Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis (Latin: Dioecesis Memphitana in Tennesia) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Tennessee. It was founded on June 20, 1970, when Pope Paul VI removed the counties in the state west of the Tennessee River from the Diocese of Nashville, which, prior to that time, encompassed the entire state.[1]

Diocese of Memphis

Dioecesis Memphitana
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Location
Country United States
Territory West Tennessee
Ecclesiastical provinceArchdiocese of Louisville
Population
- Catholics
65,779 (4.5%)
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
EstablishedJune 20, 1970
CathedralCathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopMost Rev. David Talley
Metropolitan ArchbishopJoseph Edward Kurtz
Archbishop of Louisville
Bishops emeritusJ. Terry Steib
Martin Holley
Map
Website
cdom.org

The diocese is broken into two deaneries, the Memphis Deanery comprising Shelby County and the Jackson Deanery which encompassed the other 20 counties in the diocese. Currently, there are 28 parishes in the Memphis Deanery, 14 parishes and 5 missions in the Jackson Deanery.

Bishops

Bishops of Memphis

The following is a list of Ordinaries (Bishops of the Diocese) of Memphis, along with their dates of service:

(Joseph Edward Kurtz was apostolic administrator, 2018–2019.)

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

Reports of Sex Abuse

In 2007, Diocese of Memphis settled three sex abuse lawsuits.[2] In 2010, unsealed court documents revealed that at least 15 Catholic clergy who served in the Diocese of Memphis were accused of committing acts of sex abuse and that $2 million was secretly paid to one of these sex abuse victims.[3] On February 19, 2020, it was revealed former Memphis Bishop Carroll Dozier was accused committing acts of sex abuse in Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond before he was transferred to the Diocese of Memphis.[4] In September 2019, the Richmond sex abuse accusations resulted in Dozier's image being removed the city of Memphis' "Upstanders Mural", located on a wall across from the National Civil Rights Museum.[5] On February 28, 2020, The Diocese of Memphis released a list of 20 Catholic clergy who were credibly accused of sexually abusing children while serving in the Diocese.[6]

Education

There is one Catholic University within the geographic boundaries of the Diocese:

There are a total of 28 primary and secondary schools with a total of more than 8000 students. The High Schools include:

* Operates independently and with the blessing of the Bishop.

Closed schools

See also

References
  1. "Diocese of Memphis". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  2. https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/6676309/memphis-diocese-settles-3-lawsuits-alleging-sex-abuse-by-priest/
  3. http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/state/church-secrets-memphis-court-documents-unsealed-in-catholic-sex-abuse-lawsuit-ep-408728300-358812771.html/
  4. https://www.kait8.com/2019/02/19/former-memphis-bishop-accused-sexual-abuse/
  5. https://wreg.com/2019/09/08/memphis-first-catholic-bishop-replaced-on-downtown-mural-after-child-sexual-abuse-accusations/
  6. https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/2020/02/28/memphis-catholic-diocese-releases-list-clergy-credibly-accused-sexual-misconduct/

Arms
Coat of arms of Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis
Notes
This Coat of Arms was designed and adopted on the occasion of the installation of Bishop Martin David Holley.
Adopted
2016
Escutcheon
The arms of the diocese are composed of a red field with white and blue accents. The principal charge is a silver cross of a Coptic Christian style. Blue wavy bars are present on the upper division of the shield. The small mountains are present in the lower part.
Symbolism
The coat of arms of the Diocese of Memphis has a red field with six small hills in silver (white) at the bottom, from the arms of Pope Paul VI, who established the diocese. At the top of the shield, two wavy blue bands on a "chief" of silver represent the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers, the western and eastern (respectively) geographical borders of the diocese. A silver cross of the style used by Christians in the land of the Diocese's namesake city of Memphis in Egypt, links brothers and sisters in the faith of both regions to each other, and to the Church worldwide in the time of the new evangelization.

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