Roman Catholic Diocese of Amarillo

{{Short description|Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Texas, USA}}

{{Infobox diocese

| jurisdiction = Diocese

| name = Amarillo

| latin = Dioecesis Amarillensis

| local =

| image =

| image_size = 175px

| image_alt =

| caption =

| coat = Coat of arms of the Diocese of Amarillo.svg

| coat_size = 150px

| coat_alt =

| coat_caption = Coat of arms

| country = {{flag|United States}}

| territory = Panhandle of Texas

| province = Province of San Antonio

| deaneries =

| headquarters =

| coordinates =

| area_sqmi = 25,800

| area_footnotes =

| population = 427,927

| population_as_of = 2012

| catholics = 50,237

| catholics_percent = 11.7

| parishes = 38

| churches =

| congregations =

| schools =

| members =

| denomination = Catholic

| sui_iuris_church = Latin Church

| rite = Roman Rite

| established = August 3, 1926

| dissolved =

| cathedral = St. Mary's Cathedral

| cocathedral =

| patron = Saint Lawrence{{cite web | url=https://amarillodiocese.org/about | title=About Us }}

| priests =

| pope = {{Incumbent pope}}

| bishop = Patrick Zurek

| metro_archbishop = Gustavo Garcia-Siller

| coadjutor =

| auxiliary_bishops =

| apostolic_admin =

| vicar_general =

| judicial_vicar =

| emeritus_bishops = John Yanta

| map = Diocese of Amarillo in Texas.jpg

| map_size =

| map_alt =

| map_caption =

| website = {{Official website|https://www.amarillodiocese.org/|amarillodiocese.org}}

| footnotes =

}}

The Diocese of Amarillo ({{langx|la|Dioecesis Amarillensis}}) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in the Texas Panhandle region in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio.

The mother church of the Diocese of Amarillo is St. Mary's Cathedral in Amarillo. As of 2023, the bishop of Amarillo is Patrick Zurek.

Territory

The Diocese of Amarillo consists of the following 26 counties:

Armstrong, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Collingsworth, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hall, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman, Swisher, and Wheeler.{{Cite web |title=Amarillo (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/damar.html#hist |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}

History

= 1800 to 1926 =

The Texas Panhandle was under several different Catholic jurisdictions before the creation of the Diocese of Amarillo:

Prefecture Apostolic of Texas (1841 to 1847)
Vicariate Apostolic of Texas (1847 to 1874)
Diocese of Galveston (1874 to 1914)
Dioceses of Dallas and San Antonio (1914 to 1926)

The first Catholic priests in the Panhandle came from Kansas and New Mexico during the 1870s, serving the small Catholic population in periodic visits. The first Catholic church in the Panhandle was St. Mary's, dedicated in Clarendon in 1892, to serve Irish and German railroad workers.{{Cite web |last=Rooney |first=Sister Nellie |date=November 1, 1994 |title=Amarillo, Catholic Diocese of |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/amarillo-catholic-diocese-of |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}} In 1903, construction started on St. Mary's, the first Catholic church in Amarillo.{{Cite web |title=Cathedral History |url=https://stmarysamarillo.com/cathedral-history |access-date=2023-05-03 |website=St. Mary's Cathedral |language=en}}

= 1903 to 1941 =

Pope Pius XI founded the Diocese of Amarillo on August 3, 1926, taking its territory from the Dioceses of Dallas and San Antonio.{{cite web |last= |first= |title=History of the Diocese of Dallas |url=https://www.cathdal.org/DioceseofDallasHistory.pdf |accessdate=2016-11-07 |publisher=Diocess of Dallas}}{{cite web |last= |first= |title=Diocese of Amarillo |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/damar.html |accessdate=2016-11-07 |publisher=Catholic-Hierarchy}} The new diocese contained large areas of northern Texas. The pope named Reverend Rudolph Gerken of Dallas as the first bishop of Amarillo.{{Cite web |title=Archbishop Rudolph Aloysius Gerken [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgerken.html |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}} During his tenure in Amarillo, Gerken oversaw the construction of thirty-five churches. He also founded Price Memorial College, a secondary school in Amarillo, and served as its first president.{{Cite web |last=WELCH |first=KAREN SMITH |title=Diocese tears down Price College |url=https://www.amarillo.com/story/news/local/2011/12/30/diocese-tears-down-price-college/13139139007/ |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Amarillo Globe-News |language=en-US}} In 1933, Gerken became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.{{Cite web |title=ARCHBISH_0__PP R -- A. GERKEN; { Catholic Prelate at Santa Fe, 55, I Once Texas' School Teacher } |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1943/03/03/88520022.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}

The second bishop of Amarillo was Reverend Robert Lucey of the Diocese of Los Angeles, named by Pius XI in 1934.Williams, p. 362. He established the Texas Panhandle Register as the diocesan newspaper. Lucey was elevated to archbishop of San Antonio in 1941. That same year, Pope Pius XII appointed Monsignor Laurence FitzSimon of San Antonio as the next bishop of Amarillo.{{cite news |title=Bishop Laurence Julius FitzSimon |work=Catholic-Hierarchy.org |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bfitlj.html}}{{Cite web |title=NAMED BISHOP IN TEXAS; Very Rev. L.J. FitzSimon Goes to Catholic See at Amarillo |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/08/05/99314010.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |access-date=2022-07-30 |website=timesmachine.nytimes.com |language=en}}

= 1941 to 1980 =

File:Amarillo Texas March 1943 Sacred Heart Cathedral 2.jpg

During Fitzsimon's 17-year-long tenure as bishop, the number of churches, priests, schools, and institutions in the diocese more than doubled.{{cite news |title=FITZSIMON, LAURENCE JULIUS (1895-1958) |work=Texas State Historical Association |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffi31}} In September 1945, after the end of World War II, FitzSimon wrote a letter to US Congressman Francis E. Worley protesting the conditions at the Italian prisoner of war camp in Hereford, Texas. FitzSimon had visited the camp in July 1945 and saw that prisoners were receiving low rations of substandard quality. They also told him stories of beatings and other mistreatment by guards.{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Donald Mace |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sH-RorHOdhcC&dq=Bishop+Laurence+FitzSimon&pg=PA66 |title=Italian POWs and a Texas Church: The Murals of St. Mary's |date=2001 |publisher=Texas Tech University Press |isbn=978-0-89672-470-9 |language=en}} Fitzsimon died in 1958.

Auxiliary Bishop John Morkovsky was the next bishop of Amarillo, named by Pius XII in 1958. The Vatican in 1961 erected the Diocese of San Angelo, taking 21 counties from the Diocese of Amarillo. Morkovsky became coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston in 1963.{{Cite web |title=Bishop John Louis Morkovsky [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmork.html |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}} Pope John XXIII in 1963 named Monsignor Lawrence De Falco of the Diocese of Fort Worth as the fifth bishop of Amarillo.{{cite news |title=Bishop Lawrence Michael De Falco |work=Catholic-Hierarchy.org |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bdefalco.html}}

During his 16-year-long tenure, De Falco worked to implement the Second Vatican Council reforms, establishing pastoral councils and senates of priests, nuns, and permanent deacons.{{cite news |title=DEFALCO, LAWRENCE MICHAEL (1915-1979) |work=The Handbook of Texas Online |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fde97}} He also reduced diocesan debt, but was forced to close several schools and hospitals. St. Laurence Church in Amarillo replaced Sacred Heart as the diocesan cathedral in 1975.{{cite web |last=Albracht |first=Chris |title=St. Laurence Cathedral—History |url=http://www.amarillodiocese.org/index.cfm?load=news&newsarticle=200&page=30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517030518/http://www.amarillodiocese.org/index.cfm?load=news&newsarticle=200&page=30 |archivedate=2012-05-17 |accessdate=2011-10-08 |publisher=Diocese of Amarillo}} De Falco retired due to poor health in 1979.

= 1980 to present =

In 1980, Pope John Paul II appointed Reverend Leroy Matthiesen of Amarillo as bishop of that diocese.{{Cite web |title=Bishop Leroy Theodore Matthiesen [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmatth.html |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}} In 1981, in protest of the assembly of the neutron bomb at a facility in Pantex, Matthiesen called for workers there to resign their jobs in protest. None were reported to have obeyed his call.{{Cite news |last1=Briggs |first1=Kenneth A. |last2= |first2= |date=1981-09-08 |title=Religious Leaders Objecting to Nuclear Arms |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/08/us/religious-leaders-objecting-to-nuclear-arms.html |access-date=2019-02-16 |issn=0362-4331}}

The Vatican in 1983 erected the Diocese of Lubbock, taking 23 counties from the southern part of the Diocese of Amarillo.{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas State Historical |title=Amarillo, Catholic Diocese of |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/amarillo-catholic-diocese-of |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}} Matthiesen retired in 1997. The next bishop of Amarillo was Auxiliary Bishop John Yanta of San Antonio, appointed by John Paul II in 1997. Yanta retired in 2008.{{Cite web |title=Bishop John Walter Yanta [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/byanta.html |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}}

As of 2023, the bishop of Amarillo is Patrick Zurek from San Antonio, named by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.{{Cite web |title=More Info |url=https://amarillodiocese.org/more-information |access-date=2022-02-16 |website=Catholic Diocese of Amarillo |language=en}}

= Sex abuse =

During his tenure as bishop, Bishop Matthiesen admitted eight priests into the Diocese of Amarillo after they had undergone treatment following accusations of sexual impropriety.{{cite web |date=May 24, 2004 |title=Former Amarillo bishop solicits donations to aid dismissed priests {{!}} Lubbock Online {{!}} |url=http://lubbockonline.com/stories/052404/rel_052404047.shtml#.V_xDq-ArI2w |accessdate=October 10, 2016 |publisher=Lubbock Avalanche-Journal}} The most controversial individuals were Reverend John Salazar and Referend Ed Graff.{{Cite web |date=15 August 2018 |title=Former Texas Panhandle priest named in Pennsylvania grand jury report |url=https://abc7amarillo.com/news/local/former-panhandle-priest-named-in-pennsylvania-grand-jury-report}}

Salazar in 1987 went to prison in California for abusing two teenage boys in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. When Archbishop Roger Mahony of Los Angeles heard that Matthiesen had accepted Salazar, he sent a letter of warning to the Vatican.{{Cite news |last=Powers |first=Ashley |date=December 30, 2013 |title=One troubled priest who got a second chance |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-c1-second-chance-priest-20131230-dto-htmlstory.html}} Matthiesen disregarded Mahoney's appeal.
Graff was dismissed from the Diocese of Allentown due to multiple accusations of sexual abuse. After Matthiesen accepted Graff into the Diocese of Amarillo, Bishop Thomas Welsh of Allentown expressed his concern that Matthiesen never consulted him on the wisdom of the Graff transfer.

In July 2002, Bishop Yanta and the diocese were named in a lawsuit for the rape of a teenage girl in 2000 by Reverend Rosendo Herrera. When the plaintiff was age 17, Herrera raped and impregnated her. The accuser said that the diocese was aware of previous offenses by Herrera, but had failed to notify authorities as required by Texas state law.{{Cite web |date=July 11, 2002 |title=Suit claims priest fathered child, diocese covered up abuse |url=https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/Suit-claims-priest-fathered-child-diocese-9029232.php |access-date=November 18, 2021 |website=Plainview Herald |language=en-US}}

By September 2002, eight priests had resigned from the diocese due to sexual abuse allegations.{{Cite news |last=Blaney |first=Betsy |date=2002-09-02 |title=Amarillo Diocese Hit Hard by Sex Abuse |language=en-US |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/09/02/amarillo-diocese-hit-hard-by-sex-abuse/7646f700-83ce-4489-b53a-780b274ff12f/ |access-date=2023-05-02 |issn=0190-8286}} In 2003, the diocese settled the lawsuit for the woman impregnated by Herrera, providing approximately $27,000 for the child."Diocese settles paternity lawsuit filed by teen girl" Houston Chronicle, February 28, 2003 In November 2004, the diocese settled a second lawsuit for $50,000. The female plaintiff had claimed that Herrera engaged in wrongful contact with her.{{Cite web |date=2004-11-29 |title=Amarillo diocese settles second suit involving former priest |url=https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/Amarillo-diocese-settles-second-suit-involving-8852338.php |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=Plainview Herald |language=en-US}}

In 2004, Matthiessen stirred controversy when he started a private fundraising effort for three priests whom he had removed from public ministry.{{Cite web |date=2010-03-26 |title=Matthiesen, antinuclear activist-bishop, dies at 88 |url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/justice/matthiesen-antinuclear-activist-bishop-dies-88 |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=National Catholic Reporter |language=en}}

In January 2019, the diocese released a list of 30 clergy with credible allegations of sexual abuse.{{Cite web |last=Watkins |first=Matthew |date=2019-01-31 |title=Amarillo Diocese releases names of 30 clergy accused of sexual assault of minors |url=https://abc7amarillo.com/news/local/amarillo-catholic-diocese-releases-names-of-30-clergy-accused-of-sexual-assault-of-minors |access-date=2022-03-24 |website=KVII |language=en}}

Bishops

=Bishops of Amarillo=

Rudolph Gerken (1926–1933), appointed Archbishop of Santa Fe
Robert Emmet Lucey (1934–1941), appointed Archbishop of San Antonio
Laurence Julius FitzSimon (1941–1958)
John Louis Morkovsky (1958–1963), appointed Bishop of Galveston-Houston
Lawrence Michael De Falco (1963–1979)
Leroy Theodore Matthiesen (1980–1997)
John Walter Yanta (1997–2008)
Patrick Zurek (2008–present)

=Other diocesan priest who became a bishop=

Thomas Joseph Drury, appointed Bishop of San Angelo in 1961 and later Bishop of Corpus Christi

Education

As of 2025, the Diocese of Amarillo had one high school, Holy Cross Catholic Academy in Amarillo, along with four elementary schools and one pre-school.{{Cite web |title=Schools |url=https://www.amarillodiocese.org/schoolfinder |access-date=October 10, 2023 |website=Diocese of Amarillo}}