Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary

Diocese of Gary Dioecesis Gariensis
Cathedral of the Holy Angels in Gary
Location
Country	United States
Territory	The counties of Lake, LaPorte, Porter and Starke in Northwest Indiana
Ecclesiastical province	Indianapolis
Metropolitan	Joseph William Tobin
Statistics
Area	1,807 sq mi (4,680 km^2)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2006) 778,463 185,550 (23.8%)
Parishes	73
Churches	72
Schools	22
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	December 17, 1956 (59 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Holy Angels
Patron saint	Guardian Angels St. Matthias the Apostle
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Donald J. Hying
Emeritus Bishops	Dale Joseph Melczek
Map
Territory of the Diocese of Gary
Website
www.dcgary.org

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary (Latin: Dioecesis Gariensis) is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States of America. It was founded on December 17, 1956, by Pope Pius XII.^[1][2] It is one of four suffragan dioceses of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Its ecclesiastic territory includes Lake, Porter, LaPorte, and Starke counties in northwestern Indiana. The mother church of the diocese is the Cathedral of the Holy Angels in Gary, Indiana.

History

During the first half of the 20th century, many Catholic immigrants came from Eastern Europe and Mexico to work in the region’s growing steel industry.^[3] A number of parishes were founded near the steel mills so that the newly arrived immigrants could celebrate Mass in their native languages.

As of 2012, four parishes in the diocese still offer Mass in Polish, two parishes in Croatian, one in Hungarian, and one in Lithuanian. Fourteen parishes also offer Mass in Spanish. One parish offers a Tridentine Mass in Latin.^[4]

Diocese today

Serving the diocese are 105 priests, 67 permanent deacons, 10 religious brothers, and 85 religious sisters who are members of various religious institutes.^[5] These priests, deacons and persons religious serve a Catholic population in northwest Indiana of 186,420^[2] in 73 parishes and missions.^[4][6]

The diocese also operates several educational, medical, and social service organizations. Educational institutions include 18 elementary schools, 3 high schools (one of which has an 8th grade prep academy), 1 college, and a Catholic student center at Valparaiso University.^[7] The diocese also supervises six hospitals or medical centers, three homes for the aged, three protective homes, three cemeteries, and Catholic Charities, Diocese of Gary.^[6]

On November 24, 2014, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Dale Joseph Melczek and appointed Bishop Donald J. Hying, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Gary. Bishop Hying's installation took place on January 6, 2015, in Gary.^[8]

Bishops

The list of bishops and their terms of service:

1. Andrew Gregory Grutka (1956–1984)
2. Norbert Felix Gaughan (1984–1996)
3. Dale Joseph Melczek (1996—2014)
4. Donald J. Hying (2015—present )

Education

The Superintendent of Catholic Schools is Barbara M. O'Block.

Elementary schools

Parishes run the following elementary and middle schools within the diocese:

• St. Patrick, Chesterton^[9]
• St. Mary Catholic Community School,Crown Point^[10]
• St. Stanislaus, East Chicago
• St. Mary, Griffith^[11]
• St. Casimir, Hammond
• St. John Bosco, Hammond^[12]
• Our Lady of Grace, Highland^[13]
• Aquinas School at St. Andrew's, Merrillville
• Notre Dame, Michigan City^[14]
• Queen of All Saints, Michigan City^[15]
• St. Stanislaus Kostka, Michigan City
• St. Thomas More, Munster^[16]
• Nativity of Our Savior, Portage^[17]
• St. John the Evangelist, St. John^[18]
• St. Michael, Schererville^[19]
• St. Paul Catholic, Valparaiso^[20]
• St. John the Baptist, Whiting^[21]

Secondary schools

Operated by Diocese

• Bishop Noll Institute^[22]
• Andrean High School^[23]
• Marquette Catholic High School^[24]

Independent

• Sacred Heart Apostolic School
• La Lumiere School

Colleges

• Calumet College of St. Joseph^[25]

See also

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

References

1. "Catholic Diocese of Gary website, Bishop's Office - Brief History of the Diocese page, Retrieved 10 March 2012".
2. "Catholic Diocese of Gary website, Bishop's Office - Gary Diocese Statistical Data page, Retrieved 10 March 2012".
3. Alicea, Marisa (June 1, 1994). "The Latino Immigration Experience: The Case of Mexicanos, Puertorriqueños, and Cubanos". In Padilla, Félix M. Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States: Sociology, Volume 3. Arte Publico Press. p. 38. ISBN 1558851011.
4. "Survey of individual parishes from the Catholic Diocese of Gary website, Parishes page, Retrieved 10 March 2012".
5. "Catholic Diocese of Gary website, Clergy page, Retrieved 10 March 2012".
6. "Catholic Diocese of Gary website, Map of Diocese page, Retrieved 10 March 2012".
7. "Catholic Diocese of Gary website, Catholic Schools page, Retrieved 10 March 2012".
8. Donald Joseph Hying
13. Our Lady of Grace School

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary Official Site
• Weekly Roman Catholic Newspaper for Diocese of Gary Home Page

Coordinates: 41°34′51″N 87°20′44″W / 41.58083°N 87.34556°W