Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston

The Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston (Dioecesis Vhelingensis–Carolopolitanus) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church comprising West Virginia in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The current bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston is Mark E. Brennan. The diocese maintains two cathedrals: the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Wheeling and the Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Charleston.

1700 to 1850
Before the American Revolution, few Catholics lived in present-day West Virginia, then part of the British Colony of Virginia. The colonial government in Virginia in the late 1600s had outlawed the practice of Catholicism in the colony.

After the end of the American Revolution in 1783, Pope Pius VI erected the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States in 1784, encompassing the entire United States. Five years later, he converted the prefecture into the Diocese of Baltimore.

With the 1786 passage of Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, proposed by future US President Thomas Jefferson, Catholics were granted religious freedom in the new state of Virginia. Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Richmond in 1820, taking all of Virginia (except for two eastern counties) and present day West Virginia from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The pope named Reverend Richard Whelan as the first bishop of the new diocese. The first Catholic parish in Wheeling was St. Joseph, established in 1822.

In the 1840s, Whelan became concerned that his diocese was too vast to administer. He therefore requested that the Vatican divide the diocese into two, using the Allegheny mountains as a natural boundary.

1850 to 1894
Pope Pius IX on July 19, 1850, erected the Diocese of Wheeling, containing the area of Virginia west of the Pennsylvania state border and west of the Allegheny Mountains. Pius IX appointed Whelan as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Wheeling.

During Whelan's 24-year tenure as bishop, he built 42 churches, nine schools, one orphanage, and a hospital. The first church in Charleston, Sacred Heart, was constructed in 1869. By the time of his death in 1874, the Catholic population of the diocese numbered around 18,000.

Pope Leo XIII replaced Whelan with Reverend John Kain in 1875. After 18 years, Leo XIII named Kain as coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1893 and appointed Reverend Patrick Donahue of the Archdiocese of Baltimore as the new bishop of Wheeling in 1894.

1894 to 1948
Donahue established 38 parishes, six missions, four hospitals, two monasteries, an orphanage and several schools in the diocese. He also established the first official diocesan periodical, The Church Calendar, in 1895 and held the sixth diocesan synod in 1899. The number of priests serving the diocese more than tripled and the number of Catholics increased from 20,000 to 62,000. For all these many achievements, he earned the nickname of the "Great Builder."

In 1922, Pope Pius XI appointed Reverend John Swint as an auxiliary bishop of Wheeling. When Donahue died later that year, the pope named Swint as Donahue's replacement. While the diocese had long served the Italian, Irish, and Polish immigrant groups, the major population growth came during Swint's tenure. During his 40 years as bishop, the population of the diocese doubled. He oversaw the building of a new cathedral, 100 churches, Wheeling Jesuit College, 52 elementary and high schools, and five hospitals.

1948 to 1985
In 1948, Swint threatened to excommunicate any Catholic women from the diocese who participated in the Miss West Virginia competition for the Miss America pageant. He called the pageant "pagan" and stated that if "nakedness" were removed from the pageant, it would "fall to pieces". Two women withdrew from competition, but one contestant, Mariruth Ford, ignored Swint's ban and participated, winning the title of queen for West Virginia.

In 1952, Swint condemned the planned opening of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Parkersburg, West Virginia, that would provide contraception services to women. He said it was part of a national plan by doctors to break the Catholic Church's ban on birth control. Swint received the personal title of archbishop from the Vatican in 1954.

1960 to 1985
In 1961, Pope John XXIII appointed Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Hodges of Richmond as coadjutor bishop in Wheeling to assist Swint. Swint died the next year and Hodges automatically succeeded him as bishop.

Hodges dedicated much of his administration to implementing the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the diocese, establishing a Liturgical Commission, Priests' Senate, Sisters' Council, and Cursillo movement. A strong supporter of ecumenism, Hodges established a Commission for Religious Unity in 1964, co-founded the Joint Commission of Roman Catholics and Episcopalians in 1978 with the episcopal bishop of West Virginia, and joined the West Virginia Council of Churches in 1981. He mandated parish councils in 1968, introduced extraordinary ministers to the diocese in 1970 and permanent deacons in 1975, and renovated the exterior and interior of St. Joseph's Cathedral in Wheeling in 1973.

When the State of West Virginia was admitted to the Union in 1863 during the American Civil War, the new state line with Virginia did not match the diocesan boundaries. Some West Virginia parishes were in the Diocese of Richmond and some Virginia parishes were in the Diocese of Wheeling. In May 1974, Pope Paul VI remedied this geographic disparity by transferring the West Virginia parishes to the Diocese of Wheeling and the Virginia parishes to the Diocese of Richmond. Paul VI renamed the Diocese of Wheeling as the Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston in August 1974. He designated the Church of the Sacred Heart in Charleston, West Virginia as the co-cathedral. Hodges died in 1985.

1985 to present
Pope John Paul II named Auxiliary Bishop Francis B. Schulte from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as the new bishop of Wheeling-Charleston in 1985. In 1988, After only four years, the pope appointed Reverend Bernard Schmitt as auxiliary bishop of the diocese. A year later, John Paul II appointed Schulte as archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and replaced him in West Virginia with Schmitt.

Schmitt resigned in 2004 and John Paul II replaced him with Monsignor Michael J. Bransfield from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Pope Benedict XVI raised Sacred Heart to a minor basilica on November 9, 2009.

On September 13, 2018, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bransfield and appointed Archbishop William E. Lori as apostolic administrator. Francis then instructed Lori to investigate allegations of sexual harassment of adults by Bransfield. In 2019, Francis appointed Auxiliary Bishop Mark E. Brennan from the Archdiocese of Baltimore as the new bishop of Wheeling-Charleston.

The former principal of Parkersburg Catholic High School in Parkersburg, John Golebiewski, sued the diocese in May 2020. Golebiewski said that the school declined to renew his contract for the upcoming school year because he had alleged misconduct by the school's chaplain and its football coach. The diocese responded in September 2020 that it had reviewed Golebiewski's allegations, determining that they were not credible; it gave no reasons for his dismissal.

Brennan in February 2021 reinstated the diocesan advisory council, which had not met since 2006. As of 2024, Brennan is the current bishop of Wheeling-Charleston.

Tracy portfolio
The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston owns a multi-million dollar investment portfolio donated by Sara Tracy in the early 20th century. Born in 1827 in New York City, Tracy inherited a large estate from her brother, Edward Tracy. While on a voyage to Rome in 1899, she met Bishop Donahue. Tracy consulted with Donahue during their trip on a personal matter. As they disembarked in Europe, Tracy gave him a check of $5,000 for the diocese.

Tracy continued to support the diocese while she lived and also willed her entire estate to Donahue. The proceeds allowed Donahue to establish Wheeling Jesuit College in Wheeling, build other facilities across the diocese and found several outreach ministries. The investments included oil and gas lands that produced substantial revenues over the decades. However, Bishop Bransfield improperly withdrew funds from the Tracy portfolio for his personal use. Bishop Brennan was the first bishop to fully disclose and list the value of the investments from the portfolio.

As of 2020, the Tracy portfolio exceeded $286 million in value. Annual royalty revenues were $13.9 million, with total revenues from investments exceeding $15 million for that year.

Sexual abuse
Reverend Felix Owino, a professor at Wheeling Jesuit University, pleaded guilty in September 2010 to inappropriately touching an 11-year-old girl. He was sentenced in February 2011 to five years' prison with all but nine months suspended. After finishing his prison term, the US Department of Homeland Security deported Owino to Kenya

In November 2018, the diocese released the names of 18 clergy who had been "credibly accused" of sexually abusing minors while serving in the diocese. The list also revealed the names of 13 priests who were transferred to the diocese after being accused of committing sex abuse in other Catholic dioceses. Reported incidents of sex abuse on this list date back to 1950. Eleven of the clergy on the list were deceased at the time of its release.

In March 2019, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sued the diocese, alleging violations of West Virginia consumer protection laws. Morrisey said that the diocese advertised itself as a safe place for children while "knowingly employed pedophiles and failed to conduct adequate background checks" on workers in Catholic schools and camps. The lawsuit was groundbreaking because it named a diocese as a defendant, rather than individual priests, and because it sought to make use of consumer-protection law to obtain legal discovery of church records. A circuit court judge dismissed the lawsuit in November 2019. In November 2020, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the consumer protection law did not apply to the diocese.

Four lawsuits were filed against the diocese in 2020 regarding Reverend Victor Frobas, a teacher at St. Paul's Catholic School in Weirton in the early 1980s. The victims claimed that Frobas sexually assaulted them in the rectory or the school building. The lawsuit noted that the diocese was aware of sexual abuse allegations against Frobas from when he previously served in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as well as in Weirton. In 1988, Frobas pleaded guilty to sexually molesting boys in Kirkwood, Missouri and was sentenced to four years in prison. He died in 1993 after being indicted in Massachusetts on sexual abuse charges.

Bransfield scandal
In July 2019, Francis banned Bransfield from public ministry and from residing in the diocese. Francis also told Bransfield that he must consult with the diocese on a financial repayment plan. However, the pope chose not to laicize him.

In August 2019, the diocese settled a sexual abuse lawsuit brought against it and Bransfield. The plaintiff, a former altar server, claimed that Bransfield had sexually assaulted him in 2014.

In September 2019, a former seminarian known as JE sued the diocese and Bransfield. The plaintiff, referred to as JE, cited several occasions in 2017 and 2018 in which Branfield kissed and fondled him. In July 2023, JE and the diocese reached a financial settlement to the case.

In October 2019, the Washington Post reported that police were investigating an allegation that Bransfield molested a nine-year-old girl during a September 2012 pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. The diocese was subpoenaed for documents in connection with the investigation. Bransfield denied the allegation.

In November 2019, Bishop Brennan ordered Bransfield to take the following actions:


 * Pay more legal settlements
 * Pay the diocese $792,638 in restitution
 * Pay the Internal Revenue Service $110,000 in back taxes
 * Apologize "for the severe emotional and spiritual harm his actions caused" to his victims and to the diocese

Also in November 2019, Brennan revoked some of Bransfield's retirement benefits and barred him from being buried in the diocesan cemetery. The directive was believed to be a rare or unprecedented example of a bishop being ordered to pay restitution. The Vatican later agreed to lower Bransfield's required restitution. In August 2020, Bransfield paid the diocese $441,000 and issued an apology: "“I am writing to apologize for any scandal or wonderment caused by words or actions attributed to me during my tenure as Bishop of the Wheeling–Charleston Diocese.”"

Bishops of Wheeling

 * 1) Richard Vincent Whelan (1850–1874)
 * 2) John Joseph Kain (1875–1893), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of St. Louis and later succeeded to that see
 * 3) Patrick James Donahue (1894–1922)
 * 4) John Joseph Swint (1922–1962), appointed Archbishop ad personam in 1954
 * 5) Joseph Howard Hodges (1962–1974); title changed with title of diocese

Bishops of Wheeling–Charleston

 * 1) Joseph Howard Hodges (1974–1985)
 * 2) Francis B. Schulte (1985–1988), appointed Archbishop of New Orleans
 * 3) Bernard William Schmitt (1989–2004)
 * 4) Michael Joseph Bransfield (2004–2018)
 * 5) Mark E. Brennan (2019–present)

Auxiliary bishops of Wheeling

 * John Joseph Swint (1922), appointed Bishop of Wheeling
 * James Edward Michaels, S.S.C.M.E. (1973–1974); title changed with title of diocese

Auxiliary bishops of Wheeling–Charleston

 * James Edward Michaels, S.S.C.M.E. (1974–1987)
 * Bernard William Schmitt (1988–1989), appointed bishop of this diocese

Coadjutor bishop
Thomas John McDonnell (1951–1961); died before succession

Vicariates
The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston has seven vicariates:
 * Wheeling
 * Parkersburg
 * Charleston
 * Beckley
 * Weston
 * Clarksburg
 * Martinsburg

Present high schools

 * Charleston Catholic High School – Charleston
 * Madonna High School – Weirton
 * Notre Dame High School – Clarksburg
 * Parkersburg Catholic High School – Parkersburg
 * St. Joseph Central Catholic High School – Huntington
 * Wheeling Central Catholic High School – Wheeling

Former schools

 * Bishop Donahue Memorial High School – McMechen
 * De Sales Heights Academy – Parkersburg
 * Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy – Wheeling
 * St. Francis de Sales Central Catholic – Morgantown. Now operates Pre-k through 8th grade only.
 * St. Joseph Preparatory Seminary – Parkersburg
 * St. Margaret Mary (Elementary) – Parkersburg
 * St. Patrick – Weston

Universities

 * Wheeling University – Wheeling
 * Catholic Distance University – was founded by Bishop Thomas Welsh of Arlington in Virginia, but later relocated to West Virginia