Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson
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This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2007) |
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the southwestern region of the United States. It comprises nine counties of the state of Arizona, making it the fifth largest diocese in the continental United States in terms of area. The counties are Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Pinal (excluding the territorial boundaries of the Gila River Indian Reservation), Cochise, Santa Cruz, Pima, Yuma, and La Paz. The diocese is currently led by its seventh bishop, The Most Reverend Gerald Frederick Kicanas. Bishop Kicanas was formerly a Chicago auxiliary bishop and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Communications. He was elected Vice President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on November 13, 2007.
The See of Tucson was established as the Apostolic Vicariate of Arizona in 1868, taking its territory from the former Diocese of Santa Fe. The See of Tucson was canonically erected as a diocese on May 8, 1897.
The Diocese of Tucson filed bankruptcy in September, 2004. The Diocese of Tucson reached an agreement with the victims of sex abuse, which the bankruptcy judge approved on June 11, 2005, specifying terms that included allowing the diocese reorganization to continue in return for a $22.2 million settlement.
The sixth Bishop of Tucson, The Most Reverend Manuel Duran Moreno resigned in 2003 because of health reasons and died in November 2006. [1]
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[edit] Current Bishop
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) |
Gerald Frederick Kicanas (born August 18, 1941) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the seventh and current Bishop of Tucson.
Gerald Kicanas was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Frederick and Eva Kicanas, his parents being of Lebanese heritage. He attended Immaculate Heart Elementary School and Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, and the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, from where he obtained his licentiate in Sacred Theology. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 27, 1967, and then earned a PhD in Educational Psychology and an MEd in Guidance and Counseling from Loyola University in Chicago.
After working as an associate pastor until 1978, Kicanas held various offices within the archdiocesan seminary for over twenty-five years. After serving as rector, principal, and Dean of Formation at Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, he was appointed rector of Mundelein Seminary at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in 1984. Whilst rector, he concurrently served as a lecturer in Community and Organization Development at Loyola University.
On January 24, 1995, Kicanas was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago and Titular Bishop of Bela by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following March 20 from Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, with Bishop Alfred Abramowicz and Timothy Lyne serving as co-consecrators. Kicanas selected as his episcopal motto: "La Justicia Promueve La Paz", meaning "Justice begets peace" (Isaiah 32:17).
During his tenure as an auxiliary, he served as Episcopal Vicar for Vicariate I in the Archdiocese, which includes Lake and Cook Counties. He also became highly involved with vocations, the permanent diaconate, and encouragement of lay ministry.
Kicanas was named Coadjutor Bishop of Tucson, Arizona on October 30, 2001, being formally installed as such on January 15, 2002. He later succeeded Manuel Moreno as the seventh Bishop of Tucson on March 7, 2003. Kicanas has been praised for his handling of the sexual abuse crisis in his diocese, which had declared bankruptcy due to settlement costs[1].
On November 13, 2007, he was elected Vice-President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, beating Archbishop Timothy Dolan by a margin of twenty-two votes. On February 28, 2008, Kicanas was chosen by the USCCB, and confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI, to become a member of the American delegation to the twelfth World Synod of Bishops, which is scheduled to be held in the Vatican from October 5 to October 26 of this year[2].
[edit] Bishops
- Jean-Baptiste Salpointe (1868 - 1884)
- Peter Bourgade (1885 - 1899)
- Henry Regis Granjon (1900 - 1922)
- Daniel James Gercke (1923 - 1960)
- Francis Joseph Green (1960 - 1981)
- Manuel Duran Moreno (1982 - 2003)
- Gerald Frederick Kicanas (2003 - present)
[edit] High schools
- Immaculate Heart High School, Oro Valley
- Lourdes Catholic High School Nogales
- St. Augustine Catholic High School, Tucson
- Salpointe Catholic High School, Tucson
- San Miguel High School, Tucson
- Yuma Catholic High School, Yuma
[edit] References
[edit] Resources
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Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Tucson. |
