| population_as_of = 2021

| catholics = 275,290<!-- Number of Catholics in the diocese -->

| catholics_percent =

| parishes = 78<!-- Number of parishes in the diocese -->

| churches = <!-- Number of churches in the diocese -->

| congregations = <!-- Number of congregations in the diocese -->

| schools = <!-- Number of church supported schools in the diocese -->

| members = <!-- Number of members in the diocese -->

<!---- Information ---->

| denomination = Catholic

| sui_iuris_church = Latin Church

| rite = Roman Rite

| established = March 12, 1904

| dissolved =

| cathedral = Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption

| cocathedral =

| patron = Saint Mary of the Assumption

| priests = 123 plus 63 religious priests

After the Revolution ended in 1783, Pope Pius VI erected in 1784 the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States, encompassing the entire territory of the new nation. Pius VI created the Diocese of Baltimore, the first diocese in the United States, to replace the prefecture apostolic in 1789.

1808 to 1900

Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Boston on April 8, 1808, including all of New England in its jurisdiction. Bishop Jean-Louis de Cheverus of Boston established St Lawrence's Church, the first Catholic church in New Bedford in 1821,with the assistance of Portuguese sailors and Irish laborers. The first Catholic church on Cape Cod was St. Peter's, constructed in Sandwich in 1830. Fall River received it first Catholic church in 1837 when St. John the Baptist was completed.

The Diocese of Providence was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872. The pope removed the counties of Bristol, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket in Massachusetts from the Archdiocese of Boston. The present day Diocese of Fall River area would remain part of the Diocese of Providence for the next 32 years.

1900 to 1950

Pope Pius X erected the Diocese of Fall River on March 12, 1904. He took all of the Massachusetts counties from Diocese of Providence for the new diocese, making it a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Boston. William Stang was the first bishop. During his tenure, Stang established eleven parishes and founded Saint Anne's Hospital in Fall River. One of the new parishes was St. Boniface, a German parish in New Bedford.

After Stang's death in 1907, Pius X appointed Daniel Feehan from the Diocese of Springfield as the second bishop of Fall River that same year. During his 27-year tenure, Feehan established 36 parishes. To assist Feehan, Pope Pius IX named Auxiliary Bishop James Cassidy as coadjutor bishop of the diocese in 1934. Feehan died in office later that year and Cassidy automatically succeeded him as bishop. Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro was named in his honor.

1950 to 1970

thumb|239x239px|Stonehill College, Easton, Massachusetts (2006)

As bishop, Cassidy founded several homes for senior citizens. In 1945, Pope Pius XII appointed James Connolly to serve as coadjutor bishop to assist Cassidy. In 1948, the Congregation of Holy Cross founded Stonehill College in Easton. In early 1951, Cassidy published a pastoral letter forbidding girls cheerleading at Catholic high schools in the diocese, citing what he termed the indecency of their outfits. He also banned football games at night.

Following Cassidy's death in 1951, Connolly automatically became the new bishop. was dedicated to him in 1967. He also founded the diocesan newspaper, The Anchor.

1970 to 2002

thumb|Cardinal O'Malley (2009)

After Connolly retired in 1970, Pope Paul VI appointed Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Cronin of the Archdiocese of Boston as the fifth bishop of Fall River. Cronin continued the work of implementing the decrees of the Second Vatican Council and supported liturgical renewal, continuing education of the clergy and the restoration of the permanent diaconate. He expanded Catholic Counseling and Social Services as well as the Family Life Ministry. Late in 1991, Pope John Paul II appointed Cronin as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford. He established an office for AIDS Ministry and two new residences for women and reorganized the diocesan administration. O’Malley created the Office of Pastoral Planning to assist him on merging parishes and assigning priests. In March 2005, Bernard Kelly, pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Barnstable, was indicted on embezzlement and filing false tax returns. He was accused of stealing over $500,000 from his church. In May 2005, the diocese settled a lawsuit against Kelly for $1.3 million.Kelly pleaded guilty in 2006 and was sentenced to seven years of probation.

In 2007, Coleman dedicated Pope John Paul II High School in Hyannis, the first Catholic high school on Cape Cod. He also created a directorship of Faith Formation, a youth ministry and a marriage and family ministry. As of 2026, Da Cunha is the current bishop of Fall River.

The diocese in May 2025 announced the closure of five parishes due to the shortage of priests:

  • St. Francis of Assisi Parish in New Bedford
  • St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Parish in Attleboro
  • Our Lady of Grace, St. George, and St. John the Baptist parishes in Westport

Sexual abuse

In the early 1990s, revelations surfaced about how the Diocese of Fall River protected James Porter from charges of sexual abuse between 1960 and 1964. In 1960, the priest had been assigned to St. Mary's grammar school. Parents soon started filing complaints against him with the diocese. The diocese took no action until 1963; by that time, at least four parents had complained. The diocese then moved Porter to a parish in Fall River without notifying police or the new parish about the allegations. More complaints were made against Porter. In 1964, he was arrested on sex abuse charges. He was then sent for inpatient hospital treatment. He left the priesthood in 1974 and started a family. He was arrested several times in the following years and served multiple prison terms. He died in prison in 2005. In January 2019, Cronin and the two men reached a settlement, with each man to receive $200,000.

In December 2020, a grand jury at Barnstable Superior Court indicted Mark R. Hession on two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14, and one count of intimidation of a witness. The priest had worked closely with the Kennedy family and delivered the homily at Senator Ted Kennedy's funeral in 2009.

The diocese in May 2023 settled a lawsuit brought by Jason Medeiros. Three years early, Medeiros had alleged that Richard DeGagne had sexually assaulted him when he was a minor in the 1980's at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Bedford. The diocese suspended DeGagne from his priestly duties in 2019.

The diocese in May 2025 removed Jay Mello as pastor of Saint Michael's and Saint Joseph's Parishes and suspended him from ministry. This was due to two credible allegations of sexual abuse from 2011.

Bishops

Bishops of Fall River

  1. William Stang (1904–1907)
  2. Daniel Francis Feehan (1907–1934)
  3. James Edwin Cassidy (1934–1951; coadjutor bishop 1934)
  4. James Louis Connolly (1951–1970; coadjutor bishop 1945–1951)
  5. Daniel Anthony Cronin (1970–1992), appointed Archbishop of Hartford
  6. Seán Patrick O'Malley (1992–2002), appointed Bishop of Palm Beach and later Archbishop of Boston (created Cardinal in 2006)
  7. George William Coleman (2003–2014)
  8. Edgar Moreira da Cunha (2014–present)

Auxiliary Bishops of Fall River

  • James Edwin Cassidy (1930–1934), appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Fall River (see above)
  • James Joseph Gerrard (1959–1976)

Other diocesan priests who became bishops

  • John Edward Morris (priest here, 1914–1921), appointed Prefect of Peng-Yang in 1930
  • William Otterwell Brady, appointed Bishop of Sioux Falls in 1939
  • Humberto Sousa Medeiros, appointed Bishop of Brownsville in 1966 and Archbishop of Boston in 1970; future Cardinal
  • Joseph Patrick Delaney (priest here, 1960–1971), appointed Bishop of Fort Worth in 1981

Education

Schools

  • Bishop Feehan High School – Attleboro
  • Bishop Stang High School – Dartmouth
  • Saint John Paul II High School – Hyannis

Colleges

Stonehill College – Easton

Landmarks

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In addition to St. Mary's Cathedral, two other major churches in the diocese are St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, Santo Christo Church and Shrine, and St. Anne's both in Fall River.

The Diocese of Fall River is also home to the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, owned and operated by the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette.

Notes

References

  • Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Diocese of Fall River
  • Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (Fall River)
  • TheCatholicDirectory.com – Helping People Find Mass Worldwide
  • National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette