History
Early history
Jesuit priests began to work in present-day northern Mexico in the 1610s in the lowlands near the coast. Originally, these missionaries worked out a peaceful compromise with the people of the Yaqui River valley allowing for the establishment of more than fifty mission settlements. This broke down when the Jesuits opposed the native shamanic religious tradition. The Opata people were more receptive to the missionaries and allied with them. After this, the Jesuits began to move into Pima and Tohono O'odham territories in present-day Arizona.[4] Spanish exploration and missionary work was sufficient to consider the territory part of New Spain. An agreement between General Pedro de Perea and the viceroy of New Spain resulted in the formation of the Province of Nueva Navarra in 1637. It was renamed the Province of Sonora in 1648.[5]
The most famous missionary of what is now the American Southwest was Eusebio Kino.[6] He arrived in Nueva Navarra in 1687 and started missionary work in the Pimería Alta area, now the American Southwest and northern Mexico. He began his first mission at Cucurpe in present-day Sonora then established churches and missions in other villages such as Los Remedios, Imuris, Magdalena, Cocóspera, San Ignacio, Tubutama and Caborca. To develop an economy for the natives, Father Kino also taught them European farming techniques.[7][8]
The first Catholic church in Phoenix, the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was dedicated in 1881. It would remain the only parish in the city until 1924.[9] Also in 1881, the first Catholic church was constructed in Tempe - it would be replaced in 1903 by Old St. Mary's Church.[10] The first Catholic church in Flagstaff, First Nativity, was dedicated in 1888.[11] Sacred Heart Church in Prescott was finished in 1894.[12]
20th century
Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH), known as the Old Adobe Mission, was constructed by Mexican Catholics in the 1910s; it is the oldest Catholic church in Scottsdale.[13]
Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Phoenix in 1969, taking its territory from the Dioceses of Tucson and Gallup.[14] The pope appointed Auxiliary Bishop Edward A. McCarthy from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as the first bishop of Phoenix.[15][16] In 1976, McCarthy became coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami.
The second bishop of Phoenix was Auxiliary Bishop James Rausch from the Diocese of St. Cloud, named by Paul VI in 1977.[17][18] On occasion, he would celebrate mass in orange groves to accommodate undocumented migrants who were afraid to go into a city.[19] Rausch died in 1981.
To replace Rausch, Pope John Paul II appointed Monsignor Thomas J. O'Brien from Tucson in 1981.[20] During his tenure, O'Brien earned a reputation as a successful fundraiser, builder of schools, and advocate for the poor.[21] He was also instrumental in persuading John Paul II and Mother Teresa to visit Phoenix in the late 1980s. In 2003, a week after O'Brien fatally struck a pedestrian in a hit and run incident, he resigned as bishop of Phoenix.[22]
The next bishop of Phoenix was Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Diocese of Lincoln, named by John Paul II in 2003.[23]
21st century
In 2009 the diocese contributed $50,000 to the successful campaign by Stand For Marriage Maine to overturn an impending legalization of same-sex marriage in Maine.[24][25] In 2014, two priests were physically assaulted during a burglary at Mater Misericordiae Mission in Phoenix. Reverend Kenneth Walker was fatally shot and Reverend Joseph Terra was wounded.[26] In 2017, the diocese marked the 100th anniversary of what became known as the Miracle of Fátima in Portugal.[27]
In July 2021, in response to Pope Francis' Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes, which restricts the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM), Olmsted issued a decree allowing the TLM to continue in the diocese under his dispensation.[28] Early in 2022, Reverend Andres Arango, a diocesan priest at St. Gregory Parish in Phoenix, resigned as pastor after learning he that he had used the incorrect words when performing thousands of baptisms. Olmsted said he believed the error, however inadvertent, required the individuals to be baptised again.[29] Olmsted retired in 2022.
Auxiliary Bishop John P. Dolan of the Diocese of San Diego was appointed by Francis as the next bishop of Phoenix in 2022.[30] As of 2023, he is the current bishop of the diocese.
Sex abuse scandals
The Diocese of Phoenix agreed in 2006 to contribute $200,000 to the bankruptcy settlement plan for the Diocese of Tucson. This contribution acknowledged that some of the allegations of abuse originated in Phoenix when it was part of the Diocese of Tucson.[31]
In 2016, a Tucson man filed a lawsuit against Bishop O'Brien, claiming that O'Brien sexually molested him as a boy on several occasions at parishes in Phoenix and Goodyear from 1977 to 1982.[32] O'Brien denied the charges and the diocese said that O'Brien never served at the parishes mentioned in the lawsuit. A judge dropped several of the charges in the lawsuit in 2017.[33] O'Brien died in 2018.[34]
In June 2019, Joseph J. Henn, a former diocesan priest, was extradited from Italy to Arizona to face charges of molesting three boys in Phoenix from 1978 to 1982. Henn had fled to Italy in 2003 after being indicted in Arizona. He was laicized and expelled from the Salvatorian order in 2006.[35][36][37]
In January 2020, Reverend Thomas "Jack" Spaulding, a diocesan priest who served in Phoenix and Mesa, was indicted on six felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and one felony count of molestation of a child. The crimes involved two boys between 2003 and 2007. After one victim accused Spaulding in 2019; the diocese removed him from service and filed a police report. Spaulding died in February 2020 before he could go on trial.[38][39]
In December 2020, a sex abuse lawsuit was filed against the Diocese of Phoenix. Among the accusations made in this lawsuit was the constant transfer of accused Diocese of Phoenix clergy out of the state of Arizona.[40]
United States
