The Diocese of Raleigh () is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

that covers eastern

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the United States. It is a

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...

in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archbishop of Atlanta. On July 5, 2017, Pope Francis named Luis Rafael Zarama to be the 6th Bishop of Raleigh; Zarama was installed on August 29, 2017, at the recently consecrated Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh.

Statistics

As of 2023, the Diocese of Raleigh was divided into eight deaneries, with 80 parishes, 17 missions and four campus ministries. The Catholic population was approximately 500,000 served by 147 diocesan and religious order priests.

History

1700 to 1868

Before and during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, the Catholics in all of the British colonies in America were under the jurisdiction of the

Apostolic Vicariate of the London District The Apostolic Vicariate of the London District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by a vicar apostolic who was a titular bishop. The apostolic vicariate was created in 1688 and was dissolved ...

in England. Discrimination and persecution of Catholics in the North Carolina colony was common until it became a royal colony in 1729. Anyone wanting to hold public office had to sign an oath stating that

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

was the true Christian faith. With the passage of the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constituti ...

in 1789 after the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, Catholics were guaranteed freedom of worship throughout the new nation.

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

erected the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States in 1784, encompassing the entire United States. Five years later, he converted the prefecture into the

Diocese of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore () is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in northern and western Maryland, western Maryland in the United States. It is the Metropolis (religious jurisdiction)#Western Catholic Ch ...

. The Diocese of Charleston was erected by

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

on July 11, 1820. The new diocese included states of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, North Carolina, and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, all removed from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. During the early 19th century, Irish Catholic immigrants started entering North Carolina to work on the railroads and other construction projects. The first Catholic church in Raleigh was built in 1834. By 1860, there were 350 Catholics living in seven North Carolina parishes. Coat of arms of the Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina

Coat of arms of the Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina

1868 to 1924

On March 3, 1868,

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

erected the Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina, removing all of North Carolina from the Diocese of Charleston. At that time, the pope appointed Reverend

James Gibbons James Cardinal Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 unti ...

from the Archdiocese of Baltimore as the first vicar apostolic. When Gibbons became vicar apostolic, North Carolina counted fewer than 700 Catholics. In his first four weeks in office, he traveled almost a thousand miles, visiting towns and mission stations and administering the

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of ...

. He also befriended many Protestants, who greatly outnumbered Catholics in the state, and preached at their churches. Gibbons made many converts to Catholicism. In 1872, Pius IX appointed Gibbons as bishop of the

Diocese of Richmond The Diocese of Richmond () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in Virginia in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, Archdiocese of Balti ...

. The Vatican would not replace Gibbons in North Carolina for the next 11 years. In 1876, Benedictine monks from St. Vincent's Archabbey in

Latrobe, Pennsylvania Latrobe ( ) is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,060 as of the 2020 census. A part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, it is located near Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorpo ...

, arrived in Belmont to establish Belmont priory. In 1881, Leo XIII appointed Henry P. Northrop as the new vicar apostolic of North Carolina. Two years later, the pope named Northrup to also serve as bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte. Northrup held both positions until 1888, when the Vatican allowed him to resign as vicar apostolic and only serve as bishop of Charleston. In 1888, Leo XIII appointed Leo Michael Haid to replace Northrup as

apostolic vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

of North Carolina, while allow Haid to remain as abbot of Belmont. In 1910,

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

designated Belmont Abbey as a territorial abbey, giving it control of eight counties from the Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina to Belmont Abbey. Haid now led two different Catholic jurisdictions in North Carolina. Haid died in 1924.

1924 to 1962

On December 12, 1924,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

elevated the Apostolic Vicariate of North Carolina into the Diocese of Raleigh, making it the first Catholic diocese in North Carolina. The pope appointed Monsignor William Hafey of Baltimore as its first bishop. In 1937, Pius XI named Hafey as

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of the

Diocese of Scranton The Diocese of Scranton () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a suffragan see of Archdiocese of Philadelphia, established on March 3, 1868. ...

. To replace Hafey as bishop of Raleigh, the pope appointed Monsignor Eugene J. McGuinness from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that same year. In 1944,

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

transferred seven counties from Belmont Abbey to the Diocese of Raleigh. Later in 1944, Pius XII named McGuiness as bishop of the Diocese of Oklahoma City. Pius XII appointed Monsignor Vincent Waters from the Diocese of Richmond as the new bishop of Raleigh in 1944. Waters was accused by some of the diocesan clergy of holding on to idle church property worth millions of dollars while some

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

were in debt. He also denied requests for the creation of a priests' senate; 20% of his priests sent a request to the Vatican asking for Waters' removal. In 1953, Waters ordered the

racial desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

of all Catholic churches and schools in the diocese. He described

racial segregation Racial segregation is the separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, ...

as a product of "darkness," and declared that "the time has come for it to end." He also said,

"I am not unmindful, as a Southerner, of the force of this virus of prejudice among some persons in the South, as well as in the North. I know, however, that there is a cure for this virus, and that is our faith."

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

transferred

Gaston County Gaston County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 227,943. The county seat is Gastonia. Dallas served as the original county seat from 1846 until 1911. Gaston County is included in the ...

, Belmont Abbey's last county, to the Diocese of Raleigh in 1960. Although it remained a territorial abbey, Belmont now only had jurisdiction over its own campus. In 1962, John XXIII elevated the Diocese of Atlanta to the Archdiocese of Atlanta. He designated the Diocese of Raleigh and Belmont Abbey as suffragans of the new archdiocese.

1962 to present

In 1962, John XXIII elevated the Diocese of Atlanta to the Archdiocese of Atlanta and transferred the Diocese of Raleigh to it from the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

in 1971 erected the

Diocese of Charlotte The Diocese of Charlotte () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in western North Carolina in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Atlanta. The Diocese of Char ...

. He removed Belmont Abbey and several counties from the Diocese of Raleigh. This action created the current boundaries of the Diocese of Raleigh. In 1972, Waters expelled five Sisters of Providence nuns from the diocese for not wearing their

religious habit A religious habit is a distinctive set of clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally, some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious Hermit, eremitic and Anchorite, anchorit ...

s while teaching. After Waters died in 1974,

appointed Auxiliary Bishop F. Joseph Gossman of Baltimore in 1975 to replace him. Gossman served as bishop in the diocese for 31 years. After his resignation in 2006,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

appointed Auxiliary Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as the new bishop of Raleigh Soon after taking office, Burbidge announced the building of a new cathedral for the diocese, to be named the Cathedral of the Holy Name of Jesus. Building preparations began in 2013. Groundbreaking for the new cathedral occurred in 2014, and the cathedral was completed in 2017. After the tornado outbreak of April 2011, which killed 24 people in North Carolina and other states, Burbidge urged Catholics to include victims and survivors in their

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

prayers. He directed the diocese's parishes and mission churches to hold a special collection for a disaster relief fund to be used to help survivors. In 2016,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

appointed Burbidge as bishop of the Diocese of Arlington. He appointed Auxiliary Bishop Luis Zarama from the Archdiocese of Atlanta as the first Hispanic bishop of Raleigh. As of 2023, Zarama is the current bishop of the diocese.

Cathedral churches

Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Raleigh in Raleigh. It was designed by the architects O'Brien and Keane in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style. It contains a

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

floor plan with a dome over the crossing. Its 42 stained glass windows and

stations of the cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

came from closed churches in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The Beyer Studio restored the windows before they were installed. Construction on the cathedral commenced in 2015 and it was dedicated in 2017. Sacred Heart Cathedral in Raleigh served as the diocesan cathedral from 1924 to 2017. After the dedication of Holy Name of Jesus in 2017, Sacred Heart was relegated to a parish church. The Basilica Shrine of St. Mary in Wilmington served as a cathedral for the Vicariate Apostolic of North Carolina until its suppression in 1924. The diocese sold the former Pro-Cathedral of St. Thomas the Apostle in Wilmington.

Bishops

Vicars Apostolic of North Carolina

(1868–1877), appointed Bishop of Richmond and later

Archbishop of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore () is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in northern and western Maryland in the United States. It is the metropolitan see of the Ecclesiastical Province of Baltimore. The Archd ...

(elevated to

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in 1886)
- Stanislaus Mark Gross (1880–1881) - appointed, but never actually took possession # Henry Pinckney Northrop (1881–1888), appointed Bishop of Charleston # Leo Michael Haid, O.S.B. (1888–1924), concurrently

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of Belmont Abbey

Bishops of Raleigh

# William J. Hafey (1925–1937), appointed Bishop of Scranton # Eugene J. McGuinness (1938–1944), appointed Bishop of Oklahoma City-Tulsa # Vincent S. Waters (1945–1974) # Francis J. Gossman (1975–2006) #

Michael Francis Burbidge Michael Francis Burbidge (born June 16, 1957) is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Arlington since 2016. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 2002 to 2006 and as Bishop o ...

(2006–2016), appointed Bishop of Arlington # Luis Rafael Zarama (2017–present)

Auxiliary bishops

* James Johnston Navagh (1952–1957), appointed Bishop of Ogdensburg and later Bishop of Paterson * Charles Borromeo McLaughlin (1964–1968), appointed Bishop of Saint Petersburg *

George Edward Lynch George Edward Lynch (March 4, 1917 – May 25, 2003) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh in North Carolina from 1970 to 1985. Biography George Lynch was born on March 4, 191 ...

(1970–1985)

Other diocesan priests who became bishops

Joseph Lennox Federal Joseph Lennox Federal (January 13, 1910 – August 31, 2000) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City in Utah from 1960 to 1980. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop and ...

, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Salt Lake in 1951 *

Michael Joseph Begley Michael Joseph Begley (March 12, 1909 – February 9, 2002) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte in North Carolina, serving from 1972 until 1984. Biography Early life Michael ...

, appointed Bishop of Charlotte in 1971 *

Joseph Lawson Howze Joseph Lawson Edward Howze (born Lawson Edward Howze; August 30, 1923 – January 9, 2019) was an American Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Biloxi from 1977 to 2001. He was the first openly Black Catholic ordinary of a U.S. ...

, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Natchez-Jackson in 1972 *

Bernard Shlesinger Bernard Edward "Ned" Shlesinger III (born December 17, 1960) is an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who has served as an auxiliary bishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, Archdiocese of Atlanta sin ...

, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta in 2017

Education

The Diocese of Raleigh currently administers two high schools. The diocese also includes an independent high school run by lay staff and a high school in the

Cristo Rey Network The Cristo Rey Network is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2000 to increase the number of schools modeled after Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago, which was founded in 1996 to prepare youth from low-income families for post-seconda ...

High schools

* Cardinal Gibbons High School – Raleigh * John Paul II Catholic High School – Greenville * St. Thomas More Academy – Raleigh (operated by laypeople) *

Cristo Rey Research Triangle High School Cristo Rey Research Triangle High School is a Catholic high school located in Durham, North Carolina. It is part of the Cristo Rey Network, a nationwide network of 40 Jesuit schools, and operates under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh. Hist ...

– Durham

Radio stations

WSHP-LP

WSHP-LP was a community

low-power FM Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonl ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

, licensed to the diocese, and broadcasting from Cary. It was operated by Divine Mercy Radio, Inc., a local lay apostolate organization. Due to its short antenna height and low power of just 37 watts, coverage was primarily limited to central and eastern Cary. The initial application to construct the station was filed in November 2013, and plans for this station, along with WFNE-LP in Wake Forest, were announced in 2014. The original application specified a

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

site on the St. Michael the Archangel Parish grounds in Cary. This was later modified to a cellular telephone tower located west of Cary. WSHP-LP was first licensed in February 2018. Its original programming consisted of EWTN's English service, in addition to Ave Maria Radio and locally produced religious programs and announcements. In July 2018, WSHP-LP temporarily suspended operations, as Divine Mercy prepared to transfer the EWTN programming to AM 540,

WETC WETC (540 kHz) is an AM radio station, licensed to the cities of Wendell and Zebulon, North Carolina. It is owned by Divine Mercy Radio, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation. It is an all-volunteer, independently owned, non-commercial radio station t ...

, which went live in February 2019. WSHP-LP resumed broadcasting in March 2019, now with Spanish language programs from EWTN's Radio Católica Mundial. The diocese surrendered WSHP-LP's license to the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

in April 2023.

WETC

In August 2018, the Diocese made arrangements to purchase WETC, AM 540 in Wendell. After a period when it remained off the air, WETC resumed regular operations on February 4, 2019

WPJL

In early February 2024, WPJL, AM 1240 in Raleigh was sold to Divine Mercy Radio. Its community of license was changed to Knightdale, and it began simulcasting WETC's programming.

Controversies

Sexual abuse

In June 2002, in a meeting with officials of the

, a Pennsylvania man claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Edward J. Shoback, a Diocese of Raleigh priest. The alleged attacks took place in North Carolina in the 1970s when the victim was a seminarian. The diocese later removed the victim from seminary study there. When informed of the allegation, Shoback denied it. In 2004, two men reported to the Diocese of Raleigh that they had been sexually molested as teenagers by Shoback after he gave them liquor and showed them

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

. Shoback admitted to the first of these new allegations and was removed from ministry. In 2007, the diocese paid almost $2 million to settle sexual misconduct claims made by 37 victims against at least 15 priests since the 1950s. By September 2020, settlements paid by the diocese in sexual misconduct cases since 1950 totaled $2,717,750. In July 2015, the

North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was create ...

ruled to allow the advancement to trial of a lawsuit against the diocese and Bishop Burbidge over an allegation of child sexual abuse by Reverend Edgar Sepulveda. The alleged victim was sixteen-year-old boy who claimed being abused by Sepulveda when he was a priest of the Santa Teresa del Niño Jesús Mission in

Beulaville, North Carolina Beulaville is a town located in Duplin County, North Carolina, Duplin County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, 2020 census, the population was 1,116. The community lies within the Limestone Creek Township. History Nati ...

. Sepulveda denied all the accusations. He had been arrested in 2010 and charged with second-degree sexual offense and

sexual battery Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault, which is the act of creating reasonable fear or apprehension of such contact. Battery is a specific common law offense, although the term is used more gen ...

, but the criminal charges were dropped by Brunswick County prosecutors, citing a lack of evidence. At that time, Burbidge had put Sepulveda on administrative leave, prohibiting him from visiting any parish or Catholic school, and removed him from residence on church grounds. Lawyers for the victims claimed that Burbridge had been negligent and had inflicted further emotional distress on the victim by refusing to order Sepulveda to undergo testing for

sexually transmitted diseases A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, oral ...

and then share results with the victim's family. Lawyers for the diocese and Burbridge denied that he or other church officials had any knowledge of Sepulveda's alleged actions. The court allowed the lawsuit to proceed, rejected arguments made by defense lawyers that it violated the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

in the United States Constitution. In August 2018. a grand jury report regarding sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania named two former North Carolina priests in the list of 301 priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse. Reverend William Presley and Reverend Robert Spangenberg both worked in the diocese in the 1970s and 1980s. Presley, whom the report describes as a "violent predator who insinuated himself into the lives of families for the purpose of getting close enough to their children that he could abuse them", had served at a parish in

Kinston, North Carolina Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 19,900 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791. Kinston is located in the ...

, from 1981 until 1983. Spangenberg had served at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Parish in Newton Grove, North Carolina, and Immaculate Conception Catholic Parish in

Clinton, North Carolina Clinton ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Sampson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 8,383. Clinton is named for Richard Clinton (politician), Richard Clinton, a ...

, from 1977 until 1979. By May 2020, 29 clergy were listed on the diocese list of clergy who had been"credibly accused" of committing acts of sex abuse.CList of Clergy with Actionable Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors
Accessed May 1, 2021 Those listed either had claims of abuse against them while serving in the diocese or had reports of abuse elsewhere. In April 2024 Patrick Tuttle, a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friar who served as an associate pastor and middle school teacher at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and Immaculata Catholic School in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

from 1996 until at least 2009, was removed from public ministry after allegations of sexual misconduct.

LGBTQ+ issues

In 2009, the Diocese of Raleigh established a chapter of

Courage International Courage International, also known as Courage Apostolate and Courage for short, is an approved apostolate of the Catholic Church founded in 1980 by John F. Harvey as part of the ex-gay movement. It runs a twelve-step program, similar to that of Al ...

, a Catholic apostolate that ministered to gay and lesbian people and considered homosexuality to be a treatable condition. The ministry's executive director stated that Courage's goal was to "assist men and women who are afflicted with the thorn of same-sex attraction." Courage International encouraged celibacy among gay men and women, and used a

twelve-step program Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), founded by B ...

for treatment that was similar to that of

Alcoholics Anonymous Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a global, peer-led Mutual aid, mutual-aid fellowship focused on an abstinence-based recovery model from alcoholism through its spiritually inclined twelve-step program. AA's Twelve Traditions, besides emphasizing anon ...

. In May 2012, the diocese mailed postcards to Catholic voters promoting North Carolina Amendment 1, a proposed amendment to the

North Carolina Constitution The Constitution of the State of North Carolina governs the structure and function of the state government of North Carolina, one of the U.S. states; it is the highest legal document for the state and subjugates North Carolina law. (Like all U.S ...

to ban

same sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...

. The postcards, titled ''Why Traditional Marriage Matters'', featured photos of Bishop Burbidge and Bishop Jugis of Charlotte with the text "On May 8, vote FOR marriage". The postcard also contained a passage from the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

, stating "From the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said: for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become flesh." The diocese contributed $50,000 to support the amendment. The amendment passed. In 2013, the diocese left the ecumenical North Carolina Council of Churches after the council spoke out against North Carolina Amendment 1. In 2016, Burbidge publicly supported the

Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, commonly known as House Bill 2, Bathroom Bill, or HB2, was a North Carolina statute passed in March 2016 and signed into law by Governor of North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory. The bill amended st ...

, a

bathroom bill A bathroom bill is the common name for legislation or a statute that denies access to public toilets by gender or transgender identity. Bathroom bills affect access to sex-segregated public facilities for an individual based on a determination o ...

in the state legislature that would have required people to use bathrooms that corresponded with the sex listed on their birth certificates. In 2019, Reverend Christopher Van Height of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in

, barred City Councilors Vernetta Alston and Jillian Johnson from speaking at a

Black History Month Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...

event at the church school. This was because Alston and Johnson were both members of the

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

community. VanHeight's decision was supported by the diocese. In 2022, Immaculata Catholic School prohibited a student's family from hiring a

transgender woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

to serve as their child's in-school aide.

References

Bibliography

* *

Sources and external links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh Official Site

Catholic Hierarchy of Raleigh, North Carolina

NC Catholic Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raleigh, Roman Catholic Diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Atlanta Catholic Church in North Carolina Religious organizations established in 1868 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century 1868 establishments in North Carolina