Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence

Diocese of Providence Dioecesis Providentiensis
Location
Country	United States
Territory	State of Rhode Island
Ecclesiastical province	Archdiocese of Hartford
Metropolitan	Providence, Rhode Island
Coordinates	41°49′11″N 71°25′00″W / 41.8197°N 71.4168°W / 41.8197; -71.4168Coordinates: 41°49′11″N 71°25′00″W / 41.8197°N 71.4168°W / 41.8197; -71.4168
Population - Catholics	679,000 (67.5%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	February 17, 1872
Cathedral	Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul
Patron saint	SS. Peter and Paul
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Thomas J. Tobin
Metropolitan Archbishop	Leonard Paul Blair Archbishop of Hartford
Auxiliary Bishops	Robert C. Evans
Map
Website
dioceseofprovidence.org

Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, the mother church of the Diocese of Providence

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence (Latin: Dioecesis Providentiensis) is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The diocese was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872 and originally comprised the entire state of Rhode Island and the counties of Bristol, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket in the state of Massachusetts. On March 12, 1904, those four counties were separated from the Diocese of Providence to form the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, leaving the Diocese of Providence with just the state of Rhode Island.

The diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Hartford and a part of the ecclesiastical province that includes that archdiocese and the suffragan dioceses of Bridgeport and Norwich. The Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Providence is the mother church of the diocese of Providence. The Most Reverend Thomas Joseph Tobin, former Bishop of Youngstown, Ohio, is the eighth, and current, Bishop of Providence.

Bishops

The lists of associated bishops and their tenures of service as bishops in this diocese:

Diocesan Offices

The following is a list of some of the offices of the diocese.

• Catholic Marriage, Diocese of Providence^[1]
• Catholic School Office^[2]
• Catholic Youth Ministry^[3]
• Office of Catholic Cemeteries^[4]
• Office of Ongoing Formation for Priests^[5]
• Office of Religious Education^[6]
• Office of Stewardship and Development^[7]
• Office of Vocations^[8]

Education

High schools

Former schools:

• St. Joseph of Cluny School was formerly located in Newport, on property given by the estate of Arthur Curtiss James to the diocese in 1941. Military families from Fort Adams requested a Catholic school; Cluny opened in September 1957 as a kindergarten and added grades until 1965, when the first eighth grade graduation was held.^[9] Since the period, the overall population of Newport declined and the concentration of the middle class declined; much of the housing became too expensive for families with young children, and there were relatively few houses being sold in Newport to new residents. In addition many families previously going to Cluny instead sent their children to the Portsmouth School Department.^[10] From circa 2014 to 2017 the enrollment decreased by one fourth; the school administration stated that this decline and the general competition among private schools in the Newport area caused the operation of the school to be no longer viable. It closed in 2017.^[11] Betsy Sherman Walker of Newport This Week described the closure as a "curveball" unexpected by the community.^[10]

List of churches

Publications

Established in 1875, the Rhode Island Catholic is the official newspaper of the Diocese of Providence. It is published weekly with 48 issues per year.^[12]

Arms

Coat of arms of Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence

Notes Arms was designed and adopted when the diocese was erected Adopted 1872 Escutcheon The arms of the diocese are composed of three silver (white) moline crosses on a blue field. Symbolism The arms of the diocese are composed of a blue field on which are placed three silver (white) crosses with arms that appear to terminate in anchors. These crosses, heraldically known as “moline crosses,” are used to signify, by employing the symbol of the State of Rhode Island, the anchor, that the Diocese of Providence encompasses all of the state it was established to serve. The crosses, in the number that signifies The Trinity, are rendered in the traditional colors of water (blue and silver (white)) because of the importance that water plays in the life of “The Ocean State.” These colors are also the traditional colors for the representation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, in her title of Our Lady of Providence, is Patroness of the Diocese and of the See City.

See also

References

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence Official Site
• Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul
•  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Diocese of Providence". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Rhode Island Catholic - diocesan newspaper