During the 1860s, the Diocese of Galveston would periodically send priests to visit the small, but growing, town of Fort Worth. In 1870, Reverend Vincent Perrier of the Society of Mary started visiting Fort Worth twice a year. By 1875, the population growth of Fort Worth had persuaded Bishop Claude Dubuis of Galveston to send Perrier and another priest to the town every month.[1]
After 1875, Irish Catholics workers started arriving in Fort Worth to work on the railroads, prompting the diocese to send a resident priest there. He established St. Stanislaus Kostka, the first Catholic Church in Fort Worth.[1] The first Catholic school opened in Denton in 1874.
In 1879, Father Thomas Loughrey, pastor of St. Stanislaus, opened a boys' school at the church. Weatherford had its first Catholic school in 1880. In 1885, the Sisters of Saint Mary of Namur established Saint Ignatius Academy in Fort Worth and Xavier Academy in Denison.[1] St. Joseph's Infirmary opened in 1885 in Fort Worth.[2]
1890 to 1969
In 1892, the new St. Patrick's Church in Fort Worth was dedicated by Bishop Thomas Brennan of Dallas.[1] The following Catholic schools opened during this time period:
In 1910, the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur opened Our Lady of Victory College in Fort Worth.[3] In 1953 Pope Pius XII renamed the Diocese of Dallas as the Diocese of Dallas–Fort Worth, and elevated Saint Patrick's Church in Fort Worth to a co-cathedral.[4]
Postcard of St. Joseph's Infirmary, 1913Firemen in front of St Joseph Infirmary
1969 to 2000
On August 22, 1969, Pope Paul VI suppressed the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth, erecting the Diocese of Fort Worth and the Diocese of Dallas.[4] He named Auxiliary Bishop John Cassata of Dallas-Fort Worth as the first bishop of Fort Worth.[5] When Cassata became bishop, the Catholic population of the new diocese was 67,000. Cassata retired in 1981.
The second bishop of Fort Worth was Reverend Joseph P. Delaney of the Diocese of Brownsville, appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1981.[6] In 1985, St. Patrick Cathedral, St. Ignatius Church and the St. Ignatius rectory were added to the National Register of Historic Places. By 1986, the Catholic population of the diocese had grown to 120,000. The diocese had 14 primary schools, three secondary schools, the Cassata Learning Center and a new Catholic Center.
2000 to present
In May 2005, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois as coadjutor bishop in Fort Worth to assist Delaney. However, one day before Vann's consecration, Delaney died in his sleep. The next day, July 13, Vann was consecrated as bishop of the diocese instead of coadjutor bishop. Seven years later Vann was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Orange in 2012.[7]
As of 2023, the bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth is Michael Fors Olson, named by Pope Francis in 2013.[8]
In June 2018, Olson ordered Reverend Richard Kirkham to resign his post as pastor of St. Martin De Porres Catholic Church in Prosper. The diocese said that Kirkham did not follow proper procedures in reporting sexual misconduct. During a private conversation at a bar in 2017 with a priest from the Diocese of Dallas, Kirkham alleged the priest told him he was having a sexual relationship with a married woman. After the meeting, Kirkham wrote the priest a letter saying that he needed to end the affair. The letter described the alleged affair in graphic sexual detail. The priest then took Kirkham's letter to his bishop, who investigated the allegation. The investigation found no evidence of an improper relationship. The Diocese of Fort Worth announced the action against Kirkham because he failed to report his allegations directly to diocese authorities.[9] Kirkham sued the diocese then dropped the suit in 2020.
In June 2021, six seminarians were ordained priests by Olson at Vietnamese Martyrs Church in Arlington. This was the largest ordination class of priests in diocese history.[10]
In an April 4, 2022 letter to Christoper Plumlee, CEO of Catholic Charities Fort Worth, Bishop Olson requested Mr. Plumlee’s resignation. The agency had planned to host a Women's Empow[her]ment Summit in Hurst in late April. In a previous meeting, Bishop Olson had requested a postponement of the event, to better align it with “the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church,” adding that “the Mission of the CCFW is inseparable with Catholic Social Teaching.” According to Bishop Olson’s letter, the Chair of the CCFW also encouraged Mr. Plumlee seek a solution to his “conflict with the teaching of the Catholic Church.” Discerning that their disagreement was “about the first principles that undergird the mission and identity of Catholic Charities Fort Worth as the outreach ministry of the Catholic Church in North Texas,” Bishop Olson requested that Mr. Plumlee tender his resignation to the Chair of the Board of Directors, Ms. Deb McNamara.[11]
Sex abuse
The Diocese of Fort Worth paid a $1.4 million settlement in 2005 to a man who claimed to have been raped as a child during the early 1990s by Reverend Thomas Teczar, a diocesan priest in Ranger.[12] Teczar left the Diocese of Worcester in the early 1980s after being removed from ministry there for exhibiting attraction to adolescent boys. The plaintiff had argued that Bishop Delaney showed negligence by allowing him to serve in Fort Worth despite his record in Massachusetts. After being tried and convicted on rape charges in Eastland, Texas, Teczar was sentenced to 50 years in state prison.[13] He was laicized by the Vatican in 2011.[14]
Jason Montgomery, a Washington State man, sued the diocese and Bishop Olson for $1 million in 2015, alleging he was sexually assaulted by Reverend John Sutton in the 1990s at Notre Dame Middle-High School in Wichita Falls, Texas.[15] Montgomery later claimed that the school principal, Ron Staley, also abused him. Olson and a volunteer flew to Seattle to meet with Montgomery and his mother at a Starbucks cafe. Montgomery later found out the volunteer was an undercover Fort Worth policeman. In its investigation, the diocese found no proof that the alleged crimes ever happened. A court dismissed the lawsuit in 2017.[16][17]
In 2018, the Diocese of Fort Worth published a list of 17 clergy from the diocese with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors since the 1960s.[18]
Kevin William Vann (2005). He was appointed coadjutor bishop, but Bishop Delaney died the day before consecration of Bishop-elect Vann. Vann was thus consecrated as bishop of the diocese.
As of 2023, the Diocese of Fort Worth had 15 elementary schools and three high schools. It also operates ministries at five institutions of higher learning. The total enrollment was approximately 3,900.[19][20]
.jpg)
