Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond is an ecclesiastical and episcopal see or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Prior to the American Revolution there were few Catholics within Virginia. Anti-Catholic laws discouraged the faithful from settling in colonial Virginia. It was not until the passing of Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786 that Catholics were free to worship openly in the Old Dominion. The Diocese of Richmond was canonically erected by Pope Pius VII on July 11, 1820. Its current territory encompasses all of central and southern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and the eastern shore. It is a ceremonial suffragan of the metropolitan province of Baltimore, from which its territories were taken.

Today there are 235,816 Catholics at 146 parishes in the Diocese of Richmond. The diocese currently has 87 active priests, 59 retired priests, 88 permanent deacons, 180 members of Catholic religious order and 16 seminarians. There are 32 Catholic schools in the diocese with a total enrollment of 12,062 students in 8 High Schools and 24 Elementary Schools.

The diocese is currently led by a prelate bishop which pastors the mother church in the City of Richmond, at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. The current bishop is Most Reverend Francis Xavier DiLorenzo, previously the Bishop of Honolulu. He was appointed by Pope John Paul II on March 31, 2004 and installed on May 24, 2004.