Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo

Diocese of Fargo Dioecesis Fargensis
Location
Country	United States
Territory	30 counties in eastern North Dakota
Ecclesiastical province	Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Statistics
Area	35,786 sq mi (92,690 km^2)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2006) 379,821 82,891 (21.8%)
Parishes	138
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	November 10, 1889 (127 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of St. Mary
Patron saint	Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	John Thomas Folda
Metropolitan Archbishop	Bernard Hebda Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Vicar General	Joseph Goering
Map
Website
www.fargodiocese.org

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo (Latin: Dioecesis Fargensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in the American state of North Dakota.

Fargo is the episcopal see of the diocese. It is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The Cathedral parish of the diocese is the Cathedral of St. Mary.

History

The diocese was founded on November 10, 1889 by Pope Leo XIII as the Diocese of Jamestown. The name of the diocese was changed to the Diocese of Fargo on April 6, 1897.

It lost territory when the Diocese of Bismarck was established by Pope Pius X in 1909.^[1][2]

Ordinaries

The bishops who have served the diocese of Fargo and their terms of service:

1. John Shanley (1889–1909)
2. James O'Reilly (1909–1934)
3. Aloisius Joseph Muench (1935–1959); later, Cardinal (1959-1962)
4. Leo Ferdinand Dworschak (1960–1970)
5. Justin Albert Driscoll (1970–1984)
6. James Stephen Sullivan (1985–2002)
7. Samuel Joseph Aquila (2002–2012)
8. John Thomas Folda (2013–present)

(Raymond W. Lessard became Bishop of Savannah after having been a priest of this diocese.)

Departments

St Mary's Cathedral, Fargo

The Diocese of Fargo operates a number of departments serving the various needs of the bishop and parishes. The departments include:

• Archives
• Catholic Education and Formation Office (CEF)
• Catholic Schools
• Cemeteries
• Communications
• Education for Parish Service (EPS)
• Evangelization and Catechesis
• Finance
• Human Resources
• Marriage & Family Life
• Marriage Tribunal
• Properties Management
• Respect Life
• Stewardship & Development
• Technology
• Youth & Young Adult

Shanley High School, Fargo

Parishes

A partial list of parishes of the Diocese of Fargo follows.

• Cathedral of St. Mary, Fargo
• St. Joseph's Chapel, Minto
• St. Michael's Church, Grand Forks
• St. James Basilica, Jamestown
• St. Stanislaus Church, Warsaw

Education

Schools

School	Location	Established	Affiliation(s)
Primary and middle schools
Holy Family–St. Mary's Catholic School	Grand Forks	2005
Holy Spirit Catholic Elementary School	Fargo	1953
Nativity Elementary School	Fargo	1961	Sisters of the Presentation of Mary (former)
St. Alphonsus School	Langdon	1941
St. Ann's Native American Catholic Elementary School	Belcourt	1999	Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity
St. Catherine Elementary School	Valley City
St. John's Academy	Jamestown
St. Joseph Catholic School	Devils Lake	1957	Sisters of Mercy (former)
St. Michael's Catholic School	Devils Lake	1916	Sisters of St. Joseph (former)
St. Therese the Little Flower Catholic Elementary School	Rugby	1943
Sullivan Middle School	Fargo
Secondary schools
Shanley High School	Fargo	1882	De La Salle Christian Brothers (former) Presentation Sisters (former)

Former schools

The Diocese of Fargo operated Cardinal Muench Seminary, established in 1962, for the formation of men to the priesthood. The seminary was closed in May 2011 due to increased cost of operation and lack of funding.^[3]

• St. Alphonsus High School
• St. Mary's Elementary School

Coat of Arms

Arms of Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo

Notes Arms was designed and adopted when the diocese was erected Adopted 1897 Escutcheon The arms of the diocese are composed of a blue field on which is placed a gold cross, that reaches to the four edges of the design. Upon the cross is a blue horseshoe and in the upper left of the diocesan arms (chief dexter) is a golden garb of wheat also known as a "wheatsheaf." Symbolism The entire design is rendered in blue and gold, the traditional colors of the Blessed Virgin Mary, titular of the Cathedral-Church in the See City which was named for W.G. Fargo who started the "pony express," symbolized by the horseshoe at the center of the design. In the upper left is a golden wheatsheaf, in heraldry known as a "garb," to signify the major crop of the State of North Dakota, and the material used to make "the Bread of Life," the most blessed Eucharist.

See also

• Catholic Church by country
• Catholic Church in the United States
• Ecclesiastical Province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
• Global organisation of the Catholic Church
• List of Roman Catholic archdioceses (by country and continent)
• List of Catholic dioceses (alphabetical) (including archdioceses)
• List of Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
• List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States

Notes

1. "Diocese of Fargo". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
2. "Diocese of Fargo". GCatholic. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
3. Cardinal Muench Seminary Closed, cardinalmuench.org

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo Official Site

Coordinates: 46°52′38″N 96°47′22″W / 46.87722°N 96.78944°W