Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown
The Diocese of Youngstown () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church, consisting of six counties in Northeast Ohio: Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Stark, Portage, and Ashtabula. The Diocese of Youngstown is suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Cincinnati. As of 2020, the Diocese of Youngstown contained 86 parishes and had 103 Diocesan Priests, 13 Religious Priests, 84 Permanent Deacons, 26 Male Religious, and 175 Female Religious. It had a Catholic population of 163,650 (13.9% of the total population) in an area totaling . As of 2021, the  diocese had 15 seminarians studying at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, OH; St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, PA; St. Mary Seminary in Wickliffe, OH; and other institutions. Early history. One of the earliest Roman Catholic communities in this Diocese was in Ashtabula, Ohio. In 1850, a small group of Catholics living in and around Ashtabula petitioned the Diocese of Cleveland for their own parish. A shortage of clergy, however, prevented the assignment of a resident priest. Instead, a visiting priest from Painesville would intermittently undertake an entire day's journey by horse over secondary rural roads. Eventually in 1858  the St. Joseph Mission was established and Father Charles Coquelle took up permanent residence. The inaugural members of the St. Joseph Parish were primarily Irish and German, drawn to Ashtabula by the railroad industry. Initial services were in private homes but in 1860 a small wooden frame church was built. The purchase of an additional five acres in 1877 allowed construction of St. Joseph's two-story brick secondary school staffed by the Sisters of the Humility of Mary. In 1878, the group began to celebrate worship services in a grocery store adjacent to Ashtabula Harbor. Out of this gathering  a parish was established in 1890 dedicated to St. Mary as "Mother of Sorrows." A permanent church was constructed nearby in 1898 and remains today. Towards the turn of the century, a large influx of Italian American Catholics made the formation of a third church in Ashtabula desirable. In 1897 land was purchased on the southwest corner of Columbus Avenue and Sibley Street (whose name was changed to 16th street by city government in 1930) and construction of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church began in 1902. The first mass was celebrated in 1903. As the Catholic presence grew, the  cornerstone of a larger masonry building to replace the original St. Joseph's was laid on Aug. 1, 1905. That church cost $34,000 to build and is still in use. Another early settlement of Catholics in the Diocese was in Columbania County, in the town of Dungannon Ohio. Here is where the first bishop of Ohio Bishop McFaddon, had the first mass in the area. The mission was first settled on St. Pauls. Today the original log cabin where he had mass still stands on the land of the oldest parish of St. Philip Neri. Today, under the direction  of Fr. Steven Wassie, St. Philip Neri is used for the Saturday Vigil mass as Father Wassie overseas not only St. Philip Neri Parish, but St. George in Lisbon, St. Johns in Summitville, and St. Agatha Mission in West Point. Diocese history. Pope Pius XII created the Diocese of Youngstown from territory formerly part of the Diocese of Cleveland in 1943. The new administrative construct consisted of six northeastern counties of Ohio, namely Ashtabula, Columbiana, Mahoning, Portage, Stark, and Trumbull. Bishop James A. McFadden (former auxiliary bishop of Cleveland) became the first bishop and chose St. Columba Church on Wood  Street in downtown Youngstown as his Cathedral. The new diocese covered with 110 parishes, three Catholic-run hospitals, 54 elementary schools, one junior high school, and three Catholic high schools. When Bishop McFadden died on November 16, 1952, Emmet M. Walsh succeeded him. Walsh had been named Coadjutor Bishop and was formerly the Bishop of Charleston, South Carolina. In 1954, St. Columba Cathedral was destroyed by a fire and Bishop Walsh undertook the task of building a new cathedral, which he dedicated in 1958. St. Patrick Church on the south side of Youngstown served as Pro-Cathedral until the new  St. Columba's was ready. In 1962, when Pope John XXIII convened the Vatican Council II, Bishop Walsh and Auxiliary Bishop James W. Malone attended. Upon the illness of Bishop Walsh, Bishop Malone was named Apostolic Administrator; after Bishop Walsh died on March 16, 1968, Bishop Malone became Bishop of Youngstown on May 2, 1968, a position he held for 28 years. In 1996, Bishop Malone retired and Bishop Thomas J. Tobin was named his successor and installed as Bishop of Youngstown on February 2, 1996. On March 31, 2005, Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop Tobin as Bishop of  Providence, Rhode Island. On 30 January 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop George Murry, S.J. as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown. On May 28, 2010, Bishop Murry announced the plan for the reconfiguration of parishes which will reduce their total number to 87 over the next two years. In May 2020, Bishop Murry died of leukemia. Monsignor Robert J. Siffrin became the Diocesan Administrator for the second time from June 6, 2020 - January 12, 2021. Msgr Siffrin also served as administrator from 2005-2007. During the absence of a bishop, Most. Rev. Martin J. Amos, Bishop Emeritus  of the Diocese of Davenport filled in for the ordinations for the Diocese of Youngstown. In November 2020, Pope Francis named Reverend David J. Bonnar of the Diocese of Pittsburgh as the 6th Bishop of Youngstown. Bishop-elect Bonnar's Episcopal Ordination will take place on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at the Cathedral of St. Columba at 2:00 p.m. From 2000 to 2018, the Diocese of Youngstown experienced a sharp decline, as baptisms fell by 69%, weddings by 62%, first communion by 61%, and funerals by 25%. The numbers of Catholics overall fell by 36%, while the comparative population of  the 6 counties the diocese represents decreased by 4.3%. Education. Preschools and elementary/middle schools. The Diocese of Youngstown operates the following elementary/middle schools (Grades PreK-8 unless otherwise noted): Most of the elementary/middle schools within Mahoning County, plus one school within Trumbull County, are part of a singular system named Lumen Christi Catholic Schools. The Academy is composed of 8 campuses: Most of the elementary/middle schools within Stark County are part of a singular system named Holy Cross Academy. The Academy is composed of 10 campuses: In 2013, as part of the Academy's "Transition for Growth  plan, the Diocese announced that St. Joseph Canton would close after the 2013–2014 school year, and Saint Peter and Saint Louis would become Family Preschool Centers" only. The three schools conducted an appeal process in order to keep them open as PreK-8 schools. On February 27, 2014, the Diocese announced the results of the appeal. Within the report, it was announced that the St. Joseph Canton campus would still close at the end of the 2013–2014 school year. For the 2014–2015 school year, the St. Peter and St. Louis campuses would remain open, but serve only grades PreK-5th. The Regina  Coeli/St. Joseph and Our Lady of Peace campuses would also serve only grades PreK through 5. The 6-8th grade students within the diocese would be served by a new middle school operating on the campus of St. Thomas Aquinas High School. The following preschools and elementary/middle schools operate independently of a regional system: Ashtabula County (1): Columbiana County (1): Mahoning County (2): Portage County (2): Stark County (2): Trumbull County (3):