Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver

The first Catholic church in Denver was founded in 1860 by Joseph Machebeuf. It would later become St. Mary's Cathedral.[1]

In 1868, Pope Pius IX erected the Vicariate Apostolic of Colorado and Utah, taking its territory from the Diocese of Santa Fe and the Diocese of Grass Valley. The pope named Machebeuf as the vicar apostolic.[2] In 1870, Pius IX removed the Utah Territory from the vicariate, creating the Vicariate Apostolic of Colorado. The pope named Machebeuf as vicar apostolic.

While vicar apostolic, Machebeuf founded an academy and a school for boys in Denver, a convent of the Sisters of Loretto, St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver, the House of the Good Shepherd and the College of the Sacred Heart in Denver. The Catholic population of Colorado increased under his tenure from a few thousand to approximately 50,000. Sacred Heart of Jesus, the first Catholic church in Boulder, was dedicated in 1877.[3] In 1878, Michaud funded the purchase of a wooden building in Fort Collins to become St. Joseph's, the first Catholic church in that city.[4]

On August 16, 1887, Pope Leo XIII suppressed the Apostolic Vicariate of Colorado, replacing it with the Diocese of Denver, which covered all of Colorado. The pope named Machebeuf as the first bishop of Denver.[2] That same year, the pope named Nicholas Matz as coadjutor bishop to assist Machebeuf.[5] When Machebeuf died in 1889, Matz automatically succeeded him as bishop.

During his 28-year-long tenure, Matz made Catholic education his top priority, establishing dozens of parochial schools. He demanded that Catholic parents send their children to these schools under pain of mortal sin.[6] In 1905, he founded St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, staffed by the Vincentians.[6] He broke ground for the new Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in 1902, later dedicating it in 1912.[7] He also established thirty-four new parishes, a cemetery, and a diocesan newspaper.[6] However, Matz met opposition from many priests and his ambitious building projects drove the diocese into a large amount of debt.[6] He was a strong opponent of labor unions, especially the Western Federation of Miners.[6][8]

After Matz died in 1917, Bishop John Henry Tihen of the Diocese of Lincoln was appointed bishop of Denver by Pope Benedict XV.[9] During World War I, Tihen supported Liberty bonds and the National Catholic War Council, and organized students at Catholic schools as the U.S. Boys Working Reserve and the Children's Red Cross Campaign.[10] Tihen was forced to defend the church in Colorado from the Ku Klux Klan, which he condemned as "an anti-Catholic and un-American society."[10] He also supported women's suffrage and the labor movement, and founded The Denver Catholic Register in 1905.[10] During his tenure, Tihen organized the diocesan Catholic Charities; increased the number of parochial schools from 31 to 49, and the number of priests from 174 to 229; dedicated 41 churches; and established Loretto Heights College in Denver, three hospitals, an orphanage, and a home for the elderly.[10] Tihan retired in 1931.

In 1931, Urban John Vehr was appointed the fourth bishop of Denver by Pope Pius XI.[11] Vehr soon visited every parish in the diocese, wearing out the new Studebaker automobile given to him by his clergy.[12] The number of parishes in the diocese fell from 111 in 1930 to 87 in 1940 due to the Great Depression.[12] Vehr cooperated with the New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, asking priests to celebrate mass at the two dozen Civilian Conservation Corps camps established in Colorado.[12] He reorganized diocesan affairs and placed ownership of all parish properties in the name of the bishop.[12]

On November 15, 1941, Pope Pius XII elevated the Diocese of Denver to the Archdiocese of Denver. At the same time, he took territory from the Diocese of Denver to erect the new Diocese of Pueblo. The pope named Vehr as the first archbishop of Denver. Under the slogan of "Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School," Vehr began a fundraising campaign to raise $3.5 million to acquire new school sites and make additions to existing ones.[13] In 1965, Vehr launched the Archdiocesan Development Program to accommodate Colorado's Catholic population, which had tripled in size since his arrival in 1931.[13] He also erected 43 new parishes and expanded St. Thomas Seminary, which reached its peak enrollment of 274 seminarians during Vehr's tenure.[13]

When Vehr retired in 1967, Pope Paul VI appointed Bishop James Casey of Lincoln as the second archbishop of Denver.[14] Soon after arriving in Denver, he earmarked $1 million in archdiocesan funds on efforts to help the poor.[15] Among these efforts was the Samaritan House Homeless Shelter. He created the archdiocesan Office of Hispanic Concerns in 1968, later raising it to the vicariate level in 1981.[16]

In 1972, Casey moved out of the episcopal mansion in Cheesman Park and into a penthouse at the Park Lane Apartments in Washington Park.[16] He gave greater power to laity and nuns, and was forced to close or consolidate several Catholic schools. He joined the Colorado Council of Churches, and allowed Catholics to participate in the crusades of the evangelist Billy Graham.[16] During his 19-year-long tenure, Casey dedicated 24 parishes.[16] He also increased the number of priests from 327 to 356, and the number of Catholics in the archdiocese rose from 261,844 to 330,270.[16] In 1983, Pope John Paul II erected the Diocese of Colorado Springs, taking territory from the archdiocese. Casey died in 1986.

The next archbishop of Denver was Bishop James Stafford from the Diocese of Memphis, named by John Paul II in 1986.[17] In 1990 the Vincentian Fathers announced the closing of St. Thomas Seminary in Denver due to falling enrollment. Stafford decided to buy the seminary property and plan a brand new institution, Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary. The new facility opened in 1999.[18] In 1993, Stafford hosted the World Youth Day, the first such event in North America. In 1996, he launched the first capital campaign in forty years and a "Strategic Plan" for Catholic schools.[19] That same year, Stafford was appointed to a position in the Roman Curia at the Vatican.

To replace Stafford, John Paul II selected Bishop Charles J. Chaput from the Diocese of Rapid City as the next archbishop of Denver.[20] Chaput became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2011. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Samuel Aquila of the Diocese of Fargo as the fifth and current archbishop of Denver.[21]

In a 2005 Denver Post article, five men described being fondled during the 1960s when they were boys by Reverend Harold White. In 1983, one of the men wrote to Stafford, accusing White of abusing him. The archdiocese responded that White was to "...receive an evaluation from competent personnel to determine whether there are any recurring difficulties.” The archdiocese allowed White to work in parish ministry until 1993. He was laicized by the Vatican in 2004.[22]

Reverend Tim Evans, pastor at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Fort Collins, was convicted of sexual assault in 2007. He was sentenced to 14 years to life in prison for assaulting a teenage boy.[23]In January 2023, Scott Venti sued the archdiocese, claiming that he had been sexually abuse multiple times during the 1990s by Evans in Fort Collins.[24]

In October 2019, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser released the preliminary results of an eight-month investigation on sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy in Colorado. The report stated that at least 127 children had been molested by 22 clergy serving in the archdiocese.[25] In late 2019, a man reported to authorities that he had been sexually molested multiple times by James Moreno between 1978 and 1980 at various church locations within the archdiocese.[26]

In October 2020, a voluntary program established by the Colorado dioceses to compensative sexual abuse victims announced that it was planning to $6.6 million in compensation to 81 victims of clergy sex abuse that year.[27]

In December 2020, Weiser's final report was released. It named an additional nine clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse and 46 alleged victims in both in the archdiocese and the Diocese of Pueblo.[28][29] A total 52 priests who served in the Colorado diocese were named in the final report as having committed acts of sex abuse.[30] Among other priests, the report had comments about these individuals:

• Reverend Harold White – Accused of sexually abusing 63 children, the report called White "the most prolific known clergy child sex abuser in Colorado history."[25] The report also revealed that White was first accused of sexual abuse of children in 1960. The archdiocese then transferred him to different parishes throughout Colorado until 1993.[25]
• Reverend John Stein – Arrested for sex abuse charges in 1946 and 1956, he was allowed to continue in ministry by the archdiocese, molested at least three children[31]
• Reverend Charles Woodrich – Known for his work in local homeless shelters, Woodrich was accused of sexually molesting three teenagers during the 1970s and 1980s.[30][32]

In August 2022, a woman sued the archdiocese, claiming sexual abuse by Reverend Marshall Gourley from age seven to 11 at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church during the early 1980s. The plaintiff stated that the diocese had received similar complaints about Gourley during the same time period, but did nothing about them.[33]

Joseph Projectus Machebeuf (1868–1889)

1. Joseph Projectus Machebeuf (1868–1889)
2. Nicholas Chrysostom Matz (1889–1917)
3. John Henry Tihen (1917–1931)
4. Urban John Vehr (1931–1941), Elevated to Archbishop

1. Urban John Vehr (1941–1967)
2. James Vincent Casey (1967–1986)
3. James Francis Stafford (1986–1996), appointed President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and later Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary (elevated to Cardinal in 1998)
4. Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap (1997–2011), appointed Archbishop of Philadelphia
5. Samuel Joseph Aquila (2012–present)

• David M. Maloney (1961–1967), appointed Bishop of Wichita
• George Evans (1969–1985)
• Richard Hanifen (1974–1984), appointed Bishop of Colorado Springs
• Jose Horacio Gómez Velasco (2001–2005), appointed Archbishop of San Antonio and later Coadjutor Archbishop of Los Angeles and subsequently succeeded to the latter see
• James D. Conley (2008–2012), appointed Bishop of Lincoln
• Jorge Rodríguez-Novelo (2016–present)

• Hubert Michael Newell, appointed Coadjutor Bishop (in 1947) and later Bishop of Cheyenne
• Ralph Walker Nickless, appointed Bishop of Sioux City in 2005
• John Baptist Pitaval, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Santa Fe in 1902 and later Archbishop of Santa Fe