Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington

Diocese of Lexington Dioecesis Lexingtonensis
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Southeastern Kentucky
Ecclesiastical province	Louisville
Metropolitan	Joseph Edward Kurtz
Population - Catholics	45,815 (3.1%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	January 14, 1988
Cathedral	Cathedral of Christ the King
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	John Stowe
Map
Website
www.cdlex.org

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington (Latin: Dioecesis Lexingtonensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Kentucky founded on January 14, 1988.

Cathedral of Christ the King

Establishment of diocese

Pope John Paul II established the Diocese of Lexington on January 14, 1988 from 43 counties previously of the Diocese of Covington and 7 counties previously of the Archdiocese of Louisville. The formal ceremony establishing the diocese and installing its first bishop, James Kendrick Williams, took place on March 2, 1988 at Christ the King Church. With the establishment of the diocese, and the installation of its bishop, Christ the King Church was elevated to the status of cathedral.

Profile of diocese

As of 2004, the diocese covered approximately 16,423 Square Miles (42,520 Square Kilometers), and included nearly 46,000 Catholics (about 3.1% of the total population) in its 64 parishes. At that time, 67 diocesan and religious priests, 33 permanent deacons, 30 male religious, and 138 female religious served in the diocese.

The Diocese of Lexington provides education for approximately 4300 students in its fifteen elementary and two high schools located throughout the diocese, and maintains Newman Centers at eight of Kentucky's colleges and universities.

Bishops

The list of bishops of the diocese and their years of service:

1. James Kendrick Williams (1988–2002)
2. Ronald William Gainer (2002–2014)
3. John Stowe, O.F.M. Conv. (2015–present)^[1]

High schools

• Lexington Catholic High School, Lexington
• The Piarist School, Martin

Arms

Arms of Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington

Notes Arms was designed and adopted when the diocese was erected Adopted 1988 Escutcheon The arms of the Diocese of Lexington are composed of three sections that are in the red, white (silver), and blue. The left side of these arms is red, on which is displayed a silver sword. The right side of these arms is silver (white), on which is seen a blue fleur-de-lis. The bottom of these arms is a blue field, on which is a Gold diadem placed on a silver cross. Symbolism Three sections are in red, white (silver), and blue, which are in the traditional colors of the United States. The left side of these arms is red on which is displayed a silver sword of St. Paul, the patron of the Diocese of Covington. The right side of these arms is silver (white) on which is seen a blue fleur-de-lis of the Archdiocese of Louisville. These two fields signify that the Diocese of Lexington is carved from territory taken from each of these sees. The bottom of these arms, which comes to a point to represent the mountains of eastern Kentucky, is blue to signify Kentucky, "The Bluegrass State". On this field is a Gold diadem placed on a silver cross to honor Christ, the King, titular of the Cathedral-Church in Lexington.

See also

• Catholic Church by country
• Catholic Church hierarchy
• List of the Catholic dioceses of the United States

References

1. "Pope names Conventual Franciscan as new Bishop of Lexington". Catholic Diocese of Lexington (Lexington, KY). Retrieved March 12, 2015.

External links

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington Official Site

Coordinates: 38°01′47″N 84°29′41″W / 38.02972°N 84.49472°W