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The following is a list of bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, including Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Marianas and Samoa.
The Catholic Church in the United States comprises:
- 176 Latin Church dioceses led by archbishops and bishops
- 18 Eastern Catholic eparchies led by eparchs
- the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, for American military personnel, led by an archbishop
- the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, a special diocese of Anglican converts to Catholicism.[1]
Archbishops and bishops
The 176 Latin Church dioceses in the United States are divided into 33 ecclesiastical provinces. Each province has a metropolitan archdiocese led by an archbishop, and at least one suffragan diocese. Each suffragan diocese is led by a bishop. The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA is the only American archdiocese that is not designated as a metropolitan archdiocese. The pope appoints all archbishops and bishops, who must be at least ordained priests. The pope chooses from a list of candidates provided by the papal nuncio of the United States to the Congregation of Bishops in Rome.[2]
- Most archdioceses and large dioceses have one or more auxiliary bishops, serving under the direction of the archbishop or bishop. After consultation with the Papal Nuncio to the United States, the pope appoints all auxiliary bishops.
- Some archdioceses and dioceses have a coadjutor archbishop or coadjutor bishop. The coadjutor assists an elderly or ailing archbishop or bishop with their administrative duties. After the archbishop or bishop retires or dies, the coadjutor normally succeeds him without an appointment by the pope. The pope appoints all coadjutors.
In some rare cases, the pope will name a titular archbishop as the bishop of a suffragan diocese. The most recent example in the United States was that of Celestine Damiano, whom Pope John XXIII named as bishop of the Diocese of Camden in 1960.[3]
There are several dioceses in the American inhabited territories:
- In the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the archbishop and five bishops form their own episcopal conference, the Conferencia Episcopal Puertorriqueña.[4][5]
- In the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and Guam, the bishops belong to the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific.
All active and retired bishops and archbishops in the United States —diocesan, coadjutor, and auxiliary—are members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Foreign-born bishops serving in the United States
Most nations with large Catholic populations in non-missionary geographical areas propose and elect native-born clergy to the episcopacy. An exception to this rule is the United States, which has a significant number of foreign-born bishops, with most serving as auxiliaries in culturally-diverse dioceses. As of 2024, 33 active foreign-born bishops are serving in the United States, representing about 10% of all active American bishops.
- Nine bishops are from Mexico
- Nine are from Vietnam, Philippines, and Poland, with each nation the birthplace of three bishops
- Two are from Brazil
The following nations have produced at least one bishop who is serving in the United States: Italy, Haiti, Ireland, Colombia, Lebanon, Peru, Spain, Cuba, South Africa, Malta, Argentina, El Salvador, and Cameroon.
The Archdioceses of Los Angeles and San Antonio and seven dioceses (Raleigh, Fall River, Charleston, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Las Cruces, and St Thomas) are led by foreign-born archbishops and bishops.[6] Two American archdioceses and two dioceses have more than one foreign-born active bishop assigned to them:
- Archdiocese of Los Angeles: (4) Archbishop Gomez and Bishops Szkredeka, Aclan, and Bahuth
- Diocese of Rockville Centre: (2) Bishops Fernandez and Zglejezewski
- Diocese of San Diego: (2) Bishops Pham and Pulido
- Archdiocese of Washington: (2) Archbishop Esposito-Garcia and Bishop Menjivar-Ayala
Additionally, there are several dozen bishops currently serving in the United States who are first-generation American-born children of immigrant parents.
Archeparchs
The United States has two Eastern Catholic metropoliae, each led by a metropolitan archbishop called an archeparch:
- In the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church there is a single metropolis — the Metropolis of Pittsburgh
- The four Ukrainian Catholic eparchies constitute the second metropolia. Philadelphia is the metropolitan see.
Cardinals
As of October 2022,[update] the Vatican has designated seven American metropolitan archbishops in the Latin Church as cardinals:
- Seán O'Malley – Archdiocese of Boston
- Blase Cupich – Archdiocese of Chicago
- Daniel DiNardo – Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
- Joseph Tobin – Archdiocese of Newark
- Timothy Dolan – Archdiocese of New York
- Wilton Gregory – Archdiocese of Washington
One suffragan diocese is led by a cardinal:
- Robert W. McElroy – Diocese of San Diego
Four American archdioceses have retired archbishops who served as cardinal-archbishops:
- Adam Maida – Archdiocese of Detroit
- Roger Mahony – Archdiocese of Los Angeles
- Justin Rigali – Archdiocese of Philadelphia
- Donald Wuerl – Archdiocese of Washington
Three American archdioceses have former archbishops whom the Vatican created as cardinals after they completed their tenures as diocesan archbishops:
- Edwin O'Brien – Archdiocese of Baltimore
- James Stafford – Archdiocese of Denver
- Raymond Burke – Archdiocese of St. Louis
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