Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha

The Archdiocese of Omaha includes 23 counties in northeast Nebraska:

Boyd, Holt, Merrick, Nance, Boone, Antelope, Knox, Pierce, Madison, Platte, Colfax, Stanton, Wayne, Cedar, Dixon, Dakota, Thurston, Cuming, Dodge, Burt, Washington, Douglas, and Sarpy.^[2]

The first Catholic missionary to visit Nebraska was Reverend Peter DeSmet, who crossed the Missouri River into Nebraska to baptize two infants of the Otoe people near present-day Bellevue in 1838. At that time, the area was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of St. Louis. DeSmet later traveled along the Platte River to a council of the tribes.^[3]

In the mid-19th century, the Omaha area was part of the Nebraska Territory, a vast jurisdiction that covered five states in the Northern Plains and the Rocky Mountains. For the Catholic church, the Nebraska Territory fell under the Apostolic Vicariate of Indian Territory (East of the Rocky Mountains).^[4] The first church of any denomination in Nebraska was St. Mary's, established in Omaha in 1856.^[5]

In 1857, Pope Pius IX established a smaller jurisdiction, the Apostolic Vicariate of Nebraska. He named Reverend James O'Gorman as the apostolic vicar in 1859.^[6][7] When O'Gorman arrived in Omaha, he had three priests to assist him; he ordained another priest later that year.^[7]

The construction of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1867 brought more Catholic immigrants into Nebraska. Due to the poverty of his vicariate, O'Gorman relied heavily on financial support from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in Lyons, France, along with the Leopoldine Society of Austria-Hungary and the Ludwig Missionsverein of the Kingdom of Bavaria.^[5]

Many Irish immigrants working on the railroad in Nebraska were suffering injuries and illnesses. This prompted O'Gorman to plan a Catholic hospital in Omaha. Having a location for the hospital, he tasked the Sisters of Mercy to raise funds for it. The new hospital opened in 1870. O'Gorman also worked with the Sisters of Mercy to open Mount Saint Mary’s Academy, the first Catholic girls school in Omaha.^[8] By the time O'Gorman died in 1874, the vicariate had 19 priests serving 12,000 Catholics in 20 parishes and 56 missions.^[7]

The second apostolic vicar of Nebraska was Reverend James O'Connor, appointed by Pius IX.^[4] In 1883, Pope Leo XIII erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Montana, taking sections of Montana from the Vicariate of Nebraska.^[4]

Leo XIII suppressed the Apostolic Vicariate of Nebraska in 1888 and replaced it with the Diocese of Omaha, covering all of Nebraska and Wyoming.^[9] O'Connor became the first bishop of Omaha. During his tenure as bishop, O'Connor introduced the Franciscan Fathers, the Poor Clares, the Religious of the Sacred Heart, the Benedictines, and the Sisters of Providence to the diocese. In 1879, he founded Creighton School, later to become Creighton College, in Omaha.^[10]

In 1887, Leo XIII erected the Dioceses of Cheyenne and Lincoln, taking their territory from the Diocese of Omaha. At this point, the diocese only included eastern Nebraska.^[4] With the assistance of Sister Katharine Drexel, O'Connor founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, a religious order for Native Americans and African Americans, in 1889.^[11] O'Connor died in 1890.

The next bishop of Omaha was Bishop Richard Scannell from the Diocese of Concordia in Kansas, named by Leo XIII in 1891.^[4] Under his governance, the cornerstone of St. Cecilia Cathedral was laid in 1907.^[12] He also oversaw the diocese's expansion to 95 parishes, serving more than 80,000 Catholics.^[12]The number of parochial schools and diocesan priests more than doubled and there were increases in the number of religious men and women.^[13]

Scannell erected the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Omaha in 1892. In 1895, the Good Shepherd Sisters founded the Good Shepherd Home, a residence for troubled girls. ^[14][15] He also introduced the following religious orders to the diocese:

• Third Order Regular of St. Francis
• Sisters of St. Joseph
• Presentation Sisters
• Sisters of the Resurrection
• Sisters of St. Benedict
• Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
• Good Shepherd Sisters
• Dominicans
• Felicians
• Ursulines
• Franciscan.^[13]

 

In 1912, Pope Pius X erected the Diocese of Kearney, taking its territory from the Diocese of Omaha.^[4] Four years later, Pope Benedict XV added several more counties from Omaha to Kearney. Scannell died in 1916.

Archbishop Jeremiah Harty from the Archdiocese of Manilla in the Philippines was named bishop of Omaha by Benedict XV in 1916.^[1] Though appointed a bishop, Harty retained the personal title of archbishop. In 1917, Harty expressed skepticism of Reverend Edward J. Flanagan's establishment of Boys Town, a home for troubled boys in Nebraska. However, Harty later endorsed its goals.^[16] The Sisters of Mercy opened the College of Saint Mary for women in Omaha in 1923.^[17] Harty died in 1927.

To replace Harty, Pope Pius XI appointed Reverend Joseph Rummel from the Archdiocese of New York in 1928.^[18] Rummel became archbishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1935. Pius XI appointed James Ryan, rector of Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and titular bishop of Modra, as the next bishop of Omaha in 1935.^[19][20]

Pope Pius XII elevated the Diocese of Omaha to the Archdiocese of Omaha on August 4, 1945.^[4][21] The pope named Ryan as the first archbishop of Omaha. Ryan died in 1947.^[22][23]

The second archbishop of Omaha was Bishop Gerald Bergan of the Diocese of Des Moines, appointed by Pius XII in 1948.^[24] During his administration, more than $80 million was spent for new Catholic schools, churches, and hospitals in the archdiocese.^[25] This caused him to become known as the "building bishop".^[26] After Bergan retired in 1969, Pope Paul VI selected Auxiliary Bishop Daniel E. Sheehan of Omaha as the next archbishop.^[27]

Sheehan's campaign for educational excellence raised more than $26 million to improve Catholic education in the Omaha Metropolitan Area.^[27] In response to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, Sheehan established the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (APC) in the early 1970s.^[27] He gathered representatives from the clergy, the religious communities and the laity to share in the archdiocesan decision-making process. The APC placed emphasis on improving family life, youth and young adult ministry, evangelization, social and rural life issues and Hispanic ministry. Sheehan led capital campaigns to raise funds for archdiocesan improvements, including a $4.5 million refurbishment of the St. James Center.^[27] His final campaign had a goal of $25 million to build Skutt Catholic High School in Omaha and take care of other capital needs in the archdiocese.^[28] Sheehan retired in 1993.

 

 

Pope John Paul II in 1993 appointed Bishop Elden Curtiss of the Diocese of Helena as the next archbishop of Omaha. Curtiss retired in 2009. That same year, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop George Joseph Lucas of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois as the fifth archbishop of Omaha.^[4]

In October 2010, Lucas suppressed Intercessors of the Lamb, a hermit religious community in Omaha, removing it from any association with the Catholic Church. Intercessors was founded in 1980 by Sister Nadine Mae Brown, a member of the Sisters of the Cross. In early 2010, Brown requested that Lucas elevate Intercessors to the status of a religious institute. As part of the approval process, Lucas sent Reverend James Conn, a canon lawyer, on a canonical visitation to Intercessors.

In his report to Lucas, Conn noted that Intercessors had many serious discrepancies and issues in their current operation. Lucas then denied the Intercessors' application and sent the community a list of mandatory reforms to continue as a Catholic organization. Brown resigned from Intercessors and its leadership refused to enact the reforms. Lucas then stripped their approval from the church. The community dissolved soon after.^[29][30]

As of October 2024, Lucas is the archbishop of Omaha.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Reverend John Fiala amassed accusations of inappropriate behavior toward boys in the Archdiocese of Omaha. However, when Fiala tried to transfer to the Archdiocese of San Antonio in 1995, officials in Omaha gave him a clean bill of health. The archdiocese in 2010 settled a lawsuit brought against it by a Texas boy who had been sexually abused there in 2008 by Fiala. After the alleged assault, the boy had told his story to a school counselor; the archdiocese then removed Fiala from ministry. When the boy filed his lawsuit in 2010, Fiala tried to hire a hitman in Texas to murder him. Fiala revealed his plans to an undercover policeman posing as a hitman. Fiala was convicted in Texas of attempted murder in 2010 and sentenced to 40 years in prison.^[31] In 2014, he was convicted of sexually abusing the boy and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.^[32]

In 1997, a housekeeper found pictures and a video of nude boys in the possessions of Reverend Daniel Herek at his rectory in Omaha. She notified the archdiocese. Herek was convicted in 1998 of sexually assaulting and videotaping a 14-year-old boy and was sentenced to 20 months to five years in prison. He was laicized by the Vatican.^[33][34] In 2002, a jury awarded $800,000 from the archdiocese to a boy who had been abused by Herek.^[35] During the lawsuit, Bishop Sheehan denied that he transferred Herek to different parishes due to complaints about sexual abuse.

In 2002, Archbishop Curtiss removed Reverend Thomas Sellentin, an archdiocesan priest, from public ministry after Sellentin admitted sexually abusing boys over a 30-year period. Curtiss had received numerous complaints from parents and parishes over the previous years.^[36] In 2003, three brothers, Richard, Thomas and Steven Schommer, sued the archdiocese, stating they had all been abused by Sellentin.^[37] Sellentin was laicized by the Vatican in 2019.^[38]

At the end of the 2010s, Lucas signed norms stronger than the 2002 Essential Norms (so called Zero Tolerance norms related to sexual abuse of parishioners). In October 2018, Lucas removed Reverend Francis Nigli, pastor of St. Wenceslas Parish in Omaha, from public ministry. A 21-year-old man had accused Nigli of kissing and groping him on church grounds. In 2013, Nigli had been sent away for mental health treatment after making advances to an 18-year-old man.^[39] Nigli was permanently banned from ministry by the Vatican in 2021.

In November 2018, the archdiocese released the names of 38 priests and other clergy members who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct, an action requested by the state's top prosecutor.^[33] Though the earliest incident of abuse on record was alleged to have happened in 1956, the archdiocese acknowledged that it did not record reports of sexual abuse until 1978.^[33] In a written statement, Lucas wrote,

"We acknowledge this report with sorrow, and know that it will cause a great deal of pain.” He continued, "We’re deeply saddened so many innocent minors and young adults were harmed by the church’s ministers. To victims and their families, I am sorry for the pain, betrayal and suffering you have experienced in the church.”^[33]

In 2020, Lucas and the archdiocese were sued for $2.1 million by Reverend Andrew Syring, an archdiocesan priest. He stated that he had suffered defamation of character by being removed from public ministry and placed on a list of priests accused of sexual abuse. Syring said he was accused of sexual abuse in 2013, but was cleared by an archdiocesan investigation and returned to ministry. In 2018, Lucas removed Syring again from ministry, saying that his record was clean, but that the standards had changed.^[40]

1. James Myles O'Gorman (1859–1874)
2. James O'Connor (1876–1890)

1. James O'Connor (1876–1890)
2. Richard Scannell (1891–1916)
3. Jeremiah James Harty (1916–1927), Archbishop (personal title)
4. Joseph Francis Rummel (1928–1935), appointed Archbishop of New Orleans
5. James Hugh Ryan (1935–1947) became Archbishop of Omaha in 1945

1. James Hugh Ryan (1935–1947)
2. Gerald Thomas Bergan (1947–1969)
3. Daniel E. Sheehan (1969–1993)
4. Elden Francis Curtiss (1993–2009)
5. George Joseph Lucas (since 2009)

• Daniel E. Sheehan (1964–1969), appointed Archbishop here
• Anthony Michael Milone (1981–1987), appointed Bishop of Great Falls-Billings

1. Blase Joseph Cupich, appointed Bishop of Rapid City in 1998; future Cardinal
2. William Joseph Dendinger, appointed Bishop of Grand Island in 2004
3. Joseph Gerard Hanefeldt, appointed Bishop of Grand Island in 2015
4. Edward Joseph Hunkeler, appointed Bishop of Grand Island in 1945
5. Patrick Aloysius Alphonsus McGovern, appointed Bishop of Cheyenne in 1912
6. John Linus Paschang, appointed Bishop of Grand Island in 1951

The Omaha Catholic Schools is a school district in the Archdiocese of Omaha. Over 20,000 students attend Omaha Catholic Schools each year. All schools are accredited or approved by the state of Nebraska. The school district is composed of:

• 54 elementary schools
• One private 4th-8th grade school
• Four corporation high schools
• Three K-12th grade schools
• One special needs K-12th grade school
• Ten private high schools

 

• Diocese of Grand Island
• Diocese of Lincoln

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha official site