The Shadow
The Catholic Diocese of Richmond is celebrating its bicentennial in 2020.
Churches in the Diocese commemorated the arrival of the first bishop of Richmond during Mass held the weekend of Jan. 18-19.
The Clustered Catholic Parishes of the Alleghany Highlands are part of the Richmond diocese. Those parishes include Sacred Heart in Covington, St. Joseph in Clifton Forge and the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Hot Springs.
Father Augustine Lukenge serves as administrator of these parishes. He receives assistance in the parishes from retired priests-in-residence Father Tom Collins and Father Dan Kelly.
The special Masses celebrated earlier this month commemorated the arrival of the first bishop of Richmond and recognized the Catholic presence in the Eastern Vicariate of the diocese.
The Most Rev. Barry C. Knestout, current Bishop of Richmond, chronicled the establishment of the Diocese of Richmond in a letter, saying that it “took place under different circumstances.”
“First, a schism or formal division among believers had arisen in Norfolk over the question of the ownership of church property and the authority to appoint pastors,” Father Knestout said. “Second, the communities of Catholics in Virginia were small, far flung and mostly poor.
“These were the challenges that Right Rev. Patrick Kelly faced when he came from Ireland as the first bishop of Richmond,” Father Knestout added.
Although the Norfolk schism eventually subsided, Bishop Kelly still had no income and supported himself by teaching.
He returned to Ireland after just a year and a half in Virginia, having never reached Richmond.
The diocese, which lacked financial resources, was placed under the administration of the archbishop of Baltimore for the next 19 years.
The 200th anniversary of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond will continue throughout 2020. The motto for the bicentennial comes from Philippians 2:?15-16, “Shine like stars in the world, as you hold fast to the word of life.”
Following is a history of the Diocese of Richmond:
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A Brief History of the Diocese of Richmond
By Father Anthony E. Marques
Although Catholics have always been a minority in Virginia, their roots in the commonwealth extend back 400 years.
A group of Spanish Jesuits planted the seeds of Christian faith near present-day Williamsburg but were soon killed by local inhabitants (1570-1571).
Their martyrdom foreshadowed the struggles of the Catholic church in this territory. In the following centuries, the church grew slowly amid religious and secular hostility, geographic isolation, economic deprivation, and a chronic lack of priests.
The first organized Catholic communities in Virginia took shape around 1794. At St. Patrick’s in Norfolk, a schism or formal division among believers arose over the question of whether lay persons could own church property and appoint their own pastors (ca. 1794-1821).
In an effort to heal the rift, Pope Pius VII established the Diocese of Richmond on July 11, 1820. Formed from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Richmond became seventh diocese in the United States.
Parishes were small, far flung, and poor for most of the history of the Richmond Diocese.
Developments in transportation (canals, railroads, trolley lines and automobiles) led to modest growth in the Catholic population. Immigration also contributed to this gradual increase.
Various ethnic groups settled in the diocese at different times: French, Irish, Germans, Lebanese (Maronites), Filipinos, Hispanics, Vietnamese, Koreans and Africans.
The Catholic church experienced growth spurts in northern Virginia and Tidewater as the federal government and military expanded when the United States entered World War I (1917) and World War II (1941), and during the Cold War (1946-1989).
African Americans experienced even greater hardships as Catholics than other members of the church. The first African slaves in Virginia were likely baptized Catholics (1619). Following the Civil War (1861-1865), the church took steps to evangelize freed slaves and established separate parishes and schools for black Catholics (ca. 1865-1965). They often endured ridicule from black Protestants and prejudice within the Catholic church.
Most black parishes were closed during the civil rights era to integrate parishes (1961-1970), but many African Americans opposed the loss of their distinctive communities.
The relatively small Catholic population in the Richmond Diocese has been spread out over a territory that remained vast even as its boundaries were altered several times (1850, 1868, 1974).
Virginia has long been a mission field, as far back as the official prohibition against Catholicism (1607-1786).
Even after religious freedom was established in the commonwealth, many Catholics continued to face bigotry and suspicion. They gradually gained social acceptance by accommodating their religion to Protestant surroundings; by advancing professionally, helped by Catholic education; by fighting in their country’s wars; and by carrying out charitable works.
The diocese is still missionary country, however, since Catholics are now also a minority that lives in a secular culture with diminished religious practice. The clerical abuse scandal (2002, 2018) has also damaged the church’s credibility.
Thirteen bishops have governed the Church of Richmond over the course of its 200-year history.
Today, the diocese includes 200,000 Catholics (who make up 5 percent of the total population), 191 priests, 161 deacons, 139 parishes, and 30 schools.
The bicentennial of this diocese is a testament to the perseverance of Catholics in Virginia.
Despite adversity and failures, they have practiced their faith and helped to improve their society.
