The Diocese of Phoenix (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, in western and central Arizona in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
The Diocese of Phoenix was established on December 2, 1969. As of 2023, the bishop of Phoenix is John P. Dolan.
Territory
The Diocese of Phoenix includes Maricopa, Mohave, Yavapai, and Coconino counties and the Gila River Indian Reservation in Pinal County. It excludes the Navajo Nation territory.
History
Early history
Jesuit priests began to work in present-day northern Mexico in the 1610s in the lowlands near the coast. Originally, these missionaries worked out a peaceful compromise with the people of the Yaqui River valley allowing for the establishment of more than fifty mission settlements. This broke down when the Jesuits opposed the native shamanic religious tradition. The Opata people were more receptive to the missionaries and allied with them. After this, the Jesuits began to move into Pima and Tohono O'odham territories in present-day Arizona. Spanish exploration and missionary work was sufficient to consider the territory part of New Spain. An agreement between General Pedro de Perea and the viceroy of New Spain resulted in the formation of the Province of Nueva Navarra in 1637. It was renamed the Province of Sonora in 1648.
The most famous missionary of what is now the American Southwest was Eusebio Kino. He arrived in Nueva Navarra in 1687 and started missionary work in the Pimería Alta area, now the American Southwest and northern Mexico. He began his first mission at Cucurpe in present-day Sonora then established churches and missions in other villages such as Los Remedios, Imuris, Magdalena, Cocóspera, San Ignacio, Tubutama and Caborca. To develop an economy for the natives, Father Kino also taught them European farming techniques.
The first Catholic church in Phoenix, the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was dedicated in 1881. It would remain the only parish in the city until 1924. Also in 1881, the first Catholic church was constructed in Tempe - it would be replaced in 1903 by Old St. Mary's Church. The first Catholic church in Flagstaff, First Nativity, was dedicated in 1888. Sacred Heart Church in Prescott was finished in 1894.
20th century
Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH), known as the Old Adobe Mission, was constructed by Mexican Catholics in the 1910s; it is the oldest Catholic church in Scottsdale.
Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Phoenix in 1969, taking its territory from the Dioceses of Tucson and Gallup. The pope appointed Auxiliary Bishop Edward A. McCarthy from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as the first bishop of Phoenix. In 1976, McCarthy became coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami.
The second bishop of Phoenix was Auxiliary Bishop James Rausch from the Diocese of St. Cloud, named by Paul VI in 1977. On occasion, he would celebrate mass in orange groves to accommodate undocumented migrants who were afraid to go into a city. Rausch died in 1981.
To replace Rausch, Pope John Paul II appointed Monsignor Thomas J. O'Brien from Tucson in 1981. During his tenure, O'Brien earned a reputation as a successful fundraiser, builder of schools, and advocate for the poor. He was also instrumental in persuading John Paul II and Mother Teresa to visit Phoenix in the late 1980s. In 2003, a week after O'Brien fatally struck a pedestrian in a hit and run incident, he resigned as bishop of Phoenix.
The next bishop of Phoenix was Bishop Thomas Olmsted of the Diocese of Lincoln, named by John Paul II in 2003.
21st century
In 2009 the diocese contributed $50,000 to the successful campaign by Stand For Marriage Maine to overturn an impending legalization of same-sex marriage in Maine. In 2014, two priests were physically assaulted during a burglary at Mater Misericordiae Mission in Phoenix. Reverend Kenneth Walker was fatally shot and Reverend Joseph Terra was wounded. In 2017, the diocese marked the 100th anniversary of what became known as the Miracle of Fátima in Portugal.