1770 to 1848

During the 18th century, the Fresno area was part of the province of Las Californias in the Spanish colony of New Spain. In 1804, the Spanish Government split Las Californias into two provinces, with most of present-day California becoming part of the new province of Alta California.

Alta California became a Mexican state after Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. In 1840, Pope Gregory XVI erected the Diocese of California (or Two Californias) to recognize the growth of the provinces of Alta California and Baja California. This diocese, with its episcopal see in Monterey, included all Mexican territory west of the Colorado River and the Gulf of California

1848 to 1967

Mexico ceded Alta California to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. At that time, the Mexican government complained to the Vatican about the Diocese of California. They didn't want the American bishop to have jurisdiction over parishes in Mexico. In 1849, Pope Pius IX split the Diocese of Californian into American and Mexican dioceses; the American diocese was named the Diocese of Monterey.^[3] The first Catholic church in Mariposa, St. Joseph's, was dedicated in 1857.^[4]

In 1859, Pius IX renamed the Diocese of Monterey as the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles to recognize the growth of Los Angeles. In 1867, Our Lady of Mercy Church was dedicated in Merced.^[4] St. John's Church was established in Fresno in 1882

In 1922, Pope Pius XI divided the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles, with the northern section becoming the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno. The Fresno area would remain part of this diocese for the next 45 years.^[3][4]

1967 to present

Pope Paul VI created the new Diocese of Fresno in 1967 by splitting the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno into two dioceses. He named Auxiliary Bishop Timothy Manning of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles as the first bishop of Fresno.^[3][4] The estimated Catholic population of the new diocese was 307,000.^[4]

During his tenure as bishop, Manning supported the organization of a labor union for Central Valley farm workers, and sought to help wine producers and grape pickers reconcile their differences.^[5] After two years in Fresno, Paul VI named Manning archbishop of Los Angeles. To replace him, the pope appointed Bishop Hugh Donohoe from the Diocese of Stockton.^[6] In 1979, Pope John Paul II appointed Reverend José de Jesús Madera Uribe as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Fresno to assist Donohoe.^[7]

After Donohoe resigned in 1980, Madera Uribe automatically became bishop of Fresno. In 1991, John Paul II named him as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA.^[8] The next bishop of Fresno was bishop John Steinbock from the Diocese of Santa Rosa, appointed by John Paul II in 1991.^[9] In 2003, the Diocese of Fresno was one of only four dioceses in the United States that did not participate in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops review of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. Steinbock died in 2010.

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Armando Xavier Ochoa of the Diocese of El Paso as the next bishop of the Diocese of Fresno.^[10][11] Ochoa retired in 2019.

The current bishop of the Diocese of Fresno is Joseph Vincent Brennan, formerly an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was appointed by Pope Francis in 2019.^[12]

The diocese in November 2020 removed Reverend Guadalupe Rios from St. Joseph's Church in Selma and obtained a restraining order barring him from the church and its employees. While serving the order on Rios, the Selma police seized an assault rifle and handgun of his from church property. The church secretary said that Rios threatened her with a gun at one point.^[13] Rios' housekeeper sued the diocese in 2021, claiming that he physically and emotionally abused her during a four-year romantic relationship.^[14]

St. Charles Borromeo in Visalia opened in 2023 to become the largest Catholic parish church in North America.^[15]

Sex abuse

A Firebaugh man in 1998 accused Monsignor Craig Harrison of sexually abusing him when he was 16 to 17 years old from 1992 to 1993. At the time, the boy was living in the rectory at St. Joseph's church; the man claimed that Harrison would inspect his genitals every day. Both the diocese and the Firebaugh Police Department investigated the accusations and found insufficient evidence to back them. In May 2019, after receiving complaints from three other men about Harrison, the diocese reopened the investigation and suspended Harrison from ministry.^[16] Harrison in February 2021 requested a dispensation from the Vatican to leave the priesthood.^[17] This action occurred a week before the Vatican was planning a church trial on accusations from seven alleged victims.^[18] Harrison sued the diocese that same year, claiming defamation of character. The lawsuit was dismissed in May 2021, then Harrison appealed the verdict. The diocese reached a settlement with him in July 2022.^[19]

In March 2002, a 16 year old girl from Hanford accused Reverend Miguel Torres of raping her three times. The girl was a part time employee at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.^[20] Flores denied the charges. At trial in August 2002, a jury acquitted Flores of forcible rape, three counts of statutory rape, dissuading a witness and criminal threat charges.^[21] The diocese returned Flores to ministry. However, in March 2019, the diocese suspended Flores again, pending review of the 2002 case^[22] In February 2020, the woman who accused Flores of rape in 2002 sued the diocese.^[23]

Reverend Robert Gamel of Los Banos was arrested in June 2015 for possession of a sexually explicit photo of a teenage boy.^[24] He had been removed from ministry in 2014. Gamel pleaded no contest in March 2016 to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to four years probation and 11 months in jail.^[25][26]

In February 2019, Bishop Ochoa announced an outside investigation of the records of Diocese of Fresno for all allegations of sexual abuse against clerics since 1922, with a report to be issued to the public after the investigation had concluded.^[27] In 2021, the diocese released a list of priests who had been "credibly accused" of abuse.^[28]

Bishops of Fresno

1. Timothy Manning (1967-1969), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop and later Archbishop of Los Angeles (elevated to Cardinal in 1973)
2. Hugh Aloysius Donohoe (1969-1980)
3. José de Jesús Madera Uribe (1980-1991, coadjutor bishop 1979–1980), appointed Auxiliary Bishop for the Military Services, USA
4. John Thomas Steinbock (1991-2010)
5. Armando Xavier Ochoa (2011-2019)
6. Joseph Vincent Brennan (2019–present)

Auxiliary bishop

Roger Mahony (1975-1980), appointed Bishop of Stockton and later Archbishop of Los Angeles (created a Cardinal in 1991)

Other diocesan priest who became a bishop

Myron Joseph Cotta, appointed auxiliary bishop of Sacramento in 2014, appointed Bishop of Stockton in 2018