Diocese of Monterey in California

Dioecesis Montereyensis in California
Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo
Coat of arms
Location
Country United States
Territory Counties of Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Cruz, California, Region XI, United States
Ecclesiastical province Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Statistics
Population
  • Total
  • Catholics
  •  
  • 1,040,498
  • 208,100[1] (20.0%)
Information
Denomination Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established April 27, 1840, reestablished October 6, 1967
Cathedral Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo
Patron saint Our Lady of Bethlehem
Saint Charles Borromeo
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop Ramon Bejarano
Metropolitan Archbishop José Gómez
Bishops emeritus Sylvester Donovan Ryan
Map
Website
dioceseofmonterey.org

The Diocese of Monterey in California (Latin: Dioecesis Montereyensis in California) is a diocese of the Catholic Church in the Central Coast region of California. It comprises Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties. The mother church is the Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo in Monterey. The diocese is home to seven of California's 21 Franciscan missions, more than any other California diocese.

Name changes

Since 1849, four dioceses in California have included the Monterey name:[2]

  • Diocese of Monterey (1849 to 1859, now defunct) – covered all of central and southern California
  • Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles (1859 to 1922, now defunct) – covered all of central and southern California
  • Diocese of Monterey-Fresno (1922 to 1967, now defunct) – covered the Central Coast and the Central Valley of California
  • Diocese of Monterey in California (1967 to present, current diocese ) – covers the Central Coast of California[2]

History

1770 to 1840

The history of the Catholic Church in Monterey began with the establishment of Mission San Carlos Borromeo on Monterey Bay in 1770 by Junípero Serra. Serra moved the mission to present-day Carmel the next year. It would serve as the headquarters of the Spanish missions along the Alta California coast.

  • Serra established the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Mission in San Luis Obispo in 1772.[3]
  • Fermín Francisco de Lasuén founded the Mission Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz and the Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad in Soledad in 1791.[4]

After the end of the Mexican War of Independence, the new Mexican Government secularized all of the remaining Catholic missions in Alta California in 1835.

1840 to 1848

In 1840, Pope Gregory XVI set up the Roman Catholic Diocese of California.[2] The new diocese included the following Mexican territories:

  • Alta California (Upper California), including the modern American states of California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, along with western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming
  • Baja California Territory (Lower California), including the modern Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur

Gregory XVI set the episcopal see at present-day San Diego in Alta California and made the Diocese of California a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mexico City.[5] The first bishop of the new diocese was Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno. Diego designated the Mission Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara as his pro-cathedral.

1848 to 1967

After ceding Alta California to the United States at the close of the Mexican–American War in 1848, the government of Mexico objected to San Diego, a see city now located in the United States, having jurisdiction over Mexican parishes. In response, the Vatican divided the Diocese of California into American and Mexican sections in 1849. The American section became the Diocese of Monterey; the see city was moved to Monterey because of its more central location. The Royal Presidio Chapel in Monterey became the cathedral of the new American diocese.[citation needed]

Pope Pius IX split the Diocese of Monterey in 1853, erecting the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Francisco. He designated the Diocese of Monterey as a suffragan diocese of the new archdiocese.[6] The first parish in Watsonville was Our Lady Help of Christians Church, founded in 1854.[7]

In 1859, Pius IX changed the name of the diocese to the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles due to the growth of the City of Los Angeles.[8] The first parish in Salinas was Sacred Heart, founded as a mission in 1874.[9] In 1922, Pope Pius XI suppressed the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles, erecting in its place the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego.[10] and the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno.[11]

In 1936, Pope Pius XI elevated the Diocese of Los Angeles-San Diego to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles[12] and designated the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno as one of its suffragan sees. In 1941, the Adrian Dominican Sisters established Sisters Hospital in Monterey. It is today Dominican Hospital.[13]

1967 to present

Bishop Richard Garcia (2007)
Bishop Daniel Garcia (2018)

In 1967, Pope Paul VI divided the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno into the Diocese of Fresno[14] and the Diocese of Monterey in California.[15] The pope named Auxiliary Bishop Harry Anselm Clinch of Monterey-Fresno in 1967 as the first bishop of Monterey in California.[16] During his 14-year tenure, Clinch implemented the reforms of the Second Vatican Council of the early 1960s, ordained 22 priests, and established five new parishes.[17] Clinch resigned in 1982.

The second bishop of Monterey in California was Auxiliary Bishop Thaddeus Anthony Shubsda of Los Angeles, appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1982.[18] Shubsda was widely regarded as an expert on labor issues and social justice. He was an outspoken advocate of farm and factory workers in the diocese.[19] He acted as a mediator between management and labor in the Watsonville frozen food strikes. Shubsda spoke out for better living conditions for field workers, some of whom were living in caves in Salinas.[20] His actions prompted labor leader César Chávez to remark, "The church has many flaws, but in many ways it is still the best friend we have."[19] Shubsda hosted St. John Paul II's visit to the Monterey Peninsula in 1987, and actively promoted the beatification of Junípero Serra.[19]

After Shubsda died in 1991, Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester Ryan of Los Angeles was the next bishop of Monterey.[21] Ryan retired in 2006. He was succeeded by Auxiliary Bishop Richard Garcia of the Diocese of Sacramento in 2006.[22] Richard Garcia resigned in 2018.

In 2018, Auxiliary Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of the Diocese of Austin became the next bishop. On July 2, 2025, Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Daniel Garcia as Bishop of the Diocese of Austin.[23] As of 2026, the bishop is Ramon Bejarano.

Sex abuse

In April 2009, Antonio Cortes of St. Mary of the Nativity Catholic Church in Salinas was arrested on charges of unlawful sexual behavior with a minor and providing alcohol to a minor.[24] His accuser said he was 16 years old when Cortes assaulted him. Cortes was convicted in March 2012 of felony charges of sodomy involving a minor and possession of child pornography and sentenced to one year in prison. After his release from prison, Cortes fled to Mexico. The victim sued the diocese in 2018 and settled the lawsuit that same year.[25]

The diocese paid a $1.2 million settlement in June 2009 to a man from Yuma, Arizona, who had been sexually assaulted by two priests in Salinas when he was a child.[26] The first was Juan Guillen, who the victim said raped him multiple times when he was an altar boy between age eight and 15. The crimes happened in Arizona and in Salinas. Guillen was sentenced to ten years in prison in Arizona in 2003.[27] The second priest was John Velez, visiting from Mexico, who assaulted the victim in the rectory bedroom in Salinas multiple times in 1991. According to the diocese, officials expelled Velez from the diocese in 1991 and representatives of his order escorted him back to Mexico.[28]

The Diocese of Monterey published a list in January 2019 of 30 clerics with credible accusations of sexual abuse.[29]

Bishops

Bishop of Monterey

Joseph Alemany (1850–1853), appointed Archbishop of San Francisco

Bishops of Monterey-Los Angeles

  1. Thaddeus Amat y Brusi (1853–1878)
  2. Francisco Mora y Borrell (1878–1896; coadjutor bishop 1873–1878)
  3. George Thomas Montgomery (1896–1902; coadjutor bishop 1894–1896), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of San Francisco but died before succession to that see
  4. Thomas James Conaty (1903–1915)
  5. John Joseph Cantwell (1917–1922), title changed with title of diocese

Bishops of Monterey-Fresno

  1. John Bernard MacGinley (1924-1932)
  2. Philip George Scher (1933-1953)
  3. Aloysius Joseph Willinger (1953-1967)

Bishops of Monterey in California

  1. Harry Anselm Clinch (1967–1982)
  2. Thaddeus Anthony Shubsda (1982–1991)
  3. Sylvester Donovan Ryan (1992–2006)
  4. Richard John Garcia (2007–2018)
    - Gerald Eugene Wilkerson, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles (apostolic administrator 2018–2019)
  5. Daniel E. Garcia (2019–2025)
    - Slawomir Szkredka, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles (apostolic administrator September 19, 2025–December 17, 2025)
  6. Ramon Bejarano (2026-present)

Other diocesan priest who became bishop

Tod David Brown, appointed Bishop of Boise City in 1988

Churches

Main article: List of churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey

The Diocese of Monterey is home to the Cathedral of San Carlos in Monterey, the oldest stone building and the first cathedral in California. The other former Spanish missions in the diocese include:

  • Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo – (1797) Carmel Valley
  • Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad – (1791) Soledad
  • Mission San Antonio de Padua – (1771) Jolon
  • Mission San Juan Bautista – (1797) San Juan Bautista
  • Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa – (1772) San Luis Obispo
  • Mission San Miguel Arcangel – (1797) San Miguel
  • Mission Santa Cruz – (1791) Santa Cruz[30]

High schools

  • Mission College Preparatory High School – San Luis Obispo
  • Notre Dame High School – Salinas
  • Palma High School, Salinas
  • Santa Catalina School – Monterey
  • Saint Francis Central Coast Catholic High School – Watsonville

Sources

Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey in California.

References

  1. ^ Diocese of Monterey in California
  2. ^ a b c "Monterey in California (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  3. ^ "Welcome to Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa". Mission San Luis Obispo de Toulosa. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  4. ^ "Mission Santa Cruz – Holy Cross Catholic Church of Santa Cruz". Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  5. ^ The papal bull Apostolicam sollicitudinem, in Raffaele de Martinis, Iuris pontificii de propaganda fide. Pars prima, Tomus V, Romae 1890, pp. 233–235
  6. ^ "San Francisco (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  7. ^ "The Power of the Spirit: Our Lady Help of Christians (Watsonville)". Retrieved 2026-02-21.
  8. ^ "Monterey in California (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  9. ^ "History". Sacred Heart Church. Retrieved 2026-02-21.
  10. ^ Greg Erlandson, Editor-in-Chief, Catholic Almanac, 2015 Ed., Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., Huntington, IN, 2015, p. 378.
  11. ^ Ibid., p. 377
  12. ^ Ibid., p. 378.
  13. ^ "History | Dominican Hospital | Dignity Health | Dignity Health". Dignity Health. Archived from the original on 2025-11-13. Retrieved 2026-02-21.
  14. ^ Ibid., p. 377.
  15. ^ Ibid., p. 379.
  16. ^ "Bishop Harry Anselm Clinch". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.[self-published source]
  17. ^ Beck, David L. (2003-03-12). "BISHOP HARRY CLINCH, 94, LAUNCHED VATICAN REFORMS". San Jose Mercury News.
  18. ^ "Bishop Thaddeus Anthony Shubsda". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  19. ^ a b c Connell, Joan (1991-04-27). "BISHOP SHUBSDA DIES AT 66". San Jose Mercury News.
  20. ^ "Bishop Thaddeus Shubsda". Orlando Sentinel. 1991-04-28.
  21. ^ "Bishop Sylvester Donovan Ryan [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2021-11-18.
  22. ^ "Bishop Richard John Garcia [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  23. ^ "Pope Leo XIV Appoints Most Reverend Daniel Garcia as Bishop of Austin | USCCB". www.usccb.org. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  24. ^ "Salinas priest jailed on sex abuse claim". www.vcstar.com. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  25. ^ "Fugitive priest misses another court date, losing lawsuit". Monterey Herald. 2013-06-14. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  26. ^ STAR, Stephanie Innes ARIZONA DAILY (2009-06-03). "2nd diocese adds $1.2M to settlement for molesting". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  27. ^ "Former priest sought as Yuma County's most wanted | Sylvia's Site". Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  28. ^ "Man Sues Dioceses over Alleged Abuse in Salinas, Arizona The Rev. John Velez and the Rev. Juan Guillen Both Allegedly Celebrated Mass As Visiting Priests at Christ the King Church". www.bishop-accountability.org. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  29. ^ "Diocese of Monterey names 30 clergymen 'credibly accused' of sexual misconduct". KSBW. 2019-01-04. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  30. ^ "Parish map". Diocese of Monterey. Retrieved April 19, 2020.

36°36′00″N 121°54′00″W / 36.6000°N 121.9000°W / 36.6000; -121.9000