Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City

{{Infobox diocese

| jurisdiction = Diocese

| name = Dodge City

| latin = Dioecesis Dodgepolis

| local =

| image = Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral (Dodge City) from E 1.JPG

| image_size = 250px

| image_alt =

| caption = Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe

| coat = Coat of arms of the Diocese of Dodge City.svg

| coat_size = 150px

| coat_alt =

| coat_caption = Coat of arms

| country = {{flag|United States}}

| territory = 28 counties in Southwest Kansas

| province = Province of Kansas City in Kansas

| metropolitan =

| deaneries =

| headquarters =

| coordinates =

| area_sqmi =

| area_footnotes =

| population =

| population_as_of =

| catholics = 60,554

| catholics_percent = 27.2

| parishes =

| churches =

| congregations =

| schools =

| members =

| denomination = Catholic

| sui_iuris_church = Latin Church

| rite = Roman Rite

| established = May 19, 1951

| dissolved =

| cathedral = Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe

| cocathedral =

| patron = Our Lady of Guadalupe
John the Baptist

| priests =

| pope = {{Incumbent pope}}

| bishop = John Balthasar Brungardt

| metro_archbishop = William Shawn McKnight

| coadjutor =

| auxiliary_bishops =

| apostolic_admin =

| vicar_general =

| judicial_vicar =

| emeritus_bishops = Ronald Michael Gilmore

| map = Diocese of Dodge City (Kansas - USA).jpg

| map_size =

| map_alt =

| map_caption =

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

| footnotes =

}}

The Diocese of Dodge City ({{langx|la|Dioecesis Dodgepolis}}) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southwestern Kansas in the United States. Pope Pius XII created the diocese on May 19, 1951.

The Diocese of Dodge City is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.{{cite web|url=http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/kans0.htm|title=Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas|work=GCatholic|access-date=12 July 2021}}

John B. Brungardt was appointed Bishop of Dodge City in December 2010.

Territory

The Catholic Diocese of Dodge City comprises the following Kansas counties: Barber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kiowa, Lane, Meade, Morton, Ness, Pawnee, Pratt, Rush, Scott, Seward, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, and Wichita.{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.dcdiocese.org/about/history |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=Catholic Diocese of Dodge City |language=en-GB}}

History

= 1850 to 1950 =

In 1850, Pope Pius IX erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains. This vicariate covered all of the Missouri Territory, which then included the Kansas region.{{Cite web |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Leavenworth |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09102b.htm |website=www.newadvent.org}} Seven years later, Pius IX create a separate Apostolic Vicariate of Kansas, covering the newly created Kansas Territory.{{Cite web |title=Kansas City in Kansas (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dkcks.html |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}} The first resident pastor within the Wichita area was appointed in 1873.

The Diocese of Leavenworth, covering all of Kansas, was erected in 1877 by Pius IX. He named Reverend Louis Mary Fink as its first bishop. Kansas grew so rapidly over the next ten years that Fink petitioned the Vatican to establish two new dioceses in the western part of the state. In 1887, Pope Leo XIII created two dioceses out of western Kansas. The northern counties became the Diocese of Concordia and the southern counties the Diocese of Wichita.{{Cite web |title=Wichita (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dwich.html |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}} The Dodge City area remained part of the Diocese of Wichita for the next 64 years

= 1950 to present =

In 1951, Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Dodge City, taking its territory from the Diocese of Wichita.{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.dcdiocese.org/about/history |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=Catholic Diocese of Dodge City |language=en-GB}} He named Monsignor John Baptist Franz from the Diocese of Alton as the first bishop of Dodge City.{{cite news |title=Bishop John Baptist Franz |work=Catholic-Hierarchy.org |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bfranz.html}} At that time, Sacred Heart Church in Dodge City became the diocesan cathedral. Pope John XXIII named Franz as bishop of the Diocese of Peoria in 1959.

In 1960, Monsignor Marion Forst of the Archdiocese of St. Louis was appointed as the second bishop of Dodge City by John XXIII.{{cite news |title=Bishop Marion Francis Forst |work=Catholic-Hierarchy.org |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bforst.html}}{{Self-published source|date=April 2015}} During his tenure, he established the following new offices and ministries:

Catholic Social Service
The Office of Religious Education
The Family Life Office
Religious Education for the Handicapped
The Southwest Kansas Register diocesan newspaper
The Office of Mexican American Affairs
The Youth/Young Adults Office{{cite news |title=Bishop Forst, oldest U.S. bishop, dies June 2 |work=The Catholic Key |url=http://www.catholickey.org/index.php3?gif=news.gif&mode=view&issue=20070622&article_id=4555 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20070614101056/http://www.catholickey.org/index.php3?gif=news.gif&mode=view&issue=20070622&article_id=4555 |archivedate=2007-06-14}}

Pope Paul VI named Forst as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City in 1976.

To replace Forst, Monsignor Eugene Gerber from the Diocese of Wichita was appointed the third bishop of Dodge City by Paul VI in 1976. In 1982, Pope John Paul II named Gerber as bishop of Wichita.{{cite news |date=2001-12-14 |title='Some day this boy will become a priest' |work=The Catholic Advance}} In 1983, John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop Stanley Schlarman of the Diocese of Belleville as the fourth bishop of Dodge City.{{cite news |title=Bishop Stanley Girard Schlarman |work=Catholic-Hierarchy.org |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bschs.html}} During his tenure in Dodge City, Schlarman recruited Burmese, Filipino, and Vietnamese priests; established a diocesan vocations office, a pastoral council, and an office of aging and parenting; and promoted the pastoral ministry training program and Cursillo movement.{{cite news |title=Bishop Stanley G. Schlarman |work=Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois |url=http://www.dioceseofjoliet.org/schlarman.asp}} Schlarman retired in 1998.

Monsignor Ronald Gilmore of the Diocese of Wichita was named bishop of Dodge City by John Paul II in 1998.{{Cite web |title=Bishop Ronald Michael Gilmore [Catholic-Hierarchy] |url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgilmore.html |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org}} A new cathedral, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, was consecrated in 2001. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the diocese.{{Cite web |url=http://dodgecitycathedral.com/home/cathedral-history |title=Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe |access-date=2017-11-17 |archive-date=2017-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006080135/http://dodgecitycathedral.com/home/cathedral-history |url-status=dead }} Gilmore retired in 2010. As of 2023, the bishop of Dodge City is John Brungardt from Wichita. He was named by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

= Sex abuse =

In February 2019, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) announced that it had been investigating sex abuse allegations against all the Catholic dioceses in Kansas since November 2018. On August 14, 2020, KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood stated, "As of Aug. 7, we have had 205 reports of abuse and have opened 120 cases."{{Cite web |date=2023-01-07 |title=Newly released KBI report identifies 400+ victims of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Kansas |url=https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/newly-released-kbi-report-identifies-400-victims-of-child-sexual-abuse-by-catholic-clergy-in-kansas |access-date=2023-03-22 |website=KSHB 41 Kansas City News |language=en}}

In October 2019, the diocese released a list of ten priests and two seminarians with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors.{{Cite web |date=2019-10-02 |title=Dodge City Diocese releases list of accused priests |url=https://www.ksn.com/news/local/dodge-city-diocese-releases-list-of-accused-priests/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=KSN-TV |language=en-US}}

In February 2021, the KBI notified Bishop Brungardt that he was under investigation for sexual abuse of a minor. Denying the accusations, he immediately suspended his episcopal duties and the Vatican instructed Archbishop Joseph Fred Naumann to start a canonical investigation.{{Cite web |last=CNA |title=Dodge City bishop under investigation for alleged abuse of a minor |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/246431/dodge-city-bishop-under-investigation-for-alleged-abuse-of-a-minor |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}} Bishop Gerald Lee Vincke from the Diocese of Salina was appointed as apostolic administrator to run the diocese during the investigation.{{Cite web |date=2021-02-09 |title=Kansas bishop steps aside from duties as abuse allegation is investigated |url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/kansas-bishop-steps-aside-duties-abuse-allegation-investigated |access-date=2022-01-08 |website=National Catholic Reporter |language=en}} The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome cleared Brungardt of the accusation against him in March 2022. There were no criminal charges.{{Cite web |title=Bishop Brungardt to resume duties after abuse investigation |url=https://www.gbtribune.com/news/local-news/bishop-brungardt-resume-duties-after-abuse-investigation/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=www.gbtribune.com}}