Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo

The Diocese of Fargo () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern North Dakota in the United States.  It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

The mother church is the Cathedral of St. Mary in Fargo.  As of 2023, the bishop of Fargo is John Folda.

History 
The Dakotas area went through several Catholic jurisdictions before the creation of the Diocese of Fargo:

 Diocese of Saint Louis (1826 to 1837)
 Diocese of Dubuque (1837 to 1850)
 Diocese of Saint Paul (1850 to 1879)
 Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota (1879 to 1889)

1889 to 1900 
The Diocese of Jamestown was erected on November 10, 1889, by Pope Leo XIII, taking the news State of North Dakota from the Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota.  The pope named Reverend John Shanley of Saint Paul as bishop of Jamestown. The new diocese covered the entire state of North Dakota.  St. James Church was designated the diocesan cathedral.

That same year, Shanley wrote the Fargo Argus defending Native Americans living on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. He denounced actions taken by local Indian agents that hurt the Chippewa/Ojibwe people and highlighted positive aspects of their culture.

Once in Fargo, Shanley purchased property for a new cathedral and started its construction. The basement was completed when a fire destroyed most of downtown Fargo in 1893. Shanley then donated most of the cathedral funds to reconstruct Fargo, delaying the cathedral completion until 1899. Shanley hosted the convention of Catholic Laymen in 1896.

On April 6, 1897, the Vatican renamed the Diocese of Jamestown as the Diocese of Fargo. At this time, the diocese had 60 churches, 33 priests, 14 schools and one hospital in the diocese.

1900 to 1970 
By the time Shanley died in July 1909, the diocese had 106 priests, 225 churches, six academies, 34 schools and four hospitals.Pope Pius X named Reverend James O'Reilly of Saint Paul as the second bishop of Fargo in December 1909. At the same time, Pope Pius X moved all of western North Dakota from the Diocese of Fargo to the new Diocese of Bismarck. 

O'Reilly died in 1934 after 25 years as bishop. The next bishop of Fargo was Aloisius Muench of Saint Paul, appointed by Pope Pius XI in 1935.  After World War II, Muench spent much of his time on Vatican assignments in West Germany while still serving as bishop of Fargo.  While Muench was in Europe, Pope Pius XII appointed Bishop Leo Dworschak of the Diocese of Rapid City to serve as apostolic administrator in Fargo. In 1947, Pius XII named Dworschak as auxiliary bishop in Fargo. Muench resigned in 1959 as bishop of Fargo after being elevated to the rank of cardinal; Pope John XXIII in 1960 named Dworschak as Muench's replacement.

1970 to present 
After Dworschak retired in 1970, Pope Paul VI appointed Reverend Justin Driscoll, president of Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, as the next bishop of Fargo. Driscoll died in 1984.

To replace Driscoll, Pope John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop James Sullivan of the Diocese of Lansing as bishop of Fargo.  During his tenure, Sullivan established the Fargo Catholic Schools Network and the Opening Doors, Opening Hearts evangelization program. He improved the financial condition of the diocese and funded the Priest Pension Plan through the Shepherd's Care Campaign. In 2001, John Paul II named Monsignor Samuel J. Aquila of Denver as coadjutor bishop of the diocese to assist Sullivan. When Sullivan resigned in 2002, Aquila automatically succeeded him as bishop of Fargo.

After Aquila was named archbishop of the Archdiocese of Denver in 2012, Pope Francis in 2013 named Monsignor John Folda of the Diocese of Lincoln to succeed him in Fargo.  Folda, as of 2023, is the current bishop of Fargo.

Sex abuse 
The diocese in 1998 removed Reverend Fernando Sayasaya from ministry at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Fargo after three teenage boys accused him of sexual abuse. Sayasaya went home to the Philippines in December 1998.In December 2002, he was charged with gross sexual imposition.The Vatican laicized Sayasaya in 2005. The Phillipines ordered him extradited to the United States in 2010, but he wasn't arrested for seven more years. In 2017. In May 2018, 20 years after he was first accused, Sayasaya pleaded guilty in North Dakota and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In a 2010 article, the Grand Forks Herald discussed a sexual abuse case it had originally reported in March 1994.  A Grand Forks man had accused Reverend John Smythe, on assignment from Ireland in the Diocese of Fargo, of sexually assaulting him in 1981 in Langdon when the man was 12 years old. When contacted in 1994 by the Herald, the vicar general for the diocese said they had sent Smythe away for treatment.  However, by later 1994, Smythe was in prison in Northern Ireland for sexually assaulting children there. At that point, other alleged victims of Smythe in Langdon had come forward to the diocese.

In January 2020, the diocese published a list of 31 diocesan clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of children, dating back to 1950. The list included Reverend Richard Sinner, brother of former North Dakota Governor George A. Sinner. 

In July 2021, the diocese announced that the Diocese of Lansing had confirmed several credible sexual abuse allegations against Bishop Sullivan.  While assigned as a priest at the Church of the Resurrection Parish in Lansing, Michigan, in the 1960s, Sullivan allegedly touched two young boys inappropriately and used sexual language with them. After the announcement, the John Paul II Catholic Schools network in Fargo renamed Sullivan Middle School as Sacred Heart Middle School.

In December 2022, a woman reported to the diocese that she had been sexually victimized by Reverend Neil Pfeifer, pastor of three churches in the Jamestown area, between January and March 2021 during counseling sessions.  Frustrated with the pace of the diocese investigation, the woman filed charges against Pfeifer with the police in January 2023.  Later that month, the diocese removed Pfeiffer from ministry.  He was arrested February 2023, and charged with sexual exploitation by therapist. Pfeifer denied the charges.  He was later accused of a similar offense in Logan County.

Bishops

Bishop of Jamestown 
John Shanley (1889–1909)

Bishops of Fargo
 John Shanley (1889–1909)
 James O'Reilly (1909–1934)
 Aloisius Joseph Muench (1935–1959), appointed Apostolic Nuncio and Titular Archbishop (elevated to Cardinal in 1959)
 Leo Ferdinand Dworschak (1960–1970)
 Justin Albert Driscoll (1970–1984)
 James Stephen Sullivan (1985–2002)
 Samuel Joseph Aquila (2002–2012), appointed Archbishop of Denver
 John Thomas Folda (2013–present)

Other diocesan priests who became bishops
 Raymond W. Lessard, appointed Bishop of Savannah in 1973
 William Theodore Mulloy, appointed Bishop of Covington in 1944
 Vincent James Ryan, appointed Bishop of Bismarck in 1940

Departments 
The Diocese of Fargo operates the following departments:

Archives
Catholic Education and Formation Office (CEF)
Catholic Schools
Cemeteries
Communications
Evangelization 
Catechesis
Finance
Human Resources
Marriage & Family Life
Marriage Tribunal
Properties Management
Respect Life
Stewardship & Development
Technology
Youth & Young Adult

Deaneries and parishes 
A partial list of parishes of the Diocese of Fargo follows.
 St. Joseph's Chapel, Minto

Deanery 1: South-East
Dean: Dale Lagodinski

 Holy Trinity Church, Fingal
 Our Lady of the Scapular Church, Sheldon
 St. Aloysius Church, Lisbon
 St. Anthony's Church, Fairmount
 St. Anthony's Church, Mooreton
 St. Arnold's Church, Milnor
 St. Boniface Church, Lidgerwood
 St. Charles Church, Oakes
 St. John the Baptist Church, Wyndmere

 St. John's Church, Wahpeton
 St. Martin's Church, Geneseo
 St. Mary's Church, Forman
 St. Patrick's Church, Enderlin
 St. Philip's Church, Hankinson
 St. Vincent's Church, Gwinner
 Sts. Peter and Paul's Church, Cayuga
 Sts. Peter and Paul's Church, Mantador

Deanery 2: Fargo
Dean: Paul Duchschere

 Blessed Sacrament Church, West Fargo
 Cathedral of St. Mary, Fargo
 Holy Cross Church, West Fargo
 Holy Spirit Church, Fargo
 Nativity Church, Fargo
 St. Anthony's Church, Fargo

 St. Benedict's Church, Wild Rice
 St. Leo's Church, Casselton
 St. Maurice Church, Kindred
 St. Paul's Newman Center, Fargo
 St. Thomas Church, Buffalo
 Sts. Anne and Joachim Catholic Church (Fargo), Fargo

Deanery 3: Grand Forks
Dean: N/A

 Holy Family Church, Grand Forks
 Our Lady of Peace Church, Mayville
 Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Reynolds
 St. Agnes Church, Hunter
 St. Jude's Church, Thompson
 St. Mary's Church, Grand Forks

 St. Michael's Church, Grand Forks
 St. Rose Catholic Church, Hillsboro
 St. Stephen's Church, Larimore
 St. Thomas Newman Center, Grand Forks
 St. Timothy's Church, Manvel
 St. William's Church, Argusville

Deanery 4: North-East
Dean:N/A

 Assumption Church, Pembina
 Sacred Heart Church, Minto
 Sacred Heart Church, Oakwood
 St. Alphonsus Church, Langdon
 St. Boniface Church, Walhalla
 St. Brigid's Church, Cavalier
 St. Edward's Church, Drayton
 St. Edward's Church, Nekoma
 St. John Nepomucene Church, Pisek

 St. John's Church, Grafton
 St. Joseph's Church, Lankin
 St. Luke's Church, Veseleyville
 St. Mary's Church, Park River
 St. Michael's Church, Wales
 St. Patrick's Church, Crystal
 St. Stanislaus Church, Warsaw
 Sts. Nereus and Archilleus Church, Neche
 Sts. Peter and Paul's Church, Bechyne

Deanery 5: Devils Lake
Dean: Chad Wilhelm

 Assumption Church, Starkweather
 Christ the King Church, Tokio
 Sacred Heart Church, Cando
 Seven Dolors Mission, Fort Totten
 St. Jerome's Church, Crow Hill
 St. John's Church, New Rockford
 St. Joseph's Church, Devils Lake
 St. Joseph's Church, Tolna

 St. Lawrence O'Toole's Catholic Church, Michigan
 St. Mary's Catholic Church, Munich
 St. Mary's Catholic Church, Lakota
 St. Michael's Mission, Devils Lake
 St. Vincent de Paul's Catholic Church, Leeds
 Sts. Peter and Paul's Catholic Church, McHenry

Deanery 6: North-West 
Dean: Frank Miller

 Holy Family Church, McClusky
 Holy Rosary Church, Bisbee
 Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Rock Lake
 Notre Dame Church, Willow City
 Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Balta
 Sacred Heart Church, Rolette
 St. Andrew's Church, Westhope
 St. Ann's Church, Belcourt
 St. Anthony's Church, Alcide
 St. Anthony's Church, Selz
 St. Augustine's Church, Fessenden
 St. Benedict's Church, Belcourt
 St. Boniface Church, Esmond

 St. Cecilia's Church, Harvey
 St. Cecilia's Church, Towner
 St. Francis Xavier's Church, Anamoose
 St. Joachim's Church, Rolla
 St. John's Church, St. John
 St. Margaret Mary's Church, Drake
 St. Mark's Church, Bottineau
 St. Mary's Church, Knox
 St. Michael's Church, Dunseith
 St. Therese Church, Rugby
 St. William's Church, Maddock
 Sts. Peter and Pauls Church, Karlsruhe

Deanery 7: Jamestown-Valley City
Dean: Dennis Skonseng

 Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Carrington
 Sacred Heart Church, Aneta
 Sacred Heart Church, Sanborn
 St. Agatha's Church, Hope
 St. Bernard's Church, Oriska
 St. Boniface Church, Wimbledon
 St. Catherine's Church, Valley City
 St Elizabeth's Church, Sykeston

 St. George's Church, Cooperstown
 St. James Basilica, Jamestown
 St. John's Church, Kensal
 St. Lawrence Church, Jessie
 St. Margaret Mary's Church, Buchanan
 St. Mary's Church, Dazey
 St. Mathias Church, Windsor
 St. Olaf's Church, Finley

Deanery 8: South-West
Dean: Wenceslaus Katanga

 Assumption Church, Dickey
 Holy Rosary Church, LaMoure
 Holy Spirit Church, Nortonville
 St. Andrew's Church, Zeeland
 St. David's Church, Ashley
 St. Francis Church, Steele
 St. Helena's Church, Ellendale

 St. Mary's Church, Medina
 St. Patrick's Church, Fullerton
 St. Paul's Church, Tappen
 St Philip's Church, Napoleon
 St. Raphael's Church, Venora
 Transfiguration Church, Edgeley

Education 
As of 2023, the Diocese of Fargo has one high school and 13 primary and middle schools.

Schools

Former schools 
The Diocese of Fargo operated Cardinal Muench Seminary, established in 1962, for the formation of men to the priesthood. The seminary closed in May 2011 due to increased costs and a lack of funding.

The following schools are closed:
 St. Alphonsus High School
 St. Mary's Elementary School

Coat of arms

See also 

 Catholic Church by country
 Catholic Church in the United States
 Ecclesiastical Province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
 Global organisation of the Catholic Church
 List of Roman Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
 List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
 List of Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
 List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States

Notes

External links 

 Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo Official Site

 
Fargo
Diocese of Fargo
Religious organizations established in 1889
1889 establishments in Dakota Territory
Fargo
Fargo