History
- Hugh Aloysius Donohoe (1962–1969)
- Merlin Guilfoyle (1969–1979)
- Roger Mahony (1980–1985)
- Donald Montrose (1985–1999)
- Stephen Blaire (1999 - )
Bishop Hugh A. Donohoe, was installed as the first bishop on April 24, 1962. During his stewardship the diocese saw the growth of St. Joseph’s Hospital (Stockton), the beginning of the Cursillo movement in the area, and the first diocesan pastoral council. Bishop Donohoe supported the farm workers’ right to organize and other social issues. He was named Bishop of Fresno in 1969.
Bishop Merlin Guilfoyle succeeded Bishop Donohoe and was installed on January 13, 1970. During his tenure, there was both great growth and great financial struggle within the Catholic schools of the diocese. He retired in February, 1980 and died November, 1981.
Bishop Roger Mahony was installed as the third bishop of Stockton on April 17, 1980. In the late Seventies after the Vietnam War, great numbers of Vietnamese, Laotians, Cambodians and Hmong settled in the Stockton and Modesto areas. Catholic Charities and the St. Vincent De Paul Society worked with the Southeast Asian community to begin the slow, difficult process of integration. In 1981, Bishop Mahony conducted a diocesan-wide convocation, resulting in a mission statement for the diocese and ten major goals with an emphasis on spiritual renewal.
After Bishop Mahony was named Archbishop of Los Angeles, Bishop Donald Montrose was installed February 20, 1986. Bishop Montrose brought a contemplative community of religious women, the Religious of the Cross of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to the diocese. Bishop Montrose oversaw the growth of the School of Ministry, the RENEW program, and the increase of Spanish speaking priests in the diocese. He retired in 1999 and died on May 7, 2008.
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire was installed as the fifth bishop of Stockton on March 16, 1999. Bishop Blaire held the diocesan Synod in 2006. He is the current Bishop of Stockton.
In 1998 a jury awarded two brothers $30 million in a judgement against the Diocese of Stockton over its handling of a priest who abused the men while they were boys, allegedly starting when they were three.
At the trial it was revealed that in a 1976 letter to his superiors O'Grady, the abusive priest, had admitted to sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl. In 1984 an attorney for the diocese promised to get O'Grady away from children, a promise recorded in a police report. O'Grady abused the boys who latter brought the suit from 1978-1991. In 1993 he pled guilty to abusing them and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
During the O'Grady trial Mahony claimed that O'Grady was the only accused priest he dealt with in Stockton. Later in 2004 Mahony admitted under oath that parents had confronted him with accusations against another priest in the diocese, Antonio Munoz.
Read more about this topic: Roman Catholic Diocese Of Stockton
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