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The Diocese of CharlestonA diocese is a geographical portion of the Catholic Church linking all parishes, schools, hospitals, convents and other Church-sanctioned entities under the shepherding care of a bishop who, in turn, serves under the authority of the Holy Father, the Pope. There are 2,846 Catholic dioceses in the world. Our current bishop is the Most Reverend Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS who was appointed Bishop of Charleston by Pope Francis in 2022 as the 14th Bishop of Charleston since the establishment of the Diocese in 1820. The bishop's church, the cathedral (from the Latin cathedra, meaning "chair," a symbol of the bishop's authority) is located in Charleston. When established in 1820, the Diocese of Charleston encompassed both Carolinas and Georgia. Its first bishop was the Right Reverend John England, namesake of Bishop England High School on Daniel Island. The Diocese of Charleston now encompasses the entire state of South Carolina as dioceses in Georgia and North Carolina since have been established. The greater the concentration of Catholics in an area, the smaller the geographical size a diocese is. For example, the small state of New Jersey has five dioceses. |