Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln


The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lincoln is a Catholic diocese in Nebraska, United States, and comprises the majority of the eastern and central portions of the state south of the Platte River. It is a suffragan see to the Archdiocese of Omaha. The episcopal see is in Lincoln, Nebraska. Bishop James D. Conley is the current ordinary of the Diocese. The Cathedral of the Risen Christ is the cathedral parish of the diocese.

History

The diocese was established on August 2, 1887, by Pope Leo XIII from the territory taken from the Diocese of Omaha.
In 1996, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz issued a statement forbidding Catholics in the diocese to join a number of organizations, including the Society of St. Pius X, Call to Action, Planned Parenthood, Catholics for a Free Choice, the Hemlock Society, and various Masonic groups, under pain of excommunication.
In 2006, the Diocese rejected the proposed undertaking of an audit by the National Review Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops - which would have examined whether the Diocese had effectively implemented national guidelines on sex-abuse programs In June 2014, the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' National Review Board for the protection of children reported that the Lincoln diocese was the only one in the United States that had yet to comply with the USCCB's charter requiring every diocese to submit its procedures for the protection of children to the Review Board for an audit. According to a 2015 statement by Conley, the Lincoln Diocese has complied with all church and civil laws on child-abuse reporting and child protection. He stated that the audit process had been improved and that the diocese would now therefore participate.
The Diocese of Lincoln was the only diocese in the United States that does not allow female altar servers, after the only other holdout ended its prohibition on females in 2006. However, it was joined by a church in the Diocese of Phoenix in August 2011, when it was announced that girls would no longer be allowed to altar serve.

Demographics and statistics

The bishops of the diocese and their years of service:

Bishops of Lincoln

  1. Thomas Bonacum
  2. John Henry Tihen, appointed Bishop of Denver
  3. Charles Joseph O'Reilly
  4. Francis Beckman, appointed Archbishop of Dubuque
  5. Louis Benedict Kucera
  6. James Vincent Casey, appointed Archbishop of Denver
  7. Glennon Patrick Flavin
  8. Fabian Bruskewitz
  9. James D. Conley

    Auxiliary Bishops