Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah
Encyclopedia
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in the southern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comprising the southern counties of the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. It is led by a prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
who serves as pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
of the mother church
Mother Church
In Christianity, the term mother church or Mother Church may have one of the following meanings:# The first mission church in an area, or a pioneer cathedral# A basilica or cathedral# The main chapel of a province of a religious order...
, Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Savannah)
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is a Roman Catholic cathedral at 222 East Harris Street, Savannah, Georgia, in the United States. It is the Mother Church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah.-History:...
in the City of Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
.
History
The diocese was canonically erected on July 3, 1850 by Pope Pius IXPope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
, taking its territories from the Diocese of Charleston
Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the southern United States and comprises the entire state of South Carolina, with Charleston as its see city. Currently, the diocese consists of 92 parishes and 24 missions...
. Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
changed the ecclesiastical territory's name to become the conjoined Diocese of Savannah-Atlanta on January 5, 1937 to reflect the growth of Catholicism in the state. The number of Catholics in the northern counties of Georgia had grown so much that Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
divided the ecclesiastical territory on July 2, 1956 and created the Diocese of Savannah and the Diocese of Atlanta
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the southeastern United States. It is composed of the northern counties of the state of Georgia and is led by a prelate archbishop, who is also pastor of the mother church, the...
. (In 1962 the Diocese of Atlanta was elevated to the status of an archdiocese, becoming the center of the Ecclesiastical Province
Ecclesiastical Province
An ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...
of the same name.)http://diosav.org/about
Member parishes
- St. Peter the Apostle
- Most Blessed Sacrament
- St. James'
- St. Michael's
- Sacred Heart
- St. Benedict the Moor
- Our Lady of Lourdes
- St. Boniface
- St. William
- St. Frances Cabrini
- The Nativity of Our Lord-St. Peter and Paul Parish
- Immaculate Conception
Bishops
- Francis Xavier GartlandFrancis Xavier GartlandFrancis Xavier Gartland was an Irish American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Savannah, Georgia, serving between 1850 and his death in 1854....
(1850–1854) - John BarryJohn Barry (bishop)John Barry was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the second Bishop of Savannah, Georgia ....
(1857–1859) - Augustin VerotAugustin VerotBishop Augustin Verot was the third Bishop of Diocese of Savannah, and the first Bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine....
(1861–1870) - Ignatius PersicoIgnatius PersicoIgnatius Camillus William Mary Peter Persico was an Italian Cardinal.-Life and career:He entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order on 25 April 1839, and immediately after ordination was sent in November, 1846, to Patna, India. The vicar Apostolic, Anastasius Hartmann, made him his socius and confidant...
(1870–1874) - William Hickley Gross (1873–1885)
- Thomas Albert Andrew BeckerThomas Albert Andrew BeckerThomas Albert Andrew Becker was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first Bishop of Wilmington and the sixth Bishop of Savannah .-Biography:...
(1886–1899) - Benjamin Joseph KeileyBenjamin Joseph KeileyBenjamin Joseph Keiley was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Savannah from 1900 to 1922.-Biography:...
(1900–1922) - Michael Joseph KeyesMichael Joseph KeyesMichael Joseph Keyes, S.M. was an Irish-born Roman Catholic bishop.Keyes was born in Dingle, County Kerry, and ordained as a priest of the Society of Mary on June 21, 1907....
(1922–1935) - Gerald Patrick Aloysius O'HaraGerald Patrick Aloysius O'HaraGerald Patrick Aloysius O'Hara was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Savannah , Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland , and Apostolic Delegate to Great Britain ....
(1935–1959) - Thomas Joseph McDonoughThomas Joseph McDonoughThomas Joseph McDonough was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Savannah, Georgia and Archbishop of Louisville, Kentucky .-Early life and ministry:...
(1960–1967) - Gerard Louis FreyGerard Louis FreyGerard Louis Frey was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Savannah, Georgia and Bishop of Lafayette, Louisiana .-Early life and priesthood:...
(1967–1972) - Raymond W. LessardRaymond W. LessardRaymond William Lessard is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Savannah from 1973 to 1995.-Biography:Raymond Lessard was born in Grafton, North Dakota, to a largely French-Canadian family...
(1973–1995) - J. Kevin BolandJ. Kevin BolandJ. Kevin Boland is an Irish-American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, and he was bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah in the United States.-Early history:...
(1995–2011) - Gregory John HartmayerGregory John HartmayerGregory John Hartmayer, O.F.M. Conv. is an American priest and prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. A Conventual Franciscan, he was appointed the fourteenth Bishop of Savannah by Pope Benedict XVI on July 19, 2011...
(2011-present)
Demographics
Today the Diocese of Savannah comprises 90 counties in south Georgia. It covers 37038 square miles (95,928 km²). There are 54 parishes and 25 missions within the diocese, serving about 75,000 lay Catholics.http://diosav.org/aboutClergy and religious
The current number of priests stands at 105. Of these, 90 are serving actively, while 22 priests are in retirement status. There are 38 men that serve the diocese as members of the permanent diaconate, as well as 103 religious (mostly nuns).http://diosav.org/aboutHigh schools
There are 5 Catholic high schools and 16 elementary schools in the diocese, serving over 6,000 students.- Aquinas High SchoolAquinas High School (Augusta, Georgia)Aquinas High School is a private, coeducational Roman Catholic high school located in midtown Augusta, Georgia. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Georgia High School Association, and the National Catholic Educational...
, Augusta - Benedictine Military SchoolBenedictine Military SchoolBenedictine Military School is a Benedictine, military, all-male high school located in Savannah, Georgia, United States...
, Savannah - Mount de Sales AcademyMount de Sales Academy (Georgia)Mount de Sales Academy is an independent Catholic, college preparatory school in Macon, Georgia. It was founded in 1876 by five Sisters of Mercy as a boarding school for girls across the South, it became coeducational in 1959 and closed boarding school operations in 1963...
, Macon - Pacelli High SchoolPacelli High School (Columbus, Georgia)Pacelli High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Columbus, Georgia. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah and is the only Catholic high school in southwestern Georgia. The school is connected to St. Anne School and both schools are governed through a joint system...
, Columbus - St. Vincent's Academy, Savannah