Roman Catholic Diocese of Allegheny

In November 1875, Bishop Michael Domenec of the Diocese of Pittsburgh traveled to Rome to request the division of the Diocese of Pittsburg, and the formation of a new diocese with Allegheny City as its see. Priests and people were taken by surprise when the division was announced.[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12121a.htm Canevin, Regis. "Pittsburgh." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 15 September 2021{{PD-notice}}

The diocese was created on 11 January 1876 with territory split from the Diocese of Pittsburgh, as a fellow suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia.[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44211095 Schmandt, Raymond H. "Bishop Michael Domenec and the Short-lived Diocese of Allegheny." Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, vol. 101, no. 1/2, American Catholic Historical Society, 1990, pp. 1–19] Domenec was appointed as its first ordinary, and missioner John Tuigg of Altoona, vicar-general of Pittsburgh, was appointed to succeed him in Pittsburgh.

The Panic of 1873 had been a financial disaster for the Pittsburgh diocese. The division was unpopular in Pittsburgh, as it complicated the financial situation and left those by institutions most in debt to the Pittsburgh diocese.{{Cite book | title = The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography | volume = VI | publisher = James T. White & Company | year = 1896 | location = New York | pages = 336–337 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kl4oAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA336}}

Bishop Domenec resigned the See of Allegheny 27 July, 1877, and retired to his native land, where he died at Tarragona, 7 January, 1878. Bishop John Tuigg, who was serving as Bishop of Pittsburgh, was appointed Apostolic Administrator.

On 1 July 1889, the see was suppressed as a residential diocese and its territory was reunited with the diocese of Pittsburgh.{{cite web | url =

http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0097.htm | title = Titular Episcopal See of Allegheny | work = GCatholic | date = 19 October 2017 | access-date = 23 October 2017 | last = Chow | first = Gabriel}}

File:Diocese Of Allegheny.svg

At its creation, the Diocese of Allegheny covered eight counties and an area of {{convert|6530|sqmi|km2}}, leaving the Diocese of Pittsburgh with six counties and an area of {{convert|4784|sqmi|km2}}. Allegheny County was split unevenly between the two dioceses, with most of that county remaining in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.{{harvnb|Lambing|1880|p=99}}: "Thus the new diocese had eight counties, with about one fourth of Allegheny, or an area of about 6530 square miles; leaving the parent diocese six counties and about three fourths of Allegheny, with an area of about 4784 square miles."

The Rev. Andrew Lambing, an early historian of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, described the boundary lines as follows:

{{quote|The dividing line between the sees of Pittsburgh and Allegheny started at the southern boundary of the State between Bedford and Somerset counties, and passed north till it reached Cambria, and thence west to Westmoreland. Passing along the eastern, southern, and western boundary of this county, it struck the Allegheny River, and passed down that stream and the Ohio to the western limits of Allegheny City. From that point it struck due north through Allegheny County to the southern boundary of Butler, and continued west and north to the line dividing Lawrence and Mercer counties. It then followed that line to the western boundary of the State.{{sfn|Lambing|1880|p=99}}}}

1. George L. Leech: 1972-1985 as bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Harrisburg{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/officialcatholic1972unse/page/352/mode/2up?q=leech |title=The official Catholic directory for the year of Our Lord 1972 |publisher=PJ Kennedy |year=1972 |pages=353}}
2. Edward Egan: 1985-1988 as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/officialcatholic1986unse |title=The official Catholic directory for the year of Our Lord |date=1986 |publisher=New York : P.J. Kenedy |others=Boston Public Library}}
3. Patrick J. McGrath: 1988-1998 as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/officialcatholic1991unse |title=The official Catholic directory for the year of Our Lord |date=1991 |publisher=New York : P.J. Kenedy |others=Boston Public Library}}
4. Robert Joseph McManus: 1998-2004 as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Providence{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/officialcatholic2010unse |title=The official Catholic directory for the year of Our Lord |date=2010 |publisher=New York : P.J. Kenedy |others=Boston Public Library}}
5. John Walter Flesey: 2004-incumbent as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/officialcatholic2010unse |title=The official Catholic directory for the year of Our Lord |date=2010 |publisher=New York : P.J. Kenedy |others=Boston Public Library}}

;References

{{Reflist}}

;Works cited

{{refbegin}}

• {{Citation | title =A history of the Catholic church in the dioceses of Pittsburgh and Allegheny from its establishment to the present time | year = 1880 | first = Andrew Arnold | last = Lambing | location = New York | publisher = Benziger Brothers | url = https://archive.org/stream/historyofcathol00lamb#page/120/mode/2up }}
• {{Citation | title = Annuario Pontificio | year = 2013 | publisher = Libreria Editrice Vaticana | isbn = 978-88-209-9070-1 }}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0097.htm GigaCatholic, with incumbent biographies]
• [https://www.nytimes.com/1889/05/17/archives/two-sees-consolidated-pittsburg-and-allegheny-catholic-dioceses.html New York Times story on the reconsolidation of the see with Pittsburgh] (subscription required for full article)

{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh|state=collapsed}}

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Category:Catholic titular sees in North America

Category:History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Category:Catholic Church in Pennsylvania

Category:Religious organizations established in 1876

Category:1876 establishments in Pennsylvania