Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City

Latin Catholic jurisdiction in the United States

Diocese of Rapid City

Dioecesis Rapidopolitana

Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Coat of arms

Location
Country| United States
Territory| West of the Missouri River in South Dakota
Ecclesiastical province| Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Statistics
Area| 43,000 sq mi (110,000 km2)
Population
- Total
- Catholics| (as of 2010)
239,000
30,700 (12.8%)
Parishes| 88
Information
Denomination| Catholic Church
Sui iuris church| Latin Church
Rite| Roman Rite
Established| August 6, 1902 (122 years ago)
Cathedral| Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Current leadership
Pope| Francis
Bishop| Scott E. Bullock
Metropolitan Archbishop| Bernard Hebda
Map
Website
rapidcitydiocese.org

The Diocese of Rapid City (Latin: Dioecesis Rapidopolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in western South Dakota in the United States It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

The mother church of the Diocese of Rapid City is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Rapid City.

Pope Francis has appointed Reverend Scott E. Bullock, as Bishop of Rapid City on June 25, 2024.[1]

## Territory

[edit]

The Diocese of Rapid City includes all the South Dakota counties west of the Missouri River:

Corson, Dewey, Stanley, Lyman, Gregory, Tripp, Todd, Bennett, Oglala Lakota, Fall River, Custer, Pennington, Lawrence, Meade, Butte, Harding, Perkins, Ziebach, Haakon, Jackson, Jones, and Mellette.[2]

## History

[edit]

Western South Dakota went through several Catholic jurisdictions before the Vatican erected the Diocese of Rapid City:

* Diocese of Saint Louis (1826 to 1837)
* Diocese of Dubuque (1837 to 1850)
* Diocese of Saint Paul (1850 to 1879)
* Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota (1879 to 1889)
* Diocese of Sioux Falls (1889 to 1902)
* Diocese of Lead (1902 to 1930)[3][4]

The first Catholic church in the present day diocese was Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church near Vermillion. In Sioux Falls, St. Michael was dedicated in 1881, making it the earliest Catholic church in that city.[5]

### 1900 to 1930

[edit]

On August 6, 1902, Pope Pius X established the diocese as the Diocese of Lead, with territory taken from the Diocese of Sioux Falls.[6]Lead was a small mining town in South Dakota. The pope named Monsignor John Stariha of the Diocese of Saint Paul as the first bishop of Lead.

During his seven years as bishop, Stariha increased the number of priests in the diocese from 17 to 25 and the number of parishes and missions from 25 to 53.[7] Due to poor health, he moved from his official residence in Lead to Hot Springs in 1908.[8] Due to his health, Stariha retired in 1909.

In 1910, Pius X named Joseph Busch of Saint Paul as the second bishop of Lead.[9] During his tenure, Busch called for the abolition of work on Sundays. His proposal received so much criticism that he was forced to relocate from Lead to Rapid City.[10] Busch became bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud in 1915.[9]

Auxiliary Bishop John Lawler of Saint Paul was appointed the third bishop of Lead by Pope Benedict XV in 1916.[11]

### 1930 to 1988

[edit]

Pope Pius XI suppressed the Diocese of Lead on August 1, 1930, replacing it with the Diocese of Rapid City.[12][13] In 1947, Pope Pius XII named Auxiliary Bishop William McCarty of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA as coadjutor bishop in the diocese to assist Lawler.[14] When Lawler died in 1948, after 32 years as bishop, he was automatically succeeded by McCarty. McCarty retired in 1969.

The next bishop of Rapid City was Reverend Harold Dimmerling of Saint Cloud, named by Pope Paul VI in 1969.[15] Dimmerling established a permanent diaconate program and a lay ministry program and ordained the first Native American deacon in the country.[16] He also set up offices in the diocese for rural life, stewardship and social concerns. He set up a ministry for people who were separated or divorced, and for widows. Dimmerling also established the West River Catholic newspaper. Dimmerling died in 1987.

### 1988 to present

[edit]

In 1988, Reverend Charles J. Chaput was appointed bishop of Rapid City by Pope John Paul II.[17] He was the second priest of Native American ancestry to become a Catholic bishop in the United States. Chaput became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Denver in 1997. John Paul II then named Reverend Blase J. Cupich of the Archdiocese of Omaha to replace Chaput that same year.[18] As bishop, Cupich banned children from receiving their first holy communion in the Tridentine Mass or being confirmed in the traditional form. In 2002, Cupich prohibited a Traditional Mass community from celebrating the Paschal Triduum liturgies according to the 1962 form of the Roman Rite.[19] In 2010, Cupich became bishop of the Diocese of Spokane.

Monsignor Robert D. Gruss of the Diocese of Davenport was named the next bishop of Rapid City by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.[20] In 2017, Gruss opened the cause for the canonization of Lakota medicine man Nicholas Black Elk.[21] Two years later, Gruss became bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw.

On February 17, 2024, the Diocese of Rapid City announced the passing of the current bishop Reverend Peter Muhich of the Diocese of Duluth, named by Pope Francis in 2020.[22][23] In March 2020, Reverend Marcin Garbacz was convicted of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax fraud, having stolen $250,000 from parishes in the diocese. He spent some of the money on a Cadillac, artwork and jewelry. Garbacz was sentenced to over seven years in prison with $250,000 in reparations to the diocese.[24]

### Reports of sex abuse

[edit]

Reverend John Praveen, a priest from India serving in the diocese, was arrested in October 2018 on sex abuse charges.[25] Praveen was accused of sexually molesting a 13-year-old girl in Sioux City.[26] Arriving in South Dakota in December 2017, Praveen first worked in Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe reservation, then at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in June 2018.[25] Praveen pleaded guilty in September 2018 and was sentenced to six years in state prison in March 2019. After his prison release, the US Government was to deport him to India.[26] In November 2020, Pope Francis laicized Praveen.[25]

In March 2019, the diocese published a list of 21 Catholic clergy with credible accusation of sexual abuse of minors. This included clergy who served in parishes and church institutions along with the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations from 1951 to 2018.[27] Bishop Gruss stated that "It is important to acknowledge the horrid truth of past abuse in the church so that we can repent of these actions and to recommit ourselves to ensuring that no one is hurt moving forward."[28]

In August 2020, an individual contacted the diocese to accuse Monsignor Michel Mulloy, vicar general of the diocese, of sexually abusing them as a minor in the 1980s.[29] The diocese immediately removed Mulloy from public ministry and a started preliminary investigation. The results led the review board to call for a full investigation. Pope Francis had appointed Mulloy as bishop of Duluth in June 2020, but he hadn't been consecrated yet.[30] In early September 2020, Mulloy resigned as bishop-elect of Duluth.[30] In March 2023, the Diocese of Rapid City said that its investigation could not prove the sexual abuse allegation, but that it would not return Mulloy to ministry.[31]

In November 2020, the diocese reported that federal sex abuse charges were pending against Reverend Marcin Garbacz.[32] He was already serving a prison sentence for stealing from parishes in the diocese.[33] In March 2022, Garbacz was sentenced to five years in federal prison for recording a pornographic video of an 11-year-old boy in Poland, the sentence to be served after his release from state prison.[34]

## Bishops

[edit]

### Bishops of Lead

[edit]

1. John Stariha (1902-1909)
2. Joseph Francis Busch (1910-1915), appointed Bishop of Saint Cloud
3. John Jeremiah Lawler (1915-1930 see below)

### Bishops of Rapid City

[edit]

1. John Jeremiah Lawler (see above 1930-1948)
2. William Tibertus McCarty, C.Ss.R. (1948-1969)
3. Harold Joseph Dimmerling (1969-1987)
4. Charles Joseph Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. (1988-1997), appointed Archbishop of Denver and later Archbishop of Philadelphia
5. Blase Joseph Cupich (1998-2010), appointed Bishop of Spokane and later Archbishop of Chicago (elevated to Cardinal in 2016)
6. Robert Dwayne Gruss (2011-2019), appointed Bishop of Saginaw
7. Peter Michael Muhich (2020-2024)
8. Scott E. Bullock (2024-present)

### Coadjutor bishop

[edit]

Leo Ferdinand Dworschak (1946–1947), did not succeed to this see; appointed auxiliary bishop of Fargo in 1947

### Other diocesan priests who became bishops

[edit]

* Lawrence Welsh, appointed Bishop of Spokane in 1978
* Steven Biegler, appointed Bishop of Cheyenne in 2017

## Education

[edit]

In the Diocese of Rapid City, the schools in Rapid City itself are operated by the Rapid City Catholic School System.[35] Red Cloud Indian School is administered by the Society of Jesus and the Oglala Lakȟóta community.[36] Sapa Un Jesuit Academy is run by the St. Francis Mission.[37]

School name in English  | School name in Lakȟóta  | Grades  | Location

|
|
|

Red Cloud Indian School
Red Cloud High School | Maȟpíya Lúta Owáyawa  | (9–12)  | Pine Ridge Reservation
Red Cloud Elementary and Middle School  | Maȟpíya Lúta Hukhúčiyela Owáyawa  | (K-8)  | Pine Ridge
Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary  | Wíŋyaŋ Wakȟáŋ Owáyawa  | (K-8)  | Porcupine
Rapid City Catholic School System
St. Thomas More High School |  | (9–12)  | Rapid City
St. Thomas More Middle School  | (6–8)
St. Elizabeth Seton Elementary  | (K-5)
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Child Development  | (3K-PK)
St. Francis Mission
Sapa Un Jesuit Academy  |  | (K-8)  | St. Francis, Rosebud Indian Reservation

## See also

[edit]

* Catholic Church in the United States
* Ecclesiastical Province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
* List of Roman Catholic dioceses (structured view) (including archdioceses)
* List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Pope Francis Appoints Father Scott Bullock as Bishop of Rapid City | USCCB". www.usccb.org. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
2. ^ "Parishes". Diocese of Rapid City. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
3. ^ "Rapid City (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
4. ^ "Sioux Falls (Diocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
5. ^ "History of the Cathedral". Cathedral of Saint Joseph. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
6. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Diocese of Lead" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
7. ^ "MOST REVEREND JOHN J. STARIHA". Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City.
8. ^ "Bishop Stariha to Move Here". Hot Springs Weekly Star. July 17, 1908.
9. ^ a b Cheney, David M. "Bishop Joseph Francis Busch". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
10. ^ "BISHOP EXILED FROM HIS SEE CITY". The Morning Leader. 1913-08-13.
11. ^ "Bishop John Jeremiah Lawler". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
12. ^ "Diocese of Rapid City". Giga Catholic. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
13. ^ "Diocese of Rapid City". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
14. ^ "BISHOP J.J. LAWLER OF RAPID CITY, S.D.; Head of Diocese Transferred There in 1930 Dies at 85--Ex-Auxiliary in St. Paul". The New York Times. 1948-03-12.
15. ^ "Bishop Harold Joseph Dimmerling". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
16. ^ "Bishop Dimmerling". Diocese of Rapid City. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
17. ^ "Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
18. ^ "Blase Joseph Cardinal Cupich [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
19. ^ Garrigan, Mary (March 27, 2002). "Bishop Bans Latin Services". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
20. ^ "Pope Names Bishop for Rapid City, South Dakota; Auxiliary Bishop for Milwaukee". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
21. ^ Brockhaus, Hannah (May 24, 2019). "Former airline pilot appointed to lead diocese of Saginaw, MI". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
22. ^ "Bishop-elect Peter Muhich". Retrieved May 12, 2020.
23. ^ "Fr. Peter M. Muhich named as new bishop for Rapid City Diocese". May 12, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
24. ^ "District of South Dakota | Rapid City Priest Sentenced to 7 Years and 9 Months in Federal Prison for Wire Fraud, Money Laundering, Transportation of Stolen Money, and Filing a False Tax Return | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2020-11-25. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
25. ^ a b c Zionts, Arielle (November 12, 2020). "Pope Francis defrocks former Rapid City priest convicted of child sexual abuse". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
26. ^ a b Reagan, Nick (2019-03-29). "Former Catholic priest sentenced to prison for sexual contact". www.kotatv.com. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
27. ^ Zionts, Arielle (March 19, 2019). "Rapid City Diocese: 21 priests credibly accused of sexual abuse". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
28. ^ "PUBLICATION OF ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT" (PDF). Diocese of Rapid City. March 15, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
29. ^ Brockhaus, Hannah (September 7, 2020). "Pope Francis accepts resignation of Duluth Bishop-elect Michel Mulloy after abuse allegation". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
30. ^ a b Caudill, Jack (September 7, 2020). "Former Rapid City priest and bishop-elect of Duluth resigns amid sexual abuse allegation". KEVN. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
31. ^ KOTA Staff (2023-03-03). "Sexual abuse investigation of Rapid City priest ends". www.blackhillsfox.com. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
32. ^ Flynn, JD (November 25, 2020). "Priest jailed for theft blames Catholic doctrine, also facing sex abuse charges". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
33. ^ Zionts, Arielle (November 25, 2020). "Former Rapid City priest sentenced to 7.75 years in prison for stealing from diocese". Rapid City Journal. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
34. ^ "District of South Dakota | Former Rapid City Priest Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for Illegal Sexual Conduct | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2022-03-14. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
35. ^ "RCCSS | Developing Personal and Academic Excellence in the Catholic". RCCSS. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
36. ^ "Red Cloud Indian School". Red Cloud Indian School. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
37. ^ "Sapa Un Jesuit Academy". St. Francis Mission - Among The Lakota. Retrieved 2023-10-09.

## External links

[edit]

* Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City Official Site

* v
* t
* e

Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City

Bishops|

Bishops of Lead
John Stariha
Joseph Francis Busch

Bishops of Rapid City
John Jeremiah Lawler
William Tibertus McCarty
Harold Joseph Dimmerling
Charles J. Chaput
Blase J. Cupich
Robert Dwayne Gruss
Peter Michael Muhich
Scott E. Bullock

Coadjutor
Leo Ferdinand Dworschak

Churches|

Cathedral
Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Historic
St. Lawrence O'Toole Catholic Church, Central City
St. Augustine Church, Dallas
St. Martin's Catholic Church and Grotto, Oelrichs
St. John's Catholic Church, Paxton
Church of the Immaculate Conception, Rapid City
St. Charles Borromeo Church, St. Francis

Education|

High schools
Red Cloud High School, Pine Ridge
St. Thomas More High School, Rapid City

Priests|

Steven Biegler
Lawrence Welsh

* Catholicism portal

* v
* t
* e

Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

* Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
* Diocese of Bismarck
* Diocese of Crookston
* Diocese of Duluth
* Diocese of Fargo
* Diocese of New Ulm
* Diocese of Rapid City
* Diocese of Saint Cloud
* Diocese of Sioux Falls
* Diocese of Winona-Rochester

* Catholicism portal

44°04′34″N 103°13′42″W﻿ / ﻿44.07611°N 103.22833°W﻿ / 44.07611; -103.22833

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
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National|

* United States

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