In 2020, the Diocese of Arlington had 240 priests (186 secular priests; 54 religious priests) and 453,083 Catholics.[a] As of 2020[update], the total population within the diocese, Catholic and non-Catholic, was 3,329,860.[a] There are 70 parishes across 21 Northern Virginia counties and seven cities in the diocese:[3]
Prior to the American Revolution, few Catholics lived in the British Colony of Virginia. In 1634, Reverend John Altham, a Jesuit companion of Reverend Andrew White, performed missionary work among the Native American tribes living on the south bank of the Potomac River. The colonial government of Virginia soon enacted stringent laws against the practice of Catholicism. During the late 17th century, the few Catholic settlers in northern Virginia, living near Aquia Creek, were attended by Reverend John Carroll and other Jesuit missionaries from Maryland.[4]
By 1776, the city of Alexandria had a log chapel with a resident Catholic priest. Reverend John Thayer from Boston was stationed at the chapel in 1794.
Pius VI erected the Diocese of Baltimore, the first diocese in the United States, to replace the prefecture apostolic in 1789.[6]
Reverend Francis Neale erected a brick church in Alexandria in 1796 and replaced it with a larger one in 1811. Reverends Anthony Kohlmann and Benedict Fenwick frequently officiated at services in Alexandria.[7]
1820 to 1974
Marymount University, Arlington, Virginia
Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Richmond on July 11, 1820, including all of Virginia (except two Eastern Shore counties) and the present state of West Virginia. The Northern Virginia area would remain part of this diocese for the next 154 years.[7]
In 1950, nuns from the Sacred Heart Order established a girls' college in Arlington that later became Marymount University.[7] By 1957, the Diocese of Richmond had founded eleven new parishes in Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax; in 1946, only eight parishes existed in the region.[7]
1974 to 1999
Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Arlington on May 28, 1974, removing its territory from the Diocese of Richmond.[8][1] The pope appointed Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Welsh of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as the first bishop of Arlington.[9]
During his tenure, Welsh established six new parishes and dedicated eleven new churches in the diocese. He created the Office of Migration and Refugee Services in 1975 and the Family Life Bureau in 1977. That same year, Christendom College opened in Front Royal, Virginia. [10]
Welsh also started the diocesan newspaper, The Arlington Catholic Herald. Walsh was the founding president of the board of the Catholic Home Study Institute which became the Catholic International University. The number of Catholics in the diocese increased from 154,000 to 179,000 under his tenure. In 1983, Pope John Paul II appointed Welsh as bishop of the Diocese of Allentown.[9]
To replace Welsh, John Paul II named Monsignor John Keating of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Keating issued six pastoral letters and ordained 84 priests. In 1994, he made national headlines by refusing to allow female altar servers in the diocese. When Keating died in 1998, the diocese had over 336,000 Catholics, 65 parishes, and five missions.[11]
In August 2017, Reverend William Aitcheson admitted to having been a member of the Ku Klux Klan while in college in the 1970s. Aitcheson announced that he would temporarily step down from his post at St. Leo the Great Catholic Parish in Fairfax, Virginia. Burbidge released a statement referring to Aitcheson's past as "sad and deeply troubling" while hoping that his conversion of heart would inspire others.[17][18]
2020 to present
Bishop Burbidge
On August 12, 2021, Burbidge released a pastoral letter on the church's stance on transgenderism. In the letter, he criticized the use of preferred gender pronouns when addressing transgender people.[19] In January 2022, the diocese instructed its schools to follow Virginia's Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin's anti-mask executive order for schools that was to go into effect on January 24.[20]
Also in January 2022, Burbidge restricted use of the Tridentine Latin Mass in the diocese, in accordance with the apostolic letter Traditionis custodes issued by Pope Francis in July 2021. Burbidge permitted 21 parishes already celebrating the Tridentine Mass to continue the practice, but banned any other parishes from starting it.[21][22][23] In July 2022, Burbidge restricted the Tridentine Mass to eight parishes; in five of those eight parishes, the priest could not celebrate the Mass in the main church.[24]
The diocese in May 2022 sued the City of Alexandria to block the implementation of an affordable housing project. The issue was an alley separating St. Rita Church and its Catholic school from the planned project. The diocese claimed that the project was unlawfully removing access to the church and school through the alley.[25] After the developer and the diocese reached a compromise solution, the lawsuit was dismissed in November 2022.[26]
As of 2023, Burbidge is the current bishop of Arlington.
Sexual abuse
In August 1992, Reverend William T. Reinecke, chancellor of the diocese, committed suicide. It happened two days after he was confronted by Joseph McDonald, one of his alleged sexual abuse victims from the 1960's.[28] During that encounter, McDonald said he urged Reinecke to resign from the priesthood and seek professional help. In September 1992, Joseph T. O'Brien Jr told the Washington Post that he had also been sexually molested by Reinecke around 1969.[28]
In 2012, a woman sued Loverde, the diocese, and other defendants, claiming that Reverend Thomas J. Euteneur from the Diocese of Palm Beach had sexually abused her in Virginia on several occasions in 2008. The plaintiff stated that Euteneur, under the guise of conducting an exorcism, had kissed and fondled her. Euterneur had already admitted guilt in a civil lawsuit and settled separately with the plaintiff. She also stated that Loverde and the diocese had given Euteneur permission to perform exorcisms on other individuals. The plaintiff subsequently dropped the case against Loverde and the diocese.[29]
In February 2019, Burbidge released a list of sixteen diocesan priests who had been credibly accused of sexual abuse.[30][31]
In March 2020, Reverend Scott Asalone was arrested on charges of sexually abusing Washington DC Councilman David Grosso when he was 14 years old. The crimes took place at Saint Francis de Sales Parish in Purcellville in 1985.[32][33] Asalone had been removed from public ministry by the diocese in 1993. Asalone was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison in June 2023.[34]
Antonio Pérez-Alcalá, a leader of a Catholic youth organization in McLean, was arrested in November 2021 on charges of sexually assaulting minors. His alleged victims claimed that Pérez-Alcalá attacked them during mentoring sessions at his residence.[35] He later pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual battery and was sentenced to a ten year suspended sentence and five years of probation.[36]
Reverend Terry Specht was charged in December 2021 with two counts of sexually abusing a minor. He allegedly molested a child under age 13 while serving at Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly in 2000. Specht had been accused of molesting a teenager at a school during the 1990's, but was never criminally charged. Specht served as director of the Office of Child Protection for the diocese from 2004 to 2011.[37] In October 2022, Specht was acquitted by a jury of all charges.[38]
The Diocese of Arlington has 37 elementary/middle schools, one virtual school, five private elementary/middle schools, three stand-alone preschool programs, and one private day care. As of 2024, there were 12,960 students enrolled in diocesan pre-K, elementary, and middle school.[41]
Catholic Charities
The Diocese of Arlington coordinates and supports a range of charitable activities focused on assistance to the vulnerable, fund-raising and education. Initiatives include counseling, prison visits and foster care.[43] Archduchess Kathleen of Habsburg-Lorraine is a former communications director of the CCDA.[44]
^Andreassi, Anthony D. (2002). Walking in Faith: the first 25 Years. A History of the Diocese of Arlington, Editions du Signe: Strasbourg. ISBN2-7468-0625-8 (This is an official history—see p. 3.)
Andreassi, Anthony D. (2002). Walking in Faith: the first 25 Years. A History of the Diocese of Arlington, Editions du Signe: Strasbourg. ISBN2-7468-0625-8.
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