Roman Catholic Diocese of Evansville

The Diocese of Evansville () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Southwestern Indiana in the United States.

The mother church of the diocese is St. Benedict Cathedral in Evansville.  The diocese was formed in 1944 from what was then the Diocese of Indianapolis.  It is part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Indianapolis.  As of 2023, the bishop of Evansville is Joseph M. Siegel

Statistics and extent 
The Diocese of Evansville includes all or part of 12 counties in Southwestern Indiana. While located within the diocese, St. Meinrad Archabbey is part of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

As of 2014, the diocese had a population of 90,800 Catholics (17.8% of the 510,626 total population) in 69 parishes (grouped into four deaneries) and four missions.  The diocese had 71 priests (66 diocesan and five religious), 59 deacons, 234 lay religious (six brothers and 228 sisters) and ten seminarians.

History

1675 to 1944 
During the 17th century, present day Indiana was part of the French colony of New France. The Diocese of Quebec, which had jurisdiction over the colony, sent French missionaries to the region. The first French Jesuit missionaries came to the Vincennes area around 1675. 

After the British took control of New France in 1763, the Archdiocese of Quebec retained jurisdiction in the Indiana area. In 1776, the new United States claimed sovereignty over the area of Indiana. In 1787, Indiana became part of the Northwest Territory of the United States.

With the creation of the Diocese of Bardstown in Kentucky in 1810, supervision of the Indiana Territory shifted there. In 1827, the bishop of the Diocese of St. Louis assumed jurisdiction in the new state of Indiana. In 1834, Pope Gregory XVI erected the Diocese of Vincennes, which included both Indiana and Illinois. Pope Pius IX created the Diocese of Fort Wayne for Indiana 1857.  The Evansville area would remain part of the Diocese of Vincennes, succeeded by the Diocese of Indianapolis, for the next 87 years.

1944 to 1965 
Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Evansville from the Diocese of Indianapolis on October 21, 1944.  The pope named Reverend Henry Grimmelsman, rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio, as its first bishop.  Grimmelsman named Assumption Church in Evansville as his cathedral.

At the time of its founding, the diocese included five deaneries, 63 parishes and missions; it had a population of 49,737 Catholics, and 75 diocesan priests. The diocese purchased the John Augustus Reitz Home in Evansville from the Daughters of Isabella for use as the chancery and bishop's residence. In 1948, Grimmelsman conducted the first synod for the diocese.

The diocese grew rapidly after World War II;  12 new parishes were founded between 1944 and 1962 in the Evansville suburbs, Jasper, Fort Branch and Bloomfield.  The diocese also elevated mission churches in New Harmony and Oakland City to parishes. The diocese constructed the following facilities:

 Mater Dei and Rex Mundi High Schools in Evansville
 Magister Noster, a high school seminary, in Evansville
 High schools in Ferdinand, Loogootee, and Vincennes  
 St. Benedict College in Ferdinand
 Memorial Hospital in Jasper, sponsored by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary
 A new facility for St. Mary's Medical Center in Evansville, sponsored by the Daughters of Charity

1965 to 1989 

The population of downtown Evansville declined in the 1960s, forcing the diocese to close Assumption Cathedral in 1965.  Holy Trinity Church, the home of the chancery since 1957, was named the pro-cathedral, for the diocese. 

After Grimmelsman retired in 1965, Pope Paul VI appointed Auxiliary Bishop Paul Leibold of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as the second bishop of Evansville.  Three years later in 1969, Paul VI named Leibold as archbishop of Cincinnati.  The pope appointed Monsignor Francis Shea of the Diocese of Nashville as Leibold's replacement in Evansville.

Shea constructed a new mission church in Santa Claus, Indiana, in 1967. The diocese also expanded facilities at St. John Home in Evansville and the Providence Home in Jasper. The diocese also made these changes:

 Sold its high schools in Ferdinand and Loogootee to the local public school districts.  
 Closed Rex Mundi and Magister Noster High Schools in Evansville. Rex Mundi went to Ivy Tech Community College and Magister Noster became the diocesan chancery.
 Closed St. Benedict College
 Consolidated the high schools in Vincennes
 Closed St. Ann Mission in Shelburn in 1978
 Closed Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mission in Dugger in 1982

1989 to 2010 

When Shea retired in 1989, Pope John Paul II named Monsignor Gerald Gettelfinger of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis as the next bishop of Evansville.  Several parishes built new churches in the 1990s, and the Santa Claus mission became a parish.  As the number of priests began to decline and the Catholic population shifted to suburban areas, the diocese in 1997 closed St. Patrick Parish in Corning, St. Mary Parish in Barr Township and St. Michael Parish in Montgomery.  The St. Patrick and St. Mary Churches were redesignated as chapels while St. Michael was razed.  In 1999, Gettelfinger named St. Benedict, the largest church in Evansville, as the new cathedral for the diocese.

Recognizing the influx of Hispanic Catholics into the diocese, Gettelfinger opened a Hispanic ministry in 2000.  Although the number of priests continued to decrease, the diocese began to ordain several large classes of permanent deacons.  In 2008, the diocese merged St. Mary and St. Simon Parishes in Washington into Our Lady of Hope Parish, then demolished the St. Mary church.  The diocese began a formal planning process in 2009 to allocate resources for the future.  Pope John Paul II High School opened in Jasper in 2009, but closed in 2012 due to low enrollment.

2010 to present 
In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI named Monsignor Charles C. Thompson of the Archdiocese of Louisville as the fifth bishop of the diocese, replacing Gettelfinger. 

Emily Herx, a teacher for the diocesan schools, sued the diocese in 2011, claiming that it had discriminated against her because she was a woman.  The diocese terminated Herx when it learned that she was undergoing in vitro fertilization to become pregnant.  A jury awarded Herx $2 million in 2014.

In 2014, Thompson merged 19 parishes into eight parishes. The diocese also prohibited priests from celebrating more that three masses per Sunday, including the Saturday evening vigil. For some churches in the newly merged parishes, it meant no Sunday masses at all. The diocese in 2015 merged seven more parishes into three parishes.

Pope Francis appointed Thompson as archbishop of Indianapolis in 2017 and replaced him in Evansville with Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Siegel from the Diocese of Joliet. In 2018, the diocese began renovations of St. Benedict Cathedral.  As of 2023, Siegel is the current bishop of Evansville.

Sex abuse 
Bishop Evans in February 2019 released a list of ten clerics in the diocese who faced credible accusations of sexual assault against minors. In August 2019, the diocese notified the Evansville Police Department about an accusation of sexual abuse dating back to the 1980s.  The victim was then a 14 year old parishioner at Holy Spirit School in Evansville. The unidentified perpetrator died before 1990.

In 2007, Reverend Fredy Mendez-Morales had sex with a developmentally disabled young woman at a youth camp run by the diocese. Mendez-Morales claimed that he did not know that she was disabled. He later pleaded guilty, was sentenced to ten years in prison and was deported after his release. The girl's mother, Silvia Gameros, sued the diocese in 2009, claiming that it was negligent in supervising the girl at camp and tried to convince her to take emergency contraception after the attack. Gameros and the diocese reached a settlement in 2013.

In March 2022, Reverend Bernie Etienne of Holy Rosary Parish in Evansville was suspended from ministry while the diocese investigated an allegation of sexual abuse from the early 2000s.   In November 2022, the diocese determined that the allegations against Etienne were not credible and allowed him to return to ministry.

Bishops of Evansville
 Henry Joseph Grimmelsmann (1944–1965)
 Paul Francis Leibold (1966–1969), appointed Archbishop of Cincinnati
 Francis Raymond Shea (1969–1989)
 Gerald Andrew Gettelfinger (1989–2011)
 Charles Coleman Thompson (2011–2017), appointed Archbishop of Indianapolis
 Joseph M. Siegel (2017–present)

Parishes 
Parish names in bold print. Except where otherwise indicated, a parish consists of a single church bearing the same name.

South Deanery
 Evansville, Daylight, and Warrick County
 Dean: Rev. Phil Kreilein
12 parishes as of July 1, 2016

Evansville
St. Benedict Parish (cathedral)
Resurrection Parish
Holy Redeemer Parish
All Saints Parish
St. Anthony of Padua Church (parish church)
St. Joseph Church
Annunciation of the Lord Parish
Christ the King Church (parish church)
Holy Spirit Church
Good Shepherd Parish
Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish
St. Boniface Parish
St. Boniface Church (parish church)
Sacred Heart of Jesus Church
St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr Church
Sts. Mary and John Parish
St. Mary Church (parish church)
St. John the Apostle Church
Boonville
St. Clement Parish
St. Clement Church
St. Rupert Church, Red Brush
Daylight
St. John the Evangelist Parish
Newburgh
St. John the Baptist Parish

North Deanery
 Greene, Knox, Sullivan, Daviess, and Martin Counties
 Dean: Rev. David Fleck
9 parishes as of July 1, 2016

Vincennes
St. Francis Xavier Parish
St. John the Baptist Church (parish church)
The Basilica of St. Francis Xavier (minor basilica)
Sacred Heart of Jesus Church
St. Thomas the Apostle Church, St. Thomas
St. Vincent de Paul Church
Bicknell
St. Philip Neri Parish
Bloomfield
Holy Name of Jesus Parish
Jasonville
St. Joan of Arc Parish
Linton
St. Peter Parish
Loogootee
St. John the Evangelist Parish
St. John the Evangelist Church (parish church)
Immaculate Conception Church, Shoals
St. Joseph Church, Bramble
St. Martin of Tours Church, Whitfield
St. Mary Chapel, Barr Township
Montgomery
St. Peter Parish
St. Peter Church (parish church)
All Saints Church, Cannelburg
St. Patrick Chapel, Corning
St. Michael the Archangel cemetery and property, Daviess County
Sullivan
St. Mary Parish
Washington
Our Lady of Hope Parish

East Deanery
 Dubois and Spencer Counties
12 parishes as of July 1, 2016

Jasper
St. Joseph Parish
Holy Family Parish
Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ Parish

Celestine
St. Peter Celestine Parish
St. Peter Celestine Church (parish church)
St. Raphael Parish, Dubois
Chrisney
St. Martin I Parish
St. Martin I Church (parish church)
St. John Chrysostom Church, New Boston

Dale
St. Francis of Assisi Parish
St. Joseph Church (parish church)
Mary, Help of Christians Church, Mariah Hill
St. Nicholas Church, Santa Claus

Ferdinand
St. Ferdinand Parish

Huntingburg
St. Mary Parish

Ireland
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

Rockport
St. Bernard Parish

 St. Anthony
Divine Mercy Parish
St. Anthony of Padua Church (parish church)
Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Schnellville

 St. Henry
St. Henry Parish

West Deanery
 Gibson County, Pike, and Posey Counties, and Vanderburgh County west of Evansville
 Dean: Rev. Anthony Ernst effective June 29, 2016
13 parishes as of July 1, 2015

Princeton
St. Joseph Parish
Evansville
Corpus Christi Parish
Ft. Branch
Holy Cross Parish
Haubstadt
Ss. Peter and Paul Parish
Mt. Vernon
St. Matthew Parish
Oakland City
Blessed Sacrament Parish
Petersburg
Ss. Peter and Paul Parish
Poseyville
St. Francis Xavier Parish
St. Francis Xavier Church (parish church)
Holy Angels Church, New Harmony
St. James
St. James Parish
St. Joseph
St. Joseph Parish
St. Philip
St. Philip the Apostle Parish
St. Wendel
St. Wendel Parish
Snake Run
St. Bernard Parish

Religious Orders 

 Congregation of Divine Providence
 Daughters of Charity
 Little Sisters of the Poor – served at St. John's Home for the Aged in Evansville for 131 years. Sold the facility in 2013.
 Order of St. Benedict – located at the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand and Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove
 Poor Clare Sisters – monastery near Evansville
 Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
 Sisters of the Little Company of Mary
 Sisters of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis
 Sons of Divine Providence

Education

Primary schools 

 Annunciation School, Christ the King campus – Evansville
 Annunciation School, Holy Spirit campus– Evansville
 Corpus Christi School – Evansville
 Flaget Elementary School – Vincennes
 Good Shepherd School – Evansville
 Holy Cross School – Fort Branch
 Holy Redeemer School – Evansville
 Holy Rosary School – Evansville
 Holy Trinity Catholic School central campus – Jasper
 Holy Trinity Catholic School east campus – Jasper
 Resurrection School – Evansville
 St. Benedict Cathedral School  – Evansville
 St. Bernard School – Rockport
 St. James School – Haubstadt
 St. John the Baptist School – Newburgh
 St. Joseph School – Vanderburgh County
 St. Joseph School – Princeton
 St. Matthew School – Mt. Vernon
 St. Philip School – Posey County
 Ss. Peter and Paul School – Haubstadt
 St. Wendel School – St. Wendel
 Washington Catholic Elementary School – Washington
 Westside Catholic School – Evansville, St. Agnes campus
 Westside Catholic School – Evansville, St. Boniface campus

Secondary schools 
 Mater Dei High School – Evansville
 Reitz Memorial High School – Evansville
 Rivet Middle/High School – Vincennes
 Washington Catholic Middle/High School – Washington

Former high schools
 John Paul the Great High School –  Jasper
 Rex Mundi High School – Evansville

Healthcare

Hospitals 
 Memorial Hospital, Jasper – sponsored by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary
 St. Vincent (formerly St. Mary's Medical Center), Evansville – sponsored by the Daughters of Charity

Nursing Homes 
Providence Home, Jasper – sponsored by the Sons of Divine Providence

Diocesan Arms

See also 
List of Catholic dioceses in the United States

References

Sources and external links 
 Roman Catholic Diocese of Evansville Official Site
 GCatholic, with Google map - data for most sections

 
Religious organizations established in 1944
Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Indianapolis
Roman Catholic Dioceses in Indiana
Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States
Southwestern Indiana
Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century
1944 establishments in Indiana