Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver

Archdiocese of Denver Archidioecesis Denveriensis
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Northern Colorado
Ecclesiastical province	Province of Denver
Metropolitan	Denver, Colorado, US
Population - Catholics	550,000 (17.1%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	August 16, 1887
Cathedral	Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
Patron saint	Immaculate Conception St. Francis of Assisi
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Samuel Joseph Aquila
Auxiliary Bishops	Jorge Rodríguez-Novelo
Vicar General	Randy Dollins
Map
Website
archden.org

Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Denver

The Archdiocese of Denver (Latin: Archidioecesis Denveriensis) is the Catholic Archdiocese of the Latin Rite that covers an area of 40,154 square miles (104,000 km²) which includes the city of Denver, Colorado, and the Colorado counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Jefferson, Larimer, Logan, and Weld. It is part of the XIII Conference Region and includes 113 parishes, 307 priests, and an estimated 550,000 lay Catholics. The seat of the archdiocese is the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception at 401 East Colfax Avenue.

History

The area that now comprises the Denver Archdiocese was part of the Diocese of Santa Fe. In 1868, Pope Pius IX split territory from the Diocese of Santa Fe in New Mexico and the Diocese of Grass Valley in California to form the Vicariate Apostolic of Colorado and Utah. In 1870, he changed the name to the Vicariate Apostolic of Colorado, and transferred the territory of Utah to the Archdiocese of San Francisco. August 16, 1887, Pope Leo XIII created the Diocese of Denver, which covered the entire state of Colorado.

On November 15, 1941, Pope Pius XII separated territory from the Diocese of Denver to form the Diocese of Pueblo and elevated the Denver Diocese to an Archdiocese. On November 10, 1983, Pope John Paul II separated territory from both the Archdiocese of Denver and the Diocese of Pueblo to form the Diocese of Colorado Springs.

On May 29, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Samuel Joseph Aquila of the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota as fifth archbishop of Denver.^[1] Bishop James Conley served as Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese from the departure of Archbishop Charles J. Chaput in September 2011 until the new Archbishop was installed July 18, 2012, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.^[2]

High schools

• Arrupe Jesuit High School*, Denver
• Bishop Machebeuf Catholic High School, Denver
• Holy Family High School, Broomfield
• Mullen High School*, Denver
• Regis Jesuit High School*, Aurora
• St. Mary's Academy*, Cherry Hills Village (All-Girls)

* Operated independent of and with the blessing of the Archdiocese.

Higher education

• Augustine Institute*, Denver
• Regis University*, Denver

*Operated independent of and with the blessing of the Archdiocese.

Seminaries

• Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver

Ordinaries

• Joseph Projectus Machebeuf: March 3, 1868 – July 10, 1889 (served until his death)
• Nicholas Chrysostom Matz: July 10, 1889 – August 9, 1917 (served until his death)
• John Henry Tihen: September 21, 1917 – January 6, 1931 (resigned)
• Urban John Vehr: April 17, 1931 – February 18, 1967 (raised to Archbishop in 1941 when Denver became an archdiocese) (retired)
• James Vincent Casey: February 18, 1967 – March 14, 1986 (served until his death)
• James Francis Stafford: June 3, 1986 – August 20, 1996 (reassigned as President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; elevated to the Cardinalate in 1998 by St. John Paul II)
• Charles J. Chaput: March 18, 1997 - September 8, 2011 (reassigned as Archbishop of Philadelphia)
• Samuel Joseph Aquila: July 18, 2012 – present

Auxiliary bishops

• David M. Maloney: 1961 – 1967
• George Evans: 1969 – 1985
• Richard Hanifen: 1974 – 1984 (reassigned as Bishop of the Diocese of Colorado Springs)
• Jose H. Gomez: 2001 – 2005 (reassigned as Archbishop of San Antonio)
• James D. Conley: 2008 - 2012 (reassigned as Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska)
• Jorge Rodriguez-Novelo: 2016 - present

References

1. Medlin, Marianne (May 29, 2012). "Pope appoints Fargo bishop to lead Denver archdiocese". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
2. Draper, Electa (May 29, 2012). "Vatican names Samuel J. Aquila Catholic archbishop in Denver". The Denver Post. Retrieved May 29, 2012.

External links

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver Official Site

Coordinates: 39°41′36″N 104°56′53″W / 39.69333°N 104.94806°W