Lentorama 2012: Know Your Diocese


Day 8: Diocese of Reno


Nevada was originally split in two vertically, with the western half belonging to Sacramento and the eastern half falling under Salt Lake City. in 1931 they were merged into the Diocese of Reno, which covered the entire state. It was the largest diocese (in area) in the continental US.

In 1976, it was renamed Reno-Las Vegas to denote the latter city's growth, but was removed in 1995 when Las Vegas was spun off into its own diocese. Today it has 37 priests to cover over 70,000 square miles. I hope they get mileage.

Lentorama 2012: Know Your Diocese


Day 7: Diocese of Winona


Made up of most of southern Minnesota, it found a novel way to build up its population. The bishop in charge in 1877 bought over 100,000 acres of land and brought in settlers to farm. Not surprisingly, he tried to bring in Catholics, and managed to attract Irish and German immigrants under some pretty favorable terms.

Later, The Sisters of Saint Francis of the Congregation of our Lady of Lourdes would help create the Mayo Clinic, as they brought in the Mayo brothers to run a new hospital in the aftermath of a tornado in 1882.

Lentorama 2012: Know Your Diocese


Day 6: Diocese of Fairbanks


While founded in 1962, its roots go all the way back to 1894 with the founding of an apostolic prefecture, a missionary area that doesn't have enough Catholics to form a diocese. It's likely still the US diocese with the lowest population density, with roughly 18,000 worshipers spread over 410,000 square miles.

With that size, it's also not surprising to learn it's the home to the oldest church-run radio station in the country. Not quite sure how you take communion over the radio. Maybe they send you wafers.

Lentorama 2012: Know Your Diocese!


Day 5: Diocese of Owensboro


Formed in 1937, it covers western Kentucky. Not much to say about it, really, though their website notes that they have one of the highest Mass attendance rates in the country, with about 60 percent of its worshipers showing up on Sundays. So they have that going for them, which is nice.

Lentorama 2012: Know Your Diocese!


Day 4: Diocese of Gaylord


I admit it. I'm a 12 year old.

(for form's sake: it's in northern Michigan, founded in 1970, and "canonically erected" in 1971. Maybe not the best choice of words there.)

Lentorama 2012: Know Your Diocese!


Day 3: Diocese of Dodge City


I would not have figured western Kansas for a hotbed of Popery, but there you have it, 28 counties arranged into this diocese, numbering about 44,000 Catholics total. Not much more to say about it - their website spends as much time talking about Wild West days as anything else - which may not be surprising as it was formed in 1951.

They do have the first 21st century cathedral in the US, which opened in December 2001. A little too contemporary for my taste - from the outside it looks like it could be part of an outlet mall, and the inside has a theater in the round quality to it - but it's hardly the ugliest church I've ever seen.

Lentorama 2012: Know Your Diocese!


Day 2: Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon


I feel kind of bad for the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, having to go through life with the "in Oregon" modifier so it's not confused with the Diocese of Portland that covers the entire state of Maine. Even worse, Portland wasn't the first home of the archdiocese, as Oregon City served as HQ until 1926.

Still, this is the first archdiocese founded in the western US, thanks to a petition by French missionaries and the later arrival of a group of Belgian priests and nuns.

Recent history has less to crow about, as the archdiocese was the first in the US to declare bankruptcy in the wake of sex abuse scandals, doing so in 2004. The declaration came just as two cases were heading to trial, with victims seeking over $150 million in damages.

If you spent most of today wondering why you kept seeing people who looked like they hadn't washed their face in a while, it's Ash Wednesday (that or you live or work in an area where personal hygiene isn't a priority). Among the things that means, perhaps the least important is the debut of:

Lentorama 2012: Know Your Diocese! 


Forty days, forty blurbs about administrative districts of the Catholic church. And in true Catholic fashion, I'm doing something based on an idea that was popular several years ago (feel free to refer to this comment in 2289, when priests are finally allowed to marry).

So, as the hip kids of the Vatican like to say, sit scriptor adepto eam coepi!


Day 1: Archdiocese of Baltimore


Prior to independence, American Catholics fell under the jurisdiction of a vicariate in London (Britain having no diocese of their own at the time, thanks to all the unpleasantness with and following the formation of the Church of England). Roughly two months after the Treaty of Paris was signed, a group of Maryland clergy asked the Vatican to create a superior to be in charge of the various missionary groups in the US. That got the OK the following year, and in 1789 Baltimore was officially made a diocese, giving it authority over all Catholics in US states and territories.


I'll admit to being surprised when I first learned that Baltimore was the first diocese in the US. It's not the first city you'd think of when you think of American Catholics, and probably wouldn't be the second or third. So how did they get the nod, other than having clergy who got the ball rolling?


Maryland was planned and founded by successive Lord Baltimores, George and Cecilius Calvert. Both men were Catholic, and named the colony for the Catholic wife of Charles I. It was one of the few places in colonial America where Catholics could practice openly, and thus attracted large numbers of Catholic immigrants well before cities like Boston, New York and Chicago.


Not that it always went smoothly. The Jesuits that accompanies the original settlers established themselves pretty quickly, getting land from natives and pushing for various exemptions from duty and taxes that were levied on other settlers. Calvert was able to have non-Jesuit priests sent over and brokered some sort of truce that allowed everyone to operate in peace - just in time for the Puritans to show up and take over the government. Then the English crown made Maryland a royal colony in 1692 and forced the C of E on the locals, who were largely forbidden to practice their original faith.


Baltimore does have two pretty neat distinctions. First, the archbishop of Baltimore has "prerogative of place" over all other American archbishops whenever they are in some sort of meeting, regardless of seniority. He does not get to boss around cardinals, however (even if he is a cardinal archbishop). The other distinction is that there are two cathedrals in the city of Baltimore, making it only one of three US cities to have this. The other two are Honolulu and Burlington, Vermont. So maybe it's not that neat of a distinction.

Book Log 2012 #3: The Tears of the Sun by S. M. Stirling


For some reason I thought this was the last book of this series, but I pretty much figured out I was wrong when this book spent its time setting up action in future books rather than making any significant progress in its own right. There is some action - a daring rescue attempt and an early skirmish in the looming war with the Church Universal and Triumphant and its allies - but not as much as one might hope. There's a plot line told in flashback  which helps flesh out an earlier development, but isn't particularly exciting in its own right.

I could also do without the loving descriptions of medievel weapons and armor, and the continual references to heraldic signs using formal terms that would require keeping a glossary handy if I cared enough to decode just what's being talked about. On the plus side, fewer songs and the like.

Most series I've read have a book like this in it, where things get organized with the promise of future payoff. I'm hoping we get this over the last two books of the series, rather than another book of set-up and a final book to tie it all together.