The first Catholic church in the present day diocese was Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church near Vermillion. In Sioux Falls, St. Michael was dedicated in 1881, making it the earliest Catholic church in that city.[5]
1900 to 1930
On August 6, 1902, Pope Pius X established the diocese as the Diocese of Lead, with territory taken from the Diocese of Sioux Falls.[6]Lead was a small mining town in South Dakota. The pope named Monsignor John Stariha of the Diocese of Saint Paul as the first bishop of Lead.
During his seven years as bishop, Stariha increased the number of priests in the diocese from 17 to 25 and the number of parishes and missions from 25 to 53.[7] Due to poor health, he moved from his official residence in Lead to Hot Springs in 1908.[8] Due to his health, Stariha retired in 1909.
In 1910, Pius X named Joseph Busch of Saint Paul as the second bishop of Lead.[9] During his tenure, Busch called for the abolition of work on Sundays. His proposal received so much criticism that he was forced to relocate from Lead to Rapid City.[10] Busch became bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud in 1915.[9]
The next bishop of Rapid City was Reverend Harold Dimmerling of Saint Cloud, named by Pope Paul VI in 1969.[15] Dimmerling established a permanent diaconate program and a lay ministry program and ordained the first Native American deacon in the country.[16] He also set up offices in the diocese for rural life, stewardship and social concerns. He set up a ministry for people who were separated or divorced, and for widows. Dimmerling also established the West River Catholic newspaper. Dimmerling died in 1987.
1988 to present
In 1988, Reverend Charles J. Chaput was appointed bishop of Rapid City by Pope John Paul II.[17] He was the second priest of Native American ancestry to become a Catholic bishop in the United States. Chaput became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Denver in 1997. John Paul II then named Reverend Blase J. Cupich of the Archdiocese of Omaha to replace Chaput that same year.[18] As bishop, Cupich banned children from receiving their first holy communion in the Tridentine Mass or being confirmed in the traditional form. In 2002, Cupich prohibited a Traditional Mass community from celebrating the Paschal Triduum liturgies according to the 1962 form of the Roman Rite.[19] In 2010, Cupich became bishop of the Diocese of Spokane.
On February 17, 2024, the Diocese of Rapid City announced the passing of the current bishop Peter Muhich of the Diocese of Duluth, named by Pope Francis in 2020.[22][23]
Reports of sex abuse
Reverend John Praveen, a priest from India serving in the diocese, was arrested in October 2018 on sex abuse charges.[24] Praveen was accused of sexually molesting a 13-year-old girl in Sioux City.[25] Arriving in South Dakota in December 2017, Praveen first worked in Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe reservation, then at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in June 2018.[24] Praveen pleaded guilty in September 2018 and was sentenced to six years in state prison in March 2019. After his prison release, the US Government was to deport him to India.[25] In November 2020, Pope Francis laicized Praveen.[24]
In March 2019, the diocese published a list of 21 Catholic clergy with credible accusation of sexual abuse of minors. This included clergy who served in parishes and church institutions along with the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations from 1951 to 2018.[26] Bishop Gruss stated that "It is important to acknowledge the horrid truth of past abuse in the church so that we can repent of these actions and to recommit ourselves to ensuring that no one is hurt moving forward."[27]
In August 2020, an individual contacted the diocese to accuse Monsignor Michel Mulloy, vicar general of the diocese, of sexually abusing them as a minor in the 1980s.[28] The diocese immediately removed Mulloy from public ministry and a started preliminary investigation. The results led the review board to call for a full investigation. Pope Francis had appointed Mulloy as bishop of Duluth in June 2020, but he hadn't been consecrated yet.[29] In early September 2020, Mulloy resigned as bishop-elect of Duluth.[29] In March 2023, the Diocese of Rapid City said that its investigation could not prove the sexual abuse allegation, but that it would not return Mulloy to ministry.[30]
In November 2020, the diocese reported that federal sex abuse charges were pending against Reverend Marcin Garbacz.[31] He was already serving a prison sentence for stealing from parishes in the diocese.[32] In March 2022, Garbacz was sentenced to five years in federal prison for recording a pornographic video of an 11-year-old boy in Poland, the sentence to be served after his release from state prison.[33]
In the Diocese of Rapid City, the schools in Rapid City itself are operated by the Rapid City Catholic School System.[34] Red Cloud Indian School is administered by the Society of Jesus and the Oglala Lakȟóta community.[35] Sapa Un Jesuit Academy is run by the St. Francis Mission.[36]
^"BISHOP J.J. LAWLER OF RAPID CITY, S.D.; Head of Diocese Transferred There in 1930 Dies at 85—Ex-Auxiliary in St. Paul". The New York Times. 1948-03-12.
