The Diocese of Tulsa also called the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma (Latin: Dioecesis Tulsensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the eastern part of Oklahoma in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.
The mother church of the diocese is Holy Family Cathedral in Tulsa. The bishop as of 2023 is David Konderla.
Statistics
The Diocese of Tulsa covers 26,417 square miles (68,420 km2) over 31 counties in eastern Oklahoma – including the most populous county, Tulsa County.
After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, it became the plan of the U.S. government to force Native American tribes from the Eastern United States into the Great Plains region. The eastern part of present-day Oklahoma was part of this loosely defined region known as the Indian Territory.
For the Catholic church, all of the Indian Territory became part of the Diocese of St. Louis in 1826.[2] It was passed to the new Diocese of Little Rock in 1843.[2] The first Catholic church in the Indian Territory was constructed in 1872 in Atoka by Irish workers building the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad.[3]
In 1875, the Diocese of New Orleans sent French Benedictinemonks to minister to the tribes in the Indian Territory. They established St Gregory's Abbey in Shawnee in 1876. That same year, Pope Pius IX erected the Apostolic Prefecture of Indian Territory, taking jurisdiction for the Indian Territory away from the Diocese of Little Rock.[4] In 1890, the US Government separated western Oklahoma from the Indian Territory, founding the Oklahoma Territory.
In 1891, Pope Leo XIII elevated the apostolic prefecture to the Apostolic Vicariate of Indian Territory, continuing its jurisdiction over the Oklahoma and Indian Territories. The first parish in Tulsa, Holy Family, opened in 1899.[3]
1905 to 1972
In 1905, Pope Pius X erected the Diocese of Oklahoma City, covering both the Oklahoma and Indian Territories.[5] Two years later, the two territories were combined to create the new State of Oklahoma.
Pope Pius XI renamed the Diocese of Oklahoma City to the diocese of Oklahoma City-Tulsa in 1930, due to the population growth of Tulsa and its surrounding communities. The Tulsa area would remain part of this diocese for the next 42 years.[6]
Pope John Paul II selected Reverend Edward Slattery of the Archdiocese of Chicago to replace Beltran in Tulsa in 1993. Slattery served for 23 years before retiring in 2016.[9]
A 13 year old girl and her parents reported to the diocese in 1999 that she had been sexually molested that year by Reverend John Jangam, a visiting priest from India. It was stated that on separate occasions, Jangram touched her inappropriately. After receiving the allegations, the diocese sent Jangam back to India. In 2002, the girl publicly revealed her story.[11]
In July 2002, the diocese abruptly removed Reverend Kenneth Lewis from St. John the Evangelist Church in McAlester after several parents complained about his inappropriate behavior with their children. In 1994, a diocesan employee had reported seeing Lewis give a backrub to a boy in Lewis' bedroom. After the employee told the boy's parents and they complained to the diocese, Bishop Slattery sent Lewis away for treatment. Lewis later returned to ministry.[12] Slattery in August 2002 admitted making a mistake in allowing Lewis in 1994 to return to ministry.[13]
In March 2007, the diocese was sued in Illinois by the parents of a then 14 year-old boy who they alleged was sexually assaulted by Lewis on a trip to Evanston, Illinois, in 2001. The statute of limitations had passed on criminal prosecution.[14] Lewis was laicized by the Vatican in July 2007.[15]
The diocese in October 2019 released a list of 11 clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors dating back to 1973.[16]
