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Diocese of Fall River
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Diocese of Fall River
The Diocese of Fall River (Latin: Dioecesis Riverormensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston.
The mother church of the diocese is St. Mary's Cathedral in Fall River. The patron saint of the diocese is Mary, mother of Jesus. The current bishop as of 2025 is Edgar Moreira da Cunha.
The Diocese of Fall River spans Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, and Nantucket Counties. It also includes the towns of Marion, Mattapoisett, and Wareham along the coast of Plymouth County. The diocese covers Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
The diocese in 2013 included 147 parish priests, 90 permanent deacons, 16 religious brothers and 295 religious sisters. It had 96 parishes, 11 missions, a health care center, and five nursing homes. The total Catholic population of the diocese was approximately 313,115.
Before the American Revolution, the British Province of Massachusetts Bay, which included southern Massachusetts and Cape Cod, had enacted laws prohibiting the practice of Catholicism in the colony. It was even illegal for a priest to reside there. To gain the support of Massachusetts Catholics to fight against the British, revolutionary leaders were forced to enact religious freedom for Catholics in 1780.
After the Revolution ended in 1783, Pope Pius VI erected in 1784 the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States, encompassing the entire territory of the new nation. Pius VI created the Diocese of Baltimore, the first diocese in the United States, to replace the prefecture apostolic in 1789.
Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Boston on April 8, 1808, including all of New England in its jurisdiction. Bishop Jean-Louis de Cheverus of Boston established St Lawrence's Church, the first Catholic church in New Bedford and in 1821 with the assistance of Portuguese sailors and Irish laborers. The first Catholic church on Cape Cod was St. Peter's, constructed in Sandwich in 1830. Fall River received it first Catholic church in 1837 when St. John the Baptist was completed. In 1869, the first Portuguese language parish in the country was started in Fall River.
The Diocese of Providence was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872. The pope removed the counties of Bristol, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket in Massachusetts from the Archdiocese of Boston. The present day Diocese of Fall River area would remain part of the Diocese of Providence for the next 32 years.
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Diocese of Fall River
The Diocese of Fall River (Latin: Dioecesis Riverormensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston.
The mother church of the diocese is St. Mary's Cathedral in Fall River. The patron saint of the diocese is Mary, mother of Jesus. The current bishop as of 2025 is Edgar Moreira da Cunha.
The Diocese of Fall River spans Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, and Nantucket Counties. It also includes the towns of Marion, Mattapoisett, and Wareham along the coast of Plymouth County. The diocese covers Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
The diocese in 2013 included 147 parish priests, 90 permanent deacons, 16 religious brothers and 295 religious sisters. It had 96 parishes, 11 missions, a health care center, and five nursing homes. The total Catholic population of the diocese was approximately 313,115.
Before the American Revolution, the British Province of Massachusetts Bay, which included southern Massachusetts and Cape Cod, had enacted laws prohibiting the practice of Catholicism in the colony. It was even illegal for a priest to reside there. To gain the support of Massachusetts Catholics to fight against the British, revolutionary leaders were forced to enact religious freedom for Catholics in 1780.
After the Revolution ended in 1783, Pope Pius VI erected in 1784 the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States, encompassing the entire territory of the new nation. Pius VI created the Diocese of Baltimore, the first diocese in the United States, to replace the prefecture apostolic in 1789.
Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Boston on April 8, 1808, including all of New England in its jurisdiction. Bishop Jean-Louis de Cheverus of Boston established St Lawrence's Church, the first Catholic church in New Bedford and in 1821 with the assistance of Portuguese sailors and Irish laborers. The first Catholic church on Cape Cod was St. Peter's, constructed in Sandwich in 1830. Fall River received it first Catholic church in 1837 when St. John the Baptist was completed. In 1869, the first Portuguese language parish in the country was started in Fall River.
The Diocese of Providence was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872. The pope removed the counties of Bristol, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket in Massachusetts from the Archdiocese of Boston. The present day Diocese of Fall River area would remain part of the Diocese of Providence for the next 32 years.
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