The Diocese of Charleston () is a diocese of the Catholic Church for the state of South Carolina in the United States; its territory includes the entire state of South Carolina. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. The bishop is Jacques Fabre-Jeune.

History

1700 to 1820

Before and during the American Revolutionary War, the Catholics in all of the British colonies in America were under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Vicariate of the London District in England. However, in 1716 the colonial assembly in the Province of South Carolina had banned Catholics from the colony out of fear they would conspire with the Spanish Empire. A few French Catholic refugees had arrived in 1756 after the British expelled them from the former French colony of Acadia. With the passage of the U.S. Constitution in 1789 after the American Revolution, Catholics were guaranteed freedom of worship throughout the new nation.

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.

thumb|Bishop England (1842)

1820 to 1843

The Diocese of Charleston was erected by Pope Pius VII on July 11, 1820. He removed the states of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina from what was now the Archdiocese of Baltimore to form the new diocese. Pius VII designated Charleston as a suffragan diocese of Baltimore and appointed John England from the Diocese of Cork in Ireland as its first bishop.

Soon after his arrival in Charleston, England starting traveling through his large diocese to meet with his parishioners. He went wherever he heard there were Catholics. Once he found these groups, he ministered to their needs, appointed catechism teachers, and encouraged them to build churches. During these pastoral visits, England preached in halls, court houses, and state houses. He even preached in Protestant chapels and churches at the invitation of their pastors. During his first years in the diocese, England traveled to Savannah and Augusta in Georgia and Columbia in South Carolina. He spoke with African-Americans, Cherokee people, Catholics who married non-Catholics and non-practicing Catholics.

In 1824, the diocese began work on St. Peter's Church in Columbia. The construction of railroads in the Midlands region of South Carolina led to an influx of Irish Catholic families there, prompting England to assign a priest to that region in 1821.

When in Charleston, England preached at least twice every Sunday and delivered lectures on special occasions.  Experiencing a shortage of priests in the diocese, England established in 1832 the Philosophical and Classical College and Seminary of Charleston. His plan was to support the seminary with income from the college. He taught college courses on the classics and theology. At its height, the college had 130 students. However, the college raised alarms among some Protestant clergy in Charleston, who warned the public about so-called Papist conspiracies. These attacks eventually reduced the college student body to 30. The seminary graduated many eminent laymen and priests. In the words of Chancellor Kent, "Bishop England revived classical learning in South Carolina". In 1832, England estimated the Catholic population of the diocese at approximately 11,000, with 7,500 in South Carolina, 3,000 in Georgia, and 500 in North Carolina. However, he was able to continue the schools for mixed race students. England died in 1842.

thumb|Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar, Charleston, South Carolina

1843 to 1950

Pope Gregory XVI in 1843 appointed Ignatius Reynolds from the Archdiocese of Baltimore to replace England as bishop of Charleston. During his tenure, Reynolds brought stability to the diocesan administration. He conducted visitations of the entire diocese, which by 1846 included approximately 12,000 Catholics. Reynolds erased the $14,000 diocesan debt left him by England. In 1850, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Savannah, removing Georgia and Florida from the Diocese of Charleston.

The 1865 burning of Columbia by the Union Army destroyed St. Mary's College, the Sisters' Home, and the Ursuline Convent. By the end of the war in 1865, the diocesan debt exceeded $200,000. Lynch began soliciting donations throughout the country to cover the immediate needs of his diocese and to pay off its debt.

1950 to 1989

After appointing Walsh as coadjutor bishop for the Diocese of Youngstown in 1949, Pope Pius XII named John Russell of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1950 to succeed him in Charleston. In 1958, Pius XII appointed Russell as Bishop of Richmond and named Paul Hallinan as the new bishop of Charleston.

Recognized as one of the South's "foremost advocates of social and religious liberalism", Hallinan became known for his personal dedication to the civil rights movement and the cause of racial equality. In 1961, he issued a pastoral letter that said, "With racial tension mounting, the Church must speak out clearly. In justice to our people, we cannot abandon leadership to the extremists whose only creed is fear and hatred." However, Hallinan delayed full racial integration at Catholic institutions in the diocese out of fear for the safety of African American students. Explaining this decision, he said noted that Catholics made up only 1.3% of the state's population. Rushed integration might destroy the diocese's school system and risked harming children, so integration would have been, in the bishop's words, a "hollow victory."

In 1962, Pope John XXIII elevated the Diocese of Atlanta to the Archdiocese of Atlanta. The Diocese of Charleston became a suffragan diocese of the new archdiocese. Unterkoefler was also a prominent advocate for restoring the permanent diaconate in the United States, and ordained Joseph Kemper in 1971 as the first permanent deacon in the United States.

Guglielmone in December 2020 set new limits on the use of the Traditional Latin Mass in the diocese, in keeping with the motu proprio Traditionis custodes (Guardians of the tradition), released by Pope Francis. These limits include using the mass for confirmations and the anointing of the sick.

Cathedrals

Consecrated in 1854, the Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar was the first proper cathedral of the diocese. In 1861, it was destroyed in a fire that consumed most of Charleston. The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist was constructed on the site of Saint John and Saint Finbar. Before the Diocese of Raleigh was formed, the Diocese of Charleston had a pro-cathedral in Wilmington, North Carolina, that is now the Basilica Shrine of St. Mary.

Sexual abuse

Frederick J. Hopwood pleaded guilty in 1994 to committing a lewd act upon a minor in return for a grant of immunity from prosecution for other sex abuse crimes. Other victims of Hopwood soon came forward.

In 2007, Bishop Baker settled the existing sexual abuse lawsuits against the archdiocese, paying $12 million total to all victims with credible accusations who were born before 1980. This settlement provided compensation to several of Hopwood's victims. A new lawsuit was filed in 2017 against the diocese by more alleged victims of sexual abuse. These plaintiffs, who had moved out of state after the abuse happened, faulted the diocese for not conducting a nationwide search for victims when they made the 2007 settlement. In August 2019, a new report revealed that Bishop Guglielmone was being sued in New York for alleged sexual abuse in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. In December 2020, a Vatican-ordered investigation into the charges against Guglielmone found no substance to them.

Jeffrey Scofield, an employee of Bishop England High School on Daniel Island in Charleston, pleaded guilty in June 2020 to one count of voyeurism and received 18 months of probation. On one occasion in 2019, Scofield used a smartphone to record through a window boys changing in their locker room at the school. A student using the device later noticed the pornographic images and reported it to the school.

In November 2020, Jacob Ouellette, the director of youth ministry at Our Lady of the Sea Parish in North Myrtle Beach, was arrested on charges of criminal sexual conduct, two counts of criminal solicitation of a minor, and first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor on the internet.

Jamie Adolfo Gonzalez-Farias, a visiting priest from Chile, pleaded guilty in August 2023 to transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Gonzalez-Farias had taken an 11 year old from South Carolina to Florida, where he touched the child inappropriately. The diocese was informed of the crime in December 2020 and immediately notified police. Gonzalez-Farias returned to Chile.

Bishops

thumb|Basilica Shrine of St. Mary's, Wilmington, North Carolina (2010)

Bishops of Charleston

  1. John England (1820-1842) <br /> - William Clancy (coadjutor bishop 1834–1837; appointed apostolic vicar of British Guiana before succession)
  2. Ignatius A. Reynolds (1844-1855)
  3. Patrick N. Lynch (1858-1882)
  4. Henry P. Northrop (1883-1916)
  5. William Thomas Russell (1917-1927)
  6. Emmet M. Walsh (1927-1949), appointed coadjutor bishop of Youngstown and subsequently succeeded to that see
  7. John J. Russell (1950-1958), appointed bishop of Richmond
  8. Paul John Hallinan (1958-1962), appointed archbishop of Atlanta
  9. Francis Frederick Reh (1962-1964), appointed rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome and later bishop of Saginaw
  10. Ernest Leo Unterkoefler (1964-1990)
  11. David B. Thompson (1990-1999; coadjutor bishop 1989–1990)
  12. Robert J. Baker (1999-2007), appointed bishop of Birmingham
  13. Robert E. Guglielmone (2009–2022)
  14. Jacques E. Fabre, (2022–present)

Private high schools

  • St. Anne Catholic High School – Rock Hill
  • St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic High School – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
  • St. Joseph's Catholic School – Greenville