# Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas

The Diocese of Dallas (Latin: Diœcesis Dallasensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in North Texas in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
The diocese was founded on July 15, 1890. The mother church is the National Shrine Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dallas. Since 2016, the bishop is Edward J. Burns.

## Statistics

As of 2021, the Diocese of Dallas had a Catholic population exceeding 1.3 million in 69 parishes. It was served by 230 priests (146 diocesan, 84 religious), 177 permanent deacons, 66 female religious, and 108 male religious.
The diocese comprises nine counties in the state of Texas: Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro and Rockwall.

## History
### Name changes

The Dallas 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 Dallas (1969 to present)

### 1800 to 1890

By 1868, the Dallas area had only one Catholic family, ministered to by priests from St. Paul in Collin County, incorporated into what is now Saint Anthony Parish in Wylie, Texas. Reverend Joseph Martinere traveled hundreds of miles through swamps and forests to minister to Catholics in the area. The construction of water projects and railroads during the later part of the 19th century increased the immigration of Catholic Irish and German immigrants into North Texas.
Sacred Heart Parish was dedicated in Dallas in 1869, the first parish in that city. The parishioners erected their church in 1872. Six Ursuline nuns in 1874 opened the Ursuline Academy of Dallas, the first Catholic school in Dallas.
In Fort Worth, the first Catholic church, St. Stanislaus Kostka, was opened in 1879.

### 1890 to 1894

Pope Leo XIII erected the Diocese of Dallas on July 15, 1890, taking its territory from the Diocese of Galveston. The Diocese of Dallas at its inception included most of northern and central Texas. The pope appointed Monsignor Thomas Brennan of the Diocese of Erie as the first bishop of the new diocese.
Wanting to retire the diocesan debt, Brennan tried to use the Ursuline Academy of Dallas as collateral property to the banks for better financing. However, the Ursuline Sisters objected, saying that the property belonged to them, not the diocese. Brennan then tried to change the Ursuline Order constitution to allow him to get the academy property, but failed.
Some priests and laity in the diocese said that Brennan was embezzling diocese funds for his personal use. The Texas Catholic was accused by Brennan's priests of being a publication "whose sole reason for existence seemed to be...to praise the bishop and his vicar general."
Brennan lobbied the Vatican to raise the Diocese of Dallas to an archdiocese. In a letter to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in Rome, he argued for elevating Dallas instead of the Diocese of San Antonio. Brennan warned that making San Antonio, which was primarily Mexican-American, an archdiocese would lead to the "foreignization of the Southwest."
By July 1892, Brennan's metropolitan superior, Archbishop Francis Janssens of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, had concluded that Brennan was "an impudent letter writer". Janssens also noted that within the Diocese of Dallas "there are signs of much dissatisfaction on account of the arbitrary and uncanonical actions of the Bishop."
During an 1892 visit to the Vatican, Leo XIII forced Brennan to resign as bishop in Dallas. At the time of his resignation, the Catholic population of the diocese had grown to 15,000 served by 30 priests.

### 1894 to 1954

Leo XIII named Reverend Edward Dunne from the Diocese of Chicago as the second bishop of Dallas in 1894. Dunne completed the construction of the diocesan cathedral, which was described as "admittedly the finest in the South-Western States". Dunne also opened Holy Trinity College in Irving. It is today the University of Dallas.
Dunn established the St. Paul Sanitarium in Dallas and St. Anthony's Sanitarium in Amarillo. By 1908, the diocese had 83 priests serving an estimated Catholic population of 60,000. When Dunn died in 1910, the number of churches in the diocese had increased from 28 to 90.
Monsignor Joseph Lynch of Dallas was the third bishop of the diocese, named by Pope Pius X in 1911. During the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920, Lynch became an advocate on behalf of Catholic Mexican refugees displaced to Dallas. In 1914, the Vatican erected the Diocese of El Paso in West Texas, taking territory from the Diocese of Dallas. Lynch erected the first mission church in the diocese in Dallas for Mexican Americans in 1915.
In 1926, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Amarillo, taking the Texas Panhandle region from the Diocese of Dallas. Lynch built a segregated church for African-American Catholics at Fort Worth in 1929. Bishop Thomas Gorman from the Diocese of Reno was named coadjutor bishop in Dallas by Pope Pius XII in 1952 to assist Lynch.
In 1953, Pius XII renamed the Diocese of Dallas as the Diocese of Dallas–Fort Worth to reflect the population growth in Fort Worth. He also erected the Diocese of Austin in central Texas, taking some territory from Dallas-Fort Worth.
When Lynch died in 1954, after 43 years as bishop, the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth had over 200 religious and charitable institutions founded by him. During his episcopacy, the Catholic population in the diocese had increased from 20,000 to 125,000. Lynch ordained over 100 priests and established 150 churches with 108 parishes.

### 1954 to present

After Lynch's death, Gorman automatically succeeded him as bishop of the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth. Gorman revived the Texas Catholic newspaper, which had been suspended since 1894. He constructed 25 parochial schools and erected 20 new parishes. In 1969, the Vatican separated the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth into the Diocese of Dallas and the Diocese of Fort Worth.
Bishop Thomas Tschoepe from San Angelo was appointed by Pope Paul VI in 1969 as bishop of the new Diocese of Dallas. In 1989, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Tyler, taking eastern counties from the Diocese of Dallas. Pope John Paul II in 1989 appointed Bishop Charles Grahmann from the Diocese of Victoria in Texas to serve as a coadjutor bishop in Dallas to assist Tschoepe, When Tschoepe retired in 1990, Grahmann automatically succeeded him as bishop.
During his tenure in Dallas, Grahmann created new parishes for Hispanic, Vietnamese and other Catholics moving into the diocese. He also opened the John Paul II High School in Plano. By the time Grahmann retired in 2007, the Catholic population had expanded from 200,000 to nearly a million.
The next bishop of Dallas was Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Farrell from the Archdiocese of Washington, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. In 2010, Benedict XVI named Reverend J. Douglas Deshotel and Monsignor Mark J. Seitz as auxiliary bishops of the diocese. In 2016, Pope Francis named Farrell as prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life in Rome. To replace Farrell in Dallas, Francis appointed Bishop Edward J. Burns from the Diocese of Juneau. The pope also appointed Monsignor Gregory Kelly of Dallas as auxiliary bishop in the diocese.

### Sex abuse

Bishop Tschoepe attended a presentation at Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas by Reverend Paul Shanley from the Archdiocese of Boston. During the presentation, Shanley spoke of the positive effects of sexual relations between adult males and teenagers. In February 2005, Shanley was convicted in Massachusetts of indecent assaults and statutory rape; he received a sentence of 12 to 15 years in state prison. Shanley was laicized by the Vatican in 2004.
In 1993, the diocese was sued by eight men and the family of a ninth man who had committed suicide. The plaintiffs said they were abused as altar servers by Reverend Rudolph Kos, who served in several parishes in the diocese. In April 1992, a therapist had told diocesan officials that Kos was a "classic textbook pedophile". However, the diocese allowed Kos to remain in ministry. He abused another child 11 months later. Bishop Grahmann testified in 1997 that he had never read the therapist's report and allowed Kos to continue his ministry. In 1997, a jury awarded $120 million to the nine plaintiffs. In 1998, Kos was convicted of three counts of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to life in prison. The diocese appealed the civil lawsuit, but agreed to settle it in 1998, paying $23.4 million to the plaintiffs. Grahmann made this statement:
   "To the victims and their families, I once again want to apologize on behalf of the diocese. Based on what we know now, the decisions made concerning Rudy Kos were errors in human judgment. I regret very much what happened, and I am deeply sorry for your pain."
In April 2020, the diocese removed from ministry Reverend Oscar Mora, a visiting priest from the Archdiocese of Villavicencio. The archdiocese had informed the diocese that Mora was facing sexual abuse allegations in Colombia.

## Bishops
### Bishops of Dallas

* Thomas Francis Brennan (1891–1892)
* Edward Joseph Dunne (1893–1910)
* Joseph Patrick Lynch (1911–1954)

### Bishops of Dallas-Fort Worth

* Joseph Patrick Lynch (1911–1954)
* Thomas Kiely Gorman (1954–1969)

### Bishops of Dallas

* Thomas Kiely Gorman (1954–1969)
* Thomas Ambrose Tschoepe (1969–1990)
* Charles Victor Grahmann (1990–2007)
* Kevin Farrell (2007–2016), appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life (elevated to cardinal in 2016)
* Edward James Burns (2016–present)

### Coadjutor bishops

* Thomas Kiely Gorman (1952–1954)
* Charles Victor Grahmann (1989–1990)
* Joseph Anthony Galante (1999–2004), did not succeed to the see; appointed Bishop of Camden

### Auxiliary bishops

* Augustine Danglmayr (1942–1969)
* John Joseph Cassata (1968–1969), appointed Bishop of Fort Worth
* Mark J. Seitz (2010–2013), appointed Bishop of El Paso
* J. Douglas Deshotel (2010–2016), appointed Bishop of Lafayette
* John Gregory Kelly (2016–2024), appointed Bishop of Tyler

### Other diocesan priests who became bishops

* Rudolph Aloysius Gerken, appointed Bishop of Amarillo in 1926 and later Archbishop of Santa Fe
* Wendelin Joseph Nold, appointed Coadjutor Bishop (in 1947) and later Bishop of Galveston-Houston
* Lawrence Michael De Falco, appointed Bishop of Amarillo in 1963
* Michael Jarboe Sheehan, appointed Bishop of Lubbock in 1983
* David Eugene Fellhauer, appointed Bishop of Victoria in 1990
* Michael Gerard Duca, appointed Bishop of Shreveport in 2008 and later Bishop of Baton Rouge
* Joseph Edward Strickland (priest here, 1985–1987), appointed Bishop of Tyler in 2012
* Robert Milner Coerver, appointed Bishop of Lubbock in 2016

## Coat of arms

Coat of arms of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas :
* NotesThe arms was designed and adopted when the diocese was erected
* Adopted1890
* EscutcheonThe coat of arms of the Diocese of Dallas shows a red background, a diagonal white band, three blue fleurs-de-lis, a solitary white star and two crossed swords.
* SymbolismThe red background represents the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the diocese's patronal feast. The white band represents the Trinity River. The placement of the band roughly resembles the northwest–southeast path of the Trinity river through Texas. The fleurs-de-lis honors Pope Leo XIII, who erected the diocese; it is taken from his coat of arms. The fleur-de-lis appears three times to represent the Holy Trinity. The star represents Dallas and the Texas' nickname, "The Lone Star State". The two swords represent Paul of Tarsus, the patron saint of the first Catholic settlement in northeast Texas.

## Education

As of 2025, the Diocese of Dallas has 36 schools with approximately 13,600 students enrolled.

### Seminaries

* Holy Trinity Catholic Seminary – Irving. Located on University of Dallas campus, seminarians attend classes at the university.
* Redemptorist Mater Seminary – Dallas. Seminary affiliated with the Neocatechumenal Way movement.

### University ministries

* Catholic Student Association – Austin College
* Catholic Student Association – Texas A&M University–Commerce
* University Catholic Center – University of Texas at Dallas
* Catholic Campus Ministry at SMU – Southern Methodist University
* Campus Ministry – University of Dallas

### High schools

As of 2025, there are nine high schools in the Diocese of Dallas:

#### Diocesan high schools

* Bishop Dunne Catholic School – Dallas
* Bishop Lynch High School – Dallas
* John Paul II High School – Plano
* Notre Dame School – (special education), Dallas

##### Independent high schools

* Cistercian Preparatory School – Irving
* Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep – Dallas
* The Highlands School – Irving
* Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas – Dallas
* Ursuline Academy – Dallas