During the 17th century, present-day Michigan was part of the French colony of New France. The Diocese of Quebec had jurisdiction over the region. In 1763, the Michigan area became part of the British Province of Quebec, forbidden from settlement by American colonists. After the American Revolution, the Michigan region became part of the new United States. For Catholics, Michigan was now under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, which then comprised the entire country.
Pope Gregory XVI formed the Diocese of Detroit in 1833, covering the entire Michigan Territory. Pope Leo XIII erected the Diocese of Grand Rapids out of the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1882, including Kalamazoo. The Kalamazoo area would remain part of the Diocese of Grand Rapids for the next 88 years.
The first Catholic church in Kalamazoo, St. Augustine's, was dedicated in 1852.[3] St. Philip Roman, the first Catholic Church in Battle Creek, was dedicated by Bishop Casper Borgess of Detroit in 1879.[4] In 1913, Nazareth College was opened in Nazareth, Michigan.
In 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop Alfred Markiewicz from the Diocese of Rockville Centre as the second bishop of Kalamazoo.[5] He died in 1997 after only three years in office. That same year, John Paul II named Reverend James Murray of Lansing to replace Markiewicz. in 2006, Murray released the “Diocesan Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Latino Ministry.” He also established the diocese Trauma Recovery Program for victims of childhood trauma. Murray retired in 2009.
Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 named Auxiliary Bishop Paul J. Bradley of the Diocese of Pittsburgh as the next bishop of Kalamazoo.[6] In May 2017, Reverend Richard Fritz was accused of embezzling $100,000 from two different parishes, reportedly to purchase lottery tickets.[7] However, the charges were dismissed in July 2017.[8] Fritz retired in 2015.
Bradley retired in May 2023. His successor is Reverend Edward M. Lohse from the Diocese of Erie, who was installed on July 25, 2023.
Sexual abuse
In 2018, Bishop Bradley proposed a ten-step plan for overhauling church policies on the reporting of sexual abuse allegations.[9] In January 2019, Bradley assigned Archbishop Emeritus John Nienstedt, of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, to assist for several months at a parish in Battle Creek. Many parishioners in Battle Creek did not want Nienstadt due to his failure to report sexual abuse claims as archbishop. After two weeks, Nienstadt left the parish.[10]
In May 2019, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that Reverend Jacob Vellian had been indicted on two charges of rape. He was accused of sexually assaulting a 15 year old girl between 1973 and 1974 at St. John the Evangelist church. As Vellian was living in India, prosecutors were attempting to extradite him to the United States.[11]
In February 2020, the diocese announced that an individual was claiming that Reverend Richard Fritz, who faced embezzlement charges in 2017, had sexually abused them during the late 1970s and early 1980s.[12] In March 2020, the diocese determined that the allegations against Fritz were credible.[13]
Statistics
The Diocese of Kalamazoo consists of 46 parishes and 13 missions, with 75 priests, and 36 deacons. The diocese operates three high schools, two middle schools and 17 grade schools, serving more than 3,000 students. The diocese also has two parish-run preschools.
A Native American peace pipe with gold feathers, called a "calumet" by French explorers
The coat of arms also contains an open book displaying the Latin phrase Tolle Lege (Take and Read). The book represents the bible and the quote comes from a story by Augustine of Hippo, patron saint of the diocesan cathedral. According to Augustine, he was meditating on the bible under a tree when he was a young man, He heard a small child tell him "Tolle lege.". Opening the bible to the Epistle to the Romans 13:13, Augustine read the following passage:
"Let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."
Believing that God had spoken to him, Augustine decided to enter the priesthood. He eventually became the Bishop of Hippo in North Africa.[14]
