Диоцез Сан-Анджело: История католической церкви в Техасе

Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Texas, USA

The Diocese of San Angelo (Dioecesis Angeliana, lang es) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in Central and West Texas in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio. The Diocese of San Angelo was founded on October 16, 1961. As of 2023, Michael J. Sis is the bishop.

During the 17th century, Texas was a province in the Spanish Empire. The first Catholic presence in the region was the visit of the missionaries Alonso de Benavides and Juan Salas to the Jumanos people in 1629. The two priests celebrated the first mass in the area. In 1757, the Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá was established by Father Alonso Giraldo de Terreros in present day Menard County.

After passing to Mexican control, Texas became an independent republic in 1836. In 1845, it joined the United States. After the American Civil War ended in 1865, a new Catholic mission was founded in 1867 at Ben Ficklin, Texas, to serve US Army troops stationed at the new Fort Concho. In Abilene, a Catholic mission was established in the 1880s; it became Sacred Heart Church in 1891. One of the oldest churches in the region is St. Joseph's in Stanton, founded in 1882.

Pope John XXIII erected the Diocese of San Angelo on October 16, 1961. Most of its territory of the new diocese came primarily from the Diocese of Amarillo, but it received several counties from the Dioceses of Austin, El Paso and Dallas Fort Worth. The second bishop of San Angelo was Reverend Thomas Tschoepe of the Diocese of Dallas, named by Pope Paul VI in 1966. Three years later, Tschoepe was installed as bishop of Dallas. Auxiliary Bishop Stephen Leven of the Archdiocese of San Antonio was appointed bishop of San Angelo by Pope Paul VI in 1969 Credited with making the Diocese of San Angelo financially solvent, Leven resolved several long standing financial problems that were burdening the diocese. In 1985, John Paul II named Reverend Michael Pfeifer as the next bishop of San Angelo. After 28 years as bishop, Pfeifer retired in 2013. Reverend Michael Sis from the Diocese of Austin was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.

In 2008, Bishop Pfeifer and the Diocese of San Angelo were sued by a San Angelo man. The plaintiff claimed that Reverend David Espitia of St. Ann's Parish in Colorado City had sexually abused him from 1994, when he was age eight, to 2002, and that the diocese covered up the crimes. In response, Pfeifer said that Espita had told him about the allegations and had denied all of them in 2003. Pfeifer initiated an investigation at that time. A week after his meeting with Pfeifer, Espita committed suicide. The diocese reached an out of court settlement with the plaintiff in 2011. The 2018 Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report on sexual abuse by clergy included a section on the transfer of Reverend Thomas C. Kelley from the Diocese of Erie in Pennsylvania, to the Diocese of San Angelo, despite a record of sexual abuse of young men. Five young Pennsylvania men had accused Kelley of making sexual advances towards them, either at a high school or in the seminary. The Diocese of Erie negotiated a financial settlement with one victim and sent Kelley out of town for treatment twice. Both of Kelley's treatment facilities released him with recommendations that he have no contact with young parishioners. In 1995, Kelley requested a transfer to San Angelo. Pfeifer then talked to Erie Bishop Donald Walter Trautman about Kelley's record. Despite this conversation, Pfeiffer agreed to Kelley's transfer to Texas without any restrictions. During Kelley's ten years in San Angelo, there were no allegations of abuse filed against him; he died in 2005. Pfeifer refused in 2018 to comment on the Kelley story. Bishop Sis later said he felt hurt and angry about the Kelley allegations. On January 31, 2019, the Diocese of San Angelo published a list of 12 priests and one deacon with credible accusations of sexual abuse of children. One of those listed died in prison, while two others were laicized and five removed from ministry.