Roman Catholic Diocese of Memphis
The Diocese of Memphis () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church consisting of the counties of Tennessee to the west of the Tennessee River. The diocese is split into two deaneries. The Memphis Deanery encompasses twenty-eight (28) parishes in Shelby County. The Jackson Deanery encompasses fourteen (14) parishes and five (5) missions in the other 20 counties in the diocese. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Memphis. The Diocese of Memphis is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of  Louisville. History. Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Memphis on 20 June 1970, taking its present territory from the Diocese of Nashville and making it a suffragan of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Louisville. Reports of sexual abuse. In 2007, Diocese of Memphis settled three sex abuse lawsuits. In 2010, unsealed court documents revealed that at least 15 Catholic clergy who served in the Diocese of Memphis were accused of committing acts of sex abuse and that $2 million was secretly paid to one of these sex abuse victims. On February 19, 2020, it was revealed former Memphis Bishop  Carroll Dozier was accused of committing acts of sex abuse in Diocese of Richmond before he was transferred to the Diocese of Memphis. In September 2019, the Richmond sex abuse accusations resulted in Dozier's image being removed the city of Memphis' "Upstanders Mural", located on a wall across from the National Civil Rights Museum. On February 28, 2020, the Diocese of Memphis released a list of 20 Catholic clergy who were credibly accused of sexually abusing children while serving in the Diocese. Tenure and removal of Bishop Martin Holley. Pope Francis named Martin Holley Bishop of Memphis, on August  23, 2016, and he was installed as bishop on October 19, 2016. Holley transferred about 75% of the pastors in the diocese within a few months of becoming bishop, first requesting their resignations and giving them the title "parochial administrator" rather than "pastor" of the same parish so he could transfer them without their resignation. He also appointed a Canadian priest, Msgr. Clement J. Machado, SOLT to three diocesan offices: vicar general, moderator of the curia and diocesan chancellor. In January 2018, citing lack of funds, the diocese announced the closure of the ten schools in its network of Memphis  Jubilee Catholic Schools, founded in 1999 to serve children from poor families. These actions brought considerable dissention among the clergy of the diocese. In June 2018, the Vatican sent Archbishops Wilton Gregory of Atlanta and Bernard Hebda of St. Paul-Minneapolis to conduct a visitation of the Memphis diocese, with specific direction to investigate complaints about Holley's leadership. They met with several dozen priests. Machado resigned from the diocese shortly after Gregory and Hebda completed their visitation and Holley assigned a different priest to each of the three offices Machado had held. On October 24, 2018, Pope Francis removed  Holley as bishop, citing concerns about his reassignment policy, and named Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville Apostolic Administrator. The following day, Holley said to Catholic News Agency that he believed he was removed as "revenge" for advising Pope Benedict XVI against appointing Cardinal Donald Wuerl, under whom Holley served as Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, for the job of Vatican Secretary of State in 2012. On March 5, 2019, the Vatican announced the appointment of Bishop David Prescott Talley to Holley's former post. Bishop Talley was the Bishop of Alexandria, Louisiana. Education. There is one Catholic University within the geographic  boundaries of the Diocese: There are a total of 28 primary and secondary schools with a total of more than 8000 students. The High Schools include: