroll.

In 1868, the dioceses of Harrisburg, Scranton, and Wilmington were erected from the territory of the diocese. Philadelphia was raised to a metropolitan archiepiscopal see on February 12, 1875, with Harrisburg and Scranton as suffragan dioceses. On January 28, 1961, the five northern counties of Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill were split off from the archdiocese, to create the Diocese of Allentown.

By 1969, the archdiocese had grown to 1,351,704 parishioners, 1,096 diocesan priests, 676 priests of religious institutes and 6,622 religious women.

Beginning in 2005, members of the diocese and its hierarchy have been heavily impacted by sexual abuse scandals. Two grand jury reports, guilty pleas and convictions indicate administrative mishandling of cases and other issues.

In February 2012, the diocese announced the largest reorganization of their elementary and high school education system, with numerous recommended school closings and/or mergers.

In a Thursday, August 23, 2012 online news story article about the Archdiocese's schools by Lou Baldwin of Catholic News Service (CNS), it was announced that the Faith in the Future Foundation would assume management of the seventeen archdiocesan high schools and the four special education schools.

Diocesan Bishops

Bishops

1. † Michael Francis Egan, OFM (1808–1814)
2. † Henry Conwell (1819–1842)
3. † Francis Patrick Kenrick (1842–1851)
4. † Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, CSsR (1852–1860)

Archbishops

1. † James Frederick Wood (1860–1883)
2. † Patrick John Ryan (1884–1911)
3. † Edmond Francis Prendergast (1911–1918)
4. † Dennis Joseph Cardinal Dougherty (1918–1951)
5. † John Francis Cardinal O'Hara, CSC (1951–1960)
6. † John Joseph Cardinal Krol (1961–1988)
7. † Anthony Joseph Cardinal Bevilacqua (1988–2003)
8. Justin Francis Cardinal Rigali (2003–2011)
9. Charles Joseph Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. (2011–)

† = deceased

Current

Former

† = deceased

Other priests in the archdiocese who became bishops

† = deceased

The parish structure

The archdiocese is sub-divided into 12 Regional Deaneries, each administered by a Regional Dean. Present Deans and their Deaneries are as follows:

Elementary schools

The first Catholic school established in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was at St. Mary Parish in Philadelphia during the late eighteenth century. During the nineteenth century, Bishop Kenrick encouraged the establishment of Catholic schools. Subsequently, St. John Neumann (1851–1860) made the establishment of parish elementary schools a priority and by 1860 there were seventeen parish elementary schools in Philadelphia. Between 1900 and 1930, Catholic elementary schools increased to 124 schools in Philadelphia and 78 schools in the four suburban counties. Between 1945 and 1965, 62 new Catholic elementary schools were established.

Special Needs schools

With the foundation of Archbishop Ryan School for Children with Deafness in 1912, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia embarked on a proud history of serving families of children with special needs. In 1951, John Cardinal O'Hara responded to the requests of hundreds of parents who sought education, and particularly education in the faith, for their children with mental retardation. As a result, St. Katherine Day School and Our Lady of Confidence School were opened in 1953 and 1954 respectively, and again in response to parent petition, St. Lucy Day School for Children with Visual Impairment was founded in 1955. Queen of the Universe Day Center was added in 1980 to serve students with mental retardation in Bucks County. These five schools of special education have been generously supported by the Catholic Charities Appeal.

Diocesan high schools

Leadership within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia envisioned a continued comprehensive education for secondary students.

The first free Catholic high school in the United States was the "Roman Catholic High School of Philadelphia", founded for the education of boys in 1890. (It is often referred to as "Roman Catholic", occasionally as "Catholic High", and most commonly as "Roman".) The "Catholic Girls High School" was founded in 1912. Mary McMichan, one of the school's founders, requested in her last will that the school be renamed in honor of her brother. The school became "John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School" after her death. Both schools are still in existence.

Between 1916 and 1927 West Catholic Boys and Girls and Northeast Catholic were opened. Despite the economic hardships of the 1930s and 1940s, seven more diocesan high schools were founded. During a 22-year growth period from 1945 to 1967, fifteen high schools were opened.

Philadelphia high schools

Bucks County high schools

Chester County high schools

Delaware County high schools

Montgomery County high schools

Former Philadelphia Archdiocese Parochial High Schools

Private high schools

Though not funded or operated by the archdiocese, the following independent schools operate "with the blessing and spiritual support of the archdiocese:"

Seminary

Colleges and universities within the archdiocese

Controversies

The sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, U.S., is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States, Ireland and elsewhere. The Philadelphia abuses were substantially revealed through a grand jury investigation in 2005. In early 2011, a new grand jury reported extensive new charges of abusive priests active in the archdiocese. In 2012, a guilty plea by priest Edward Avery and the related trial and conviction of Monsignor William Lynn and mistrial on charges against Rev. James J. Brennan followed from the grand jury's investigations. In 2013, Rev. Charles Engelhardt and teacher Bernard Shero were tried, convicted and sentenced to prison. Lynn was the first official to be convicted in the United States of covering up abuses by other priests in his charge and other senior church officials have been extensively criticized for their management of the issue in the archdiocese.

In 2015, it was reported that the school's long-serving director of religious education, Margie Winters, had been fired from the Waldron Mercy Academy after a parent had reported her directly to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for marrying her long-term lesbian partner in a civil ceremony in 2007. Winters had been upfront with school administrators at the time of her hiring and was advised to keep a low profile which she says she did. Many parents expressed anger and concern over the school's decision. Principal Nell Stetser justified the decision by arguing that "many of us accept life choices that contradict current Church teachings, but to continue as a Catholic school, Waldron Mercy must comply with those teachings." But she called urgently for "an open and honest discussion about this and other divisive issues at the intersection of our society and our Church." The Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles Chaput, however, has not yet responded to such a call and instead spoke out in favour of her firing, simply calling the dismissal "common sense.".

Publications

The Catholic Standard & Times (newspaper)

Saints of Philadelphia

Shrines of Philadelphia