The diocese comprises Lackawanna, Luzerne, Bradford, Susquehanna, Wayne, Tioga, Sullivan, Wyoming, Lycoming, Pike, and Monroe counties The area of the diocese is 8,487 square miles (21,980 km2).
Early history
1700 to 1800
Unlike the other British colonies in America, the Province of Pennsylvania did not ban Catholics from the colony or threaten priests with imprisonment. However, the colony did require any Catholics seeking public office to take an oath declaring mass to be idolatrous and denying the presence of Christ in the eucharist.[1]
In 1789, Pius VI converted the prefecture to the Diocese of Baltimore., covering all of the United States.[5] With the passage of the US Bill of Rights in 1791, Catholics received full freedom of worship.
In 1793, the French Catholic settlement of French Azilum was founded on the banks of the Susquehanna River near Standing Stone. It was meant as a refuge for French aristocrats fleeing persecution in the French Revolution and slave uprisings in the French colony of Saint-Domingue.[6] In the late 1790s, most of the residents either moved back to France or settled elsewhere in the United States.
1800 to 1860
In 1808, Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Philadelphia, covering all of Pennsylvania.[7] Northeastern Pennsylvania would remain part of this new diocese for the next 60 years.
The first Catholic settlers in northeastern Pennsylvania were mainly of Irish and German descent. The earliest permanent Catholic settlements in the region were founded at Friendsville in 1819 and Silver Lake in 1813.[8] Catholic residents of these settlements, along with others in the region, occasionally saw priests sent from the Diocese of Philadelphia. In 1825, Bishop Francis Kenrick sent John O'Flynn to the region to serve as its first resident pastor. He was responsible for Catholic resident in thirteen counties in northeastern Pennsylvania and five counties in the Southern Tier of New York.
The first church in northeastern Pennsylvania was built in 1825 near Silver Lake. O'Flynn died at Danville in 1829, and was succeeded by William Clancy. Clancy departed the region in 1834 and in 1836 the diocese sent Henry Fitzsimmons to replace him. Fitzsimmons took up his residence in Carbondale, where a church had been built in 1832. In 1838, the diocese sent John Vincent O'Reilly to assist in the region. He took up his residence at Silver Lake.
St. Mary's church, finished in 1842, was the first Catholic church in Wilkes-Barre.[9] The first one in Scranton was built in 1852 on the site of the present day Church of Nativity.[10] In Williamsport, a German group erected the first Catholic church, St. Boniface, in 1855.[11]
1860 to 1900
The Diocese of Scranton was erected on March 3, 1868, by Pope Pius IX, taking its territory from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The pope appointed Monsignor William O'Hara of Philadelphia as the first bishop of the new diocese. When O'Hara became bishop, the diocese had a Catholic population of 25,000 with 47 churches, 25 priests, and two parochial schools with four students.[12] By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Slavic and Italian immigrants, attracted by jobs in the coal-mining industry, comprised half of the Catholic population in the diocese.
In 1871, O'Hara removed Michael P. Stack from his position as pastor of the Church of the Annunciation Parish in Williamsport due to financial mismanagement. Stack then sued O'Hara, starting a legal battle that would last until 1881, when Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled in O'Hara's favor.[13][14]
In 1896, Pope Leo XIII appointed Michael Hoban as coadjutor bishop of the diocese to assist O'Hara.[15] Later in 1896, a schism erupted at Sacred Hearts Parish in the coal mining area of South Scranton. The English-speaking miners in the parish were suspicious of an influx of Polish immigrants into the mine fields, fearful that they would drive down wages. The Polish parishioners did not like how their German pastor ran the parish. In October 1896, 250 families left the parish, built a new church and requested recognition from the diocese for St. Stanislaus as a new parish. Hoban refused to give it. In March 1887, Frances Hodur, a Polish priest became the pastor of St. Stanislaus; Hoban suspended him the next week. In September 1898, Hodur submitted a compromise proposal to Hoban, which he rejected. Hodur then traveled to Rome to appeal his case, but was rejected. In October 1898, Hoban excommunicated Hodur. He and his congregation eventually set up the Polish National Catholic Church, establishing a permanent break with the Roman Catholic Church.[16]
When O'Hara died in 1899 after 31 years as bishop, the diocese had a Catholic population of 125,000, with 78 churches, 130 priests, and 40 parochial schools with 12,000 students.[12] Hoban automatically became the second bishop of Scranton in 1899 after O'Hara's death.
1900 to 1984
After Hoban's death in 1926, Pope Pius XI named Monsignor Thomas O'Reilly from the Diocese of Cleveland as the third Bishop of Scranton.[17] During his tenure, he established seven parishes and fourteen schools in the diocese, despite the economic ravages of the Great Depression.[18] Pius XI appointed Bishop William Hafey from the Diocese of Raleigh as coadjutor bishop in 1936. Hafey became bishop of Scranton after O'Reilly died in 1938.[19] Hafey created new parishes, multiplied the number of buildings, and increased the number of priests and religious.[20] He died in 1954 after 18 years in office.
In 1984, John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop James Timlin of Scranton as the eighth bishop of the diocese.[24] Timlin was the first native of Scranton to become its bishop.[25] During his tenure, Timlin held the Second Diocesan Synod, established the Bishop's Annual Appeal and presided over a major restructuring of parishes as a result of the priest shortage. He introduced a new policy for Catholic schools consisting of regional mergers, construction of modern facilities, new fundraising efforts and a more equitable sharing of operational costs between parents, pastors and the diocese.[25]
In 1985, Timlin announced that he would boycott two events honoring Catholic congressmen because of their support of abortion rights for women. The first event honored Democratic representative Peter W. Rodino Jr. at a St. Patrick's Day dinner in Lackawanna County. The second event was the awarding of an honorary degree to Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill Jr. at a commencement ceremony at the University of Scranton.[26] In 2003, Timlin refused to attend the commencement ceremonies for the University of Scranton because of the pro-choice stance of honorary-degree recipient Chris Matthews.[27][28]
2000 to present
After Timlin retired in 2002, John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Martino of Philadelphia in 2003 as the next bishop of Scranton.[29] In 2004, the diocese closed Saint Pius X Seminary.[22] In January 2007, Martino decided to close Bishop O'Reilly, Seton Catholic, Bishop Hafey, Bishop Hoban, Bishop O'Hara and Bishop Hannan high schools, along with several grade schools. In total he closed about 30 schools. In January 2009, Martino announced that, due to a priest shortage and diminishing financial resources, the Diocese of Scranton would either close or consolidate almost half of its 209 parishes.[30]
In 2008, Martino decertified the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers, which had functioned in the diocese for 30 years. He replaced it with a diocesan association of teachers. The head of the teachers union described this new organization as a "company union".[31] When the presidents of four Catholics universities and colleges in the diocese asked to meet with Martino, he demanded to see syllabi of all their courses on religion, faith and morals. The presidents refused this request, stating that their professors owned the syllabi.[31] According to a report in National Catholic Reporter, the apostolic nunicio to the United States received numerous complaints about Martino's management style, his lack of consultation with others and his remoteness.[31] Martino retired early in 2009.
In 1842, John O'Reilly opened the first Catholic college in the region at St. Joseph's Parish in Susquehanna County. Over its 22 years of its existence, the college educated two bishops and over 20 priests. Destroyed by fire in 1864, the college was never rebuilt.[10]
Bishop Klonowski High School. The school closed in 1982.[35] Bishop Martino in 2007 closed all the high schools in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties, replacing them with two regional schools:
Holy Cross High School in Dumore to serve Lackawanna County
Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre to serve Luzerne County
In 2010, Bishop Bambera announced the closure of four elementary school sites. As of 2012, the diocese operated six early childhood centers,[36] sixteen elementary schools[36] and four high schools[36]
Higher education
St. Thomas College – Scranton (1888). It was later operated by the Christian Brothers. In 1938, it became the University of Scranton. The Society of Jesus took charge of it in 1942.
In August 1968, a Hazelton police office wrote to Bishop McCormick about Reverend Robert N. Caparelli, then assistant pastor at Most Precious Blood Parish in Hazelton. The officer wrote that a woman had complained to him about the relationship between Caparelli and her two young sons. This information was confirmed by the church pastor. McCormick then transferred Caparelli to a new parish. In 1974, an officer of the Pennsylvania State Police confronted Caparelli with accusations of sexual abuse of different victims. Although Caparelli admitted guilt, he was transferred to another diocese.[37]
Caparelli was charged in 1991 with the sexual assault in 1985 of a 16 year old boy in 1985. He pleaded guilty in December 1991 and was sentenced to two to five years in prison.[38] That same month, the 1985 victim sued the diocese. In 1993, Bishop Timlin sent a letter to the court asking it to transfer Caparelli to a Catholic treatment facility. Caparelli died in 1994. More of his victims contacted the diocese in later years.[37]
2010 to 2020
Monsignor Philip A. Altavilla, the former vicar general of the diocese, was arrested in April 2014 on charges of indecent assault, criminal attempt - indecent assault and corruption of minors. His accuser said that she was age 13 in 1998 when Altavilla started groping her legs on a ride home. After Altavilla's arrest, diocese immediately removed him from ministry. In a phone call between the woman and Altavilla in 2014, monitored by police, he admitted to the abuse. The charges were later dismissed due to the statute of limitations.[39]
In early 2016, a grand jury investigation led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro began an inquiry into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in six Pennsylvania dioceses, including the Diocese of Scranton.[40] In July 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the public release of a redacted copy of the grand jury report.[41] In August 2018, Bishop Bambera stated that he would cooperate with the investigation and publish the list of "credibly accused clergy".[42] The grand jury report later that month showed 59 clergy from the diocese with credible accusation of sexual abuse of children.[43]
On August 31, 2018, Bambera forbade Timlin from representing the diocese in public, given Timlin's failure to protect children from abusers.[44] The 2018 grand jury report had criticized Timlin's handling of sexual abuse allegations against Thomas Skotek, a priest at St Casimir Parish in Freeland. Between 1980 and 1985, Skotek had raped and eventually impregnated a teenage girl in the parish. In October 1986, after Timlin learned about the crime, he sent Skotek to Saint Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland for psychological evaluation. In 1987, after Skotek returned to the diocese, Timlin reassigned him to St. Aloysius Parish in Wilkes-Barre. Timlin never notified parishioners in St. Aloysius or civil authorities about Skotek's rape of the girl.[45] Bambera himself had served as the vicar for priests for the diocese from 1995 to 1998, and he admitted helping Timlin reassign a priest who had abused a minor, although the decision was made by Timlin.[44] Bambera emphasized that since becoming bishop in 2010, he has pursued a zero-tolerance policy toward clerical abuse.[44]
In August 2018, King's College in Wilkes-Barre announced that it was removing McCormick's name from the chapel and campus ministry.[46] That same month, the University of Scranton removed McCormick and Timlin's names from its facilities.[47]
2020 to present
Timlin, Bambera and the Diocese of Scranton were sued in July 2020 by three men claiming sexual abuse when they were minors by diocese priests. Two plaintiffs alleged abuse by Michael J. Pulicare, a priest in Lackawanna County in the 1970s. The third plaintiff claimed abuse by Ralph N. Ferraldo, an assistant pastor at Our Lady of Grace Parish in Hazleton from 1982 to 1983.[48]
In August 2020, it was revealed that 30 new lawsuits related to sexual abuse allegations against clergy were being filed against the diocese.[49]
