# Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth

The Diocese of Fort Worth (Latin: Diœcesis Arcis-Vorthensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in North Texas in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio.
The Diocese of Fort Worth was erected on August 9, 1969. As of 2023, the bishop is Michael Fors Olson.

## Description

The Diocese of Fort Worth contains the following counties with a total area of 23,950 mi$^{2:}$
Archer, Baylor, Bosque, Clay, Comanche, Cooke, Denton, Eastland, Erath, Foard, Hardeman, Hill, Hood, Jack, Johnson, Knox, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Shackelford, Somervell, Stephens, Tarrant, Throckmorton, Wichita, Wilbarger, Wise, and Young.
As of 2023, the diocese had a Catholic population exceeding 1,200,000 in 92 parishes, served by 132 priests, 106 deacons, and 48 sisters.

## History
### Name changes

The Fort Worth area has been under several different Catholic jurisdictions since 1841:
* Prefecture Apostolic of Texas (1841 to 1847)
* Vicariate Apostolic of Texas (1847 to 1874)
* Diocese of Galveston (1874 to 1890)
* Diocese of Dallas (1890 to 1953)
* Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth (1953 to 1969)
* Diocese of Fort Worth (1969 to present)

### 1847 to 1890

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.
After 1875, Irish-Catholic 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. 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. St. Joseph's Infirmary opened in 1885 in Fort Worth.

### 1890 to 1969

In 1892, the new St. Patrick's Church in Fort Worth was dedicated by Bishop Thomas Brennan of Dallas. The following Catholic schools opened during this time period:
* Gainesville (1892)
* Muenster (1890 and 1895)
* Pilot Point (1893)
* Cleburne (1896)
In 1910, the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur opened Our Lady of Victory College in Fort Worth. 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.

### 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. He named Auxiliary Bishop John Cassata of Dallas-Fort Worth as the first bishop of Fort Worth. 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. 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.
As of 2023, the bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth is Michael Fors Olson, named by Pope Francis in 2013.
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. Kirkham sued the diocese then dropped the suit in 2020.
In June 2021, six seminarians were ordained as priests by Olson at the Vietnamese Martyrs Church in Arlington. This was the largest ordination class of priests in diocesan history.
In April 2022, Olson requested the resignation of Christopher Plumlee, CEO of Catholic Charities Fort Worth (CCFW). The agency had planned to host a Women's Empow[her]ment Summit in Hurst in late April. Olson was upset that no male speakers were invited to the event and that the diocese did not get a chance to vet the invited speakers. In a previous meeting, Olson had asked Plumless to postpone the summit because it was not aligned with “the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church,”. Plumlee refused Olson's request for a month, then finally canceled the summit. Plumlee resigned from CCFW.
In December 2024, the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rome suppressed the Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington. This was the culmination of a two-battle, both in ecclesiastical and civil court, between Olson and the Carmelite religious sisters. It started in April 2023 when Olson entered the monastery and accused its prioress, Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, of having sex with a priest. Olson then confiscated Gerlach's electronic devices. Gerlach then sued Olson, claiming that he overstepped his authority and wanted to take the Carmelite Monastery.

### Sex abuse

The Diocese of Fort Worth paid a $1.4 million financial 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. 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. He was laicized by the Vatican in 2011.
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. 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.
In 2018, the diocese published a list of 17 clergy from the diocese with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors since the 1960s.

## Bishops
### Bishops of Fort Worth

* John Joseph Cassata (1969–1980)
* Joseph Patrick Delaney (1981–2005)
* Kevin William Vann (2005–2012), appointed Bishop of Orange
* Michael Fors Olson (2014–present)

### Coadjutor bishop

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.

### Other diocesan priest who became bishop

Stephen Jay Berg, appointed Bishop of Pueblo in 2014

## Churches
### Cathedral

St. Patrick Cathedral – Fort Worth

### Parishes

| Immaculate Heart Of Mary (Abbott) Jesus of Nazareth (Albany) Holy Redeemer Catholic Church (Aledo) Most Blessed Sacrament (Arlington) St. Joseph (Arlington) St. Maria Goretti (Arlington) St. Mary the Virgin (Arlington) St. Matthew (Arlington) St. Vincent de Paul (Arlington) Vietnamese Martyrs (Arlington) Holy Trinity (Azle) St. Michael (Bedford) St. Jerome (Bowie) Sacred Heart Of Jesus (Breckenridge) St. John the Baptizer (Bridgeport) St. Jude Thaddeus (Burkburnett) St. Ann (Burleson) St. Catherine of Siena (Carrollton) Holy Rosary (Cisco) St. John Vianney (Cleburne) St. Joseph (Cleburne) Holy Angels (Clifton) Good Shepherd (Colleyville) Sacred Heart (Comanche) St. Joseph (Crowell) Our Lady of Guadalupe (De Leon) Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Decatur) Saint John Paul II University Parish (Denton) Immaculate Conception (Denton) St. Mark (Denton) St. Mary (Dublin) St. Francis Xavier (Eastland) St. Paul (Electra) | All Saints (Fort Worth) St. Benedict (Fort Worth) Christ the King (Fort Worth) Holy Family (Fort Worth) Holy Name of Jesus (Fort Worth) Immaculate Heart of Mary (Fort Worth) Our Lady of Fatima (Vietnamese language) (Fort Worth) Our Lady of Guadalupe (Spanish language) (Fort Worth) Our Mother of Mercy (Fort Worth) St. Andrew (Fort Worth) St. Bartholomew (Fort Worth) St. George (Fort Worth) St. John the Apostle St. Mary of the Assumption (Fort Worth) St. Paul the Apostle (Fort Worth) St. Rita (Fort Worth) St. Thomas Becket (Fort Worth) St. Thomas the Apostle (Fort Worth) St. Mary (Gainesville) St. Rose of Lima (Glen Rose) St. Francis of Assisi (Graford) St. Mary (Graham) St. Frances Cabrini (Granbury) St. Francis of Assisi (Grapevine) St. Mary (Henrietta) Our Lady of Mercy (Hillsboro) Korean Martyrs (Hurst) Christ the King (Iowa Park) St. Mary (Jacksboro) St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (Keller) Santa Rosa (Knox City) Our Lady of Lebanon (Maronite) (Lewisville) St. Philip the Apostle (Flower Mound) | St. Peter (Lindsay) St. Jude (Mansfield) St. Mary of the Assumption (Megargel) Our Lady of Lourdes (Mineral Wells) St. William (Montague) Our Lady of Guadalupe (Morgan) Sacred Heart (Muenster) St. Joseph (Nocona) St. John the Apostle (North Richland Hills) St. Theresa (Olney) Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Penelope) St. Thomas Aquinas (Pilot Point) St. Martin De Porres (Prosper) St. Mary (Quanah) St. Rita (Ranger) St. Joseph (Rhineland) St. Boniface (Scotland) Sacred Heart (Seymour) St. Brendan (Stephenville) St. John (Strawn) Holy Cross (The Colony) St. Sophia (Ukrainian Greek) (The Colony) Holy Family of Nazareth (Vernon) St. Stephen (Weatherford) St. Peter the Apostle (White Settlement) Immaculate Conception of Mary (Wichita Falls) Our Lady of Guadalupe (Wichita Falls) Our Lady Queen of Peace (Wichita Falls) Sacred Heart (Wichita Falls) St. Mary (Windthorst) |

## Education

As of 2025, the Diocese of Fort Worth had 14 elementary schools and three high schools. The total enrollment as of 2024 was approximately 3,900.

### University and college communities

The Diocese of Fort Worth operates ministries at five colleges and universities:
* University Catholic Community, University of Texas at Arlington – Arlington
* MSU Catholic Campus Center Midwestern State University – Wichita Falls
* St. John Paul II Parish and Campus Ministry, University of North Texas, Texas Woman's University – Denton
* TCU Catholic, Texas Christian University – Fort Worth
* Catholic Campus Ministry, Tarleton State University – Stephenville

### High schools

As of 2025, there are three high schools in the Diocese of Fort Worth:
* Cassata Catholic High School – Fort Worth
* Nolan Catholic High School – Fort Worth
* Sacred Heart Catholic School – Muenster