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Archdiocese of Las Vegas

*Archidiœcesis Campensis*
Archdiocese of Las Vegas; Archidiœcesis Campensis
	Guardian Angel Cathedral
	Coat of arms
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Counties of Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Nye, and White Pine
Ecclesiastical province	Las Vegas
Statistics
Area	39,688 sq mi (102,790 km2)
Population; - Total; - Catholics	(as of 2018); 2,263,946; 620,000 (27.4%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	March 21, 1995; 29 years ago (as Diocese of Las Vegas); May 30, 2023; 19 months ago (elevated to archdiocese);
Cathedral	Guardian Angel Cathedral
Patron saint	Holy Family; St. Peter the Apostle; St. Paul the Apostle;
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	George Leo Thomas
Auxiliary Bishops	Gregory W. Gordon
Judicial Vicar	Robert M. Herbst
Bishops emeritus	Joseph A. Pepe
Map
Website
	lvcatholic.org

The Archdiocese of Las Vegas (Latin: Archidiœcesis Campensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in southern Nevada, United States.

The seat of the archdiocese is Guardian Angel Cathedral in Las Vegas. The see had been a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of San Francisco from its creation in 1995 until 2023, when Las Vegas was elevated as a metropolitan see. The Archdiocese of Las Vegas has two suffragan sees in its ecclesiastical province: the Dioceses of Reno and Salt Lake City.^[3]

Territory

The Archdiocese of Las Vegas comprises Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Nye, and White Pine Counties.

History

1776–1931: Missionary territory

The first Catholic Mass in southern Nevada was celebrated in 1776 in present-day Laughlin by Francisco Hermenegildo Tomas Garces, traveling from Mexico when the entire region was part of the Spanish Empire.^[4]

Bishop Lawrence Scanlan, head of the Apostolic Vicariate of Salt Lake City, established the first parish in Pioche in the late 1880s. He ministered to the scattered Catholic population throughout southern Nevada. In 1908, Scanlan created St. Joan of Arc, the first parish in Las Vegas. Scanlan said that he chose the name Joan of Arc because the blistering sun in Las Vegas reminded him of her suffering when she was burned at the stake.^[5]

1931–1995: Territory of the Diocese of Reno

In 1931, Pope Pius XI erected the Diocese of Reno, including the entire State of Nevada. The southern Nevada region remained part of this diocese for the next 64 years.^[4] With the establishment of Boulder City in 1931 to construct Hoover Dam, St. Andrew Parish was created there to serve the Catholic construction workers.^[6] In 1976, Pope Paul VI renamed the Diocese of Reno the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas to reflect the growth of the Catholic population in southern Nevada.^[6]

1995–2023: Formation as the Diocese of Las Vegas

In 1995, Pope John Paul II divided the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas into the Diocese of Reno and the Diocese of Las Vegas. He appointed Daniel F. Walsh, previously bishop of Reno-Las Vegas, as the first bishop of Las Vegas.

The second bishop of Las Vegas was Joseph A. Pepe of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, named by John Paul II in 2001.^[7] In 2003, Pepe dedicated the Our Lady of LaVang Vietnamese Catholic Community in Las Vegas as a shrine. In 2004, he opened a diocese human resources department along with an Office of Hispanic Ministry, an Office of Liturgy and Worship and a diocesan Office of Archives. In 2007, Pepe dedicated Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas.^[7]

In 2007, George Chaanine, a priest at Our Lady of Las Vegas Parish, was sentenced to four to 12 years in state prison for assault. Chaanine had physically and sexually assaulted Michaelina Bellamy, the events coordinator for the parish, then evaded arrest for six days. Bellamy's injuries included a broken hand and two large gashes to her head. Chaanine later said he was in love with Bellamy and investigators found evidence that he provided her with financial support.^[8]

On February 28, 2018, Pope Francis accepted Pepe's letter of resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Las Vegas after he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.^[9]

2018–present: Elevation to archdiocese

George Leo Thomas, previously bishop of the Diocese of Helena, was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Las Vegas by Pope Francis on February 28, 2018 and was installed as bishop on May 15, 2018.^[10]

On May 30, 2023, Pope Francis elevated the Diocese of Las Vegas to an archdiocese and established the new ecclesiastical province of Las Vegas, with the Dioceses of Reno and Salt Lake City as suffragan dioceses.^[11]^[12] Bishop Thomas was elevated to be the first archbishop of the archdiocese.^[12]

Sex abuse

Six families sued the Diocese of Las Vegas, along with Bishops Pepe and Walsh, in 2002. The plaintiffs claimed that Mark Roberts of Saint Peter the Apostle Parish in Henderson had physically and sexually abused them as boys between 1996 and 1999.^[13] In 2001, Roberts pleaded guilty of open or gross lewdness and four counts of child abuse and neglect. He was sentenced to three years probation and inpatient psychological treatment.^[14]

In April 2019, the diocese published a list of 33 clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors. The list went back several decades, when the diocese was part of the Diocese of Reno.^[15]