Roman Catholic Diocese of New Ulm

The Diocese of New Ulm () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in western Minnesota in the United States. 

The Diocese of New Ulm is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The see for the diocese is New Ulm. The Cathedral parish is the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity.

Territory 
The Diocese of New Ulm encompasses the counties of Big Stone, Brown, Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, McLeod, Meeker, Nicollet, Redwood, Renville, Sibley, Swift, and Yellow Medicine in Minnesota.

The largest town in the diocese is Willmar at 19,610; New Ulm is, after Hutchinson and Marshall, the 4th largest city. There are no Catholic colleges or universities in the diocese.

History

1826 to 1957 
Central Minnesota went through several Catholic jurisdictions before the Vatican erected the Diocese of New Ulm:

 Diocese of Saint Louis (1826 to 1837)
 Diocese of Dubuque (1837 to 1850)
 Diocese of Saint Paul (1850 to 1875)

The New Ulm area would remain part of the Diocese of Saint Paul, followed by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul, for the next 107 years.

The first Catholic church in the city of New Ulm, Holy Trinity, was started in 1857, but was demolished during the Dakota War of 1862. The replacement church was built in 1871, then was destroyed by a tornado ten years later. The current Holy Trinity church was completed in 1903.

1957 to 2000 
On November 18, 1957, Pope Pius XII founded the Diocese of New Ulm, taking its  territory from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul. The pope named Monsignor Alphonse Schladweiler of Saint Paul as the first bishop of New Ulm.

Following the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council in Rome, Schladweiler worked to implement its reforms, including introducing English into the mass. During his 18-year tenure, he ordained 64 priests and organized St. Isadore Parish in Clarkfield (1960) and Lady of the Lakes Parish in Spicer (1962). In 1972, Schladweiler founded a diocesan newspaper, the Newsletter, and the diocesan pastoral council. He also established a mission in Guatemala, assuming responsibility for staffing a parish in San Lucas Tolimán. Schladweiler retired in 1975.

The second bishop of New Ulm was Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Lucker of Saint Paul, named by Pope Paul VI in 1975. He placed one of his parishes under interdict until every member received psychological counseling after a nun, trained in New Age spirituality, replaced a crucifix in the church sanctuary with a "cosmic pillow." Lucker retired in 2000 due to health reasons.

2000 to present 
Pope John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop John Nienstedt from the Archdiocese of Detroit as the third bishop of New Ulm in 2001. He denounced the more progressive views of Lucker and told Catholics not to read Lucker's book on Catholic doctrine. Nienstadt became coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in 2007.

Nienstedt's replacement in New Ulm was Reverend John M. LeVoir of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, named by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. In 2017, the diocese filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy following numerous sexual abuse lawsuits against diocesan clergy. LeVoir retired in 2020.

As of 2023, the current bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm is Chad Zielinski, formerly bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks.  He was named by Pope Francis in 2022.

Sexual abuse 
In the 1980s, a diocesan housekeeper reported to Reverend Francis J. Garvey, then a member of the priest personnel board, that Reverend John M. Murphy was entertaining young boys in his apartment.  Garvey relayed the information to Bishop Schladweiler, who told Garvey to mind his own business.  Nevertheless, Garvey confronted Murphey, who immediately resigned his post and left the diocese. This information was revealed by Garvey in a legal deposition taken in 2014.  Murphy was included in the list of accused priests released by the diocese.

In 2002, Nienstadt compiled a list of 12 priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse for submission to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York.  John Jay was studying clergy abuse in the United States.  However, Nienstadt refused to release this list to the general public. In 2014, two men who claimed to have been sexually abused by Reverend Michael Skoblik sued the diocese, demanding the release of the list.

In March 2016, the diocese released the names of 16 clergy, 13 deceased, who were "credibly accused" of sexually abusing minors. In April 2016, three more priests were added to the list.In March 2017, the diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to settle its sexual abuse lawsuits. At that point,  21 diocesan priests had credible accusations of sexual abuse, with most of the accusations dating from the 1950s to the 1970s.  The lawsuits against the diocese accused approximately 90 priests of sexually abusing 101 victims.

In June 2019, the diocese agreed to distribute $34 million to 93 alleged victims as part of a settlement. It was approved by a bankruptcy judge in March 2020.

Bishops

Bishops of New Ulm
 Alphonse James Schladweiler (1957–1975)
 Raymond Alphonse Lucker (1975–2000)
 John Clayton Nienstedt (2001–2007), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop and later Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
 John M. LeVoir (2008–2020)
 Chad Zielinski (2022-)

Other diocesan priest who became bishop
John Jeremiah McRaith, appointed Bishop of Owensboro in 1982

Education
The Diocese of New Ulm has three high schools and 13 primary schools, with an approximate enrollment as of 2022 of 1,870.
Cathedral High School – New Ulm
Holy Trinity High School – Winsted
St. Mary's High School – Sleepy Eye

See also

 Catholic Church in the United States
 Ecclesiastical Province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
 List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States

References

External links
Diocese of New Ulm Official Site

 
New Ulm
Diocese of New Ulm
Christian organizations established in 1957
New Ulm
New Ulm
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017