Архиепархия Сиэтла: История и современность

Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Washington State, United States
The Archdiocese of Seattle (Archidiœcesis Seattlensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in western Washington State in the United States. The Diocese was known as the Diocese of Nesqually from 1850 to 1907. The mother church of the archdiocese is St. James Cathedral in Seattle. The former cathedral is the Proto Cathedral of St. James the Greater in Vancouver. Its archbishop since 2019 is Paul D. Etienne. The archdiocese succeeded to the Diocese of Nesqually headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, established in 1850 as a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Oregon City. In 1903, the episcopal see was moved to Seattle, and the diocese's name was changed to Diocese of Seattle in 1907. The diocese was elevated to metropolitan archdiocesan status in 1951.

As of 2022, the archdiocese reported that it served approximately served 899,000 Catholics in 143 parishes with 191 diocesan priests, 79 religious priests, 113 permanent deacons, 92 male religious and 234 female religious. The archdiocese has eleven hospitals, two health care centers, nineteen homes for the elderly, three day care centers, ten specialized homes, and 111 centers for social services.

In 1903, O'Dea petitioned the Vatican to move the episcopal see from Vancouver to Seattle due to the increased population and economy of that city. He began construction on a new cathedral in Seattle in 1905. In 1907, the Vatican suppressed the Diocese of Nesqually and erected the Diocese of Seattle, with O'Dea as its first bishop. His final accomplishment was the establishment of St. Edward Seminary in Kenmore in 1930. Shaughnessy kept the diocese financially stable during the Great Depression. He encouraged the formation of Serra International and served as its first chaplain. He also supported the St. Vincent de Paul Society and Catholic Charities chapters in the diocese. In 1948, Pope Pius XII appointed Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Connolly from the Archdiocese of San Francisco as coadjutor bishop to assist Shaughnessy, who had not fully recovered from a stroke three years earlier. When Shaughnessy died in 1950, Connolly automatically succeeded him as bishop of Seattle.

Murphy traveled extensively to parishes around the archdiocese and was an advocate for the poor and disenfranchised. He oversaw an extensive renovation of St. James Cathedral, which was completed in 1994. Under Murphy's administration the archdiocese saw an increase in registered Catholics, and an increase in outreach and ministries for women, various ethnic groups, and LGBT individuals. In 1992, Murphy opened Elizabeth House in Seattle, which provided medical care and job training for pregnant teens. For small Washington towns that were suffering from cutbacks in the timber industry, Murphy provided $500,000 to assist in starting small businesses. To help offset the declining numbers of priests, he provided financial support to a Seattle University program to train lay people in assist in some parish duties. Murphy died in 1997. To replace Murphy, John Paul II named Bishop Alexander Brunett of Helena as archbishop of Seattle in 1997. Despite the economic recession, annual contributions from Catholics in Western Washington doubled during Brunett's tenure as archbishop, providing funding for the construction of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic High School, which opened in 2009 in Vancouver and Pope John Paul II High School, which opened in 2010 in Lacey. Brunett also helped launch the Fulcrum Foundation, which provides scholarships to poor families to send their children to Catholic schools and oversaw the $7 million purchase, renovation and expansion of the Palisades Retreat Center in Federal Way. In August 2019, Sartain ordered the demolition of Holy Rosary Church in Tacoma. The church had become structurally unsound, and estimates for its repair were at $18 million. Sartain retired in September 2019. When Sartain retired, Etienne automatically became archbishop of Seattle. On taking office, Etienne announced that he would not reside in Connolly House, the mansion for the archbishop of Seattle, suggesting it be sold to provide money to help the poor. As of 2023, Etienne is the archbishop of Seattle.

In May 1988, Reverend Paul Conn from Queen of Angels Parish in Port Angeles pleaded guilty to molesting six altar boys at the church. He was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. Immediately removed from ministry after his arrest, Conn was laicized by the Vatican in 2005. In a letter read at mass in June 1988, Archbishop Hunthausen revealed that Reverend James McGreal was a pedophile. Hunthausen said that the archdiocese had received allegations against McGreal for the previous 20 years and that he had been under treatment for the last ten years. McGreal victimized at least 40 children, but the number could be higher than that. He was laicized by the Vatican in 2005. The archdiocese in 2006 settled for over $1 million a lawsuit brought by two brothers who claimed to have been sexually molested by James Cornelius during the 1970s. Cornelius had been removed from public ministry in 2002 after the brothers made their accusations to the archdiocese. Once the allegations became public, ten more individuals made allegations against Cornelius to the archdiocese. The Vatican had laicized Cornelius in 2004. In 2016, the archdiocese released a list of 77 priests, nuns and religious men with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors. The archdiocese in 2018 paid a $7 million settlement to six men who had accused six priests, including Paul Conn and James McGreal, of sexually abusing them when they were minors during the 1970s and 1980s. By August 2022, the archdiocese had settled five sexual abuse lawsuits over the previous six months. The total settlement amount was approximately $2.3 million for all five plaintiffs. One female plaintiff was abused by a school employee around 1980, who bought her silence with candy. One plaintiff was a victim of Conn, another was victimized during the 1970s by David Pearson, a volunteer at St. Joseph Parish in Issaquah.

Eusebio L. Elizondo Almaguer (2005–present)
Frank R. Schuster (2022–present)

As of 2023, the Archdiocese of Seattle had 72 schools, serving over 19,800 students. The diocese also has two universities.