Roman Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks
|
Diocese of Fairbanks Dioecesis de Fairbanks |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | |
| Country |  United States |
| Territory | Northern Alaska 
|
| Ecclesiastical province | Anchorage |
| Metropolitan | Roger Lawrence Schwietz, O.M.I. |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 409,849 sq mi (1,061,500 km2) |
| Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2015) 167,500 13,500 (8%) |
| Parishes | 47 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | August 8, 1962 |
| Cathedral | Sacred Heart Cathedral |
| Patron saint | St. Therese of Lisieux |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Chad Zielinski |
| Map | |
 |
|
| Website | |
| dioceseoffairbanks |
|
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks (Latin: Dioecesis de Fairbanks) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northwestern United States, comprising the northern regions of the state of Alaska. It is led by a bishop who serves as pastor of the mother church, Sacred Heart Cathedral in the City of Fairbanks. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
The See of Fairbanks was established from the Prefecture Apostolic of Alaska on July 27, 1894, which was created from the Diocese of Vancouver Island. It was elevated to an apostolic vicariate on December 22, 1916. The Diocese of Juneau was carved out of the apostolic vicariate on June 23, 1951. On August 8, 1962, the apostolic vicariate was elevated to a diocese.
The first seven bishops of Fairbanks were missionaries of the Society of Jesus. On June 7, 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed Donald Joseph Kettler as the first non-Jesuit bishop of Fairbanks.
In February 2008, the diocese announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming inability to pay the 140 plaintiffs who filed claims against the diocese for alleged sexual abuse by priests or church workers dating from the 1950s to the early 1980s. The Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, was named as a co-defendant in the case, and settled for $50 million. The Diocese, which reports an operating budget of approximately $6 million, claims one of the diocese’s insurance carriers failed to "participate meaningfully".
...
Wikipedia