1700 to 1840 The first Roman Catholic churches in the current territory of the Diocese of San Diego were two of the
twenty-one "California Missions" (Mission San Diego de Alcala and Mission San Luis Rey de Francia). •
Mission San Diego de Alcalá was founded in 1769 by Reverend Junipero Serra in present-day San Diego. • The
Mission San Luis Rey de Francia was established in present-day
Oceanside by Reverend Fermín de Lasuén in 1798. During the 18th century, the region was governed as part of the province of
Las Californias in the Spanish Viceroyalty of
New Spain. In 1804, the Spanish split the province of Las Californias into two provinces: • Alta California (Upper California), including the modern American states of
California,
Nevada,
Arizona, and
Utah, along with western
Colorado and southwestern
Wyoming •
Baja California Territory (Lower California), including the modern Mexican states of
Baja California and
Baja California Sur After the
Mexican War of Independence ended in 1821, Alta California became part of Mexico. The Mexican Government in 1835 secularized all the Catholic missions in Alta California, including the Mission San Luis Rey and Mission San Diego.
1840 to 1936 In 1840, Pope
Gregory XVI set up the
Diocese of California. The new diocese included both Alta California and Baja California. Gregory XVI set the episcopal see at San Diego in Alta California. The first bishop of the new diocese was
Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno. Moreno designated the
Mission Santa Barbara in
Santa Barbara as his
pro-cathedral. After ceding Alta California to the United States at the close of the
Mexican–American War in 1848, the government of Mexico objected to San Diego, a see city now located in the United States, having jurisdiction over Mexican parishes. In response, the Vatican divided the Diocese of California into American and Mexican sections in 1849. The Mexican section became an
apostolic administration and later an
apostolic vicariate (legal predecessor of the
Diocese of Tijuana), while the American section became the Diocese of Monterey; the see city was moved to Monterey because of its more central location. The
Royal Presidio Chapel in Monterey became the cathedral of the new American diocese.
1936 to 1969 The Diocese of San Diego was erected on July 11, 1936, by
Pope Pius XI, taking
San Diego, Imperial,
Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties from the new
Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Buddy co-founded the
University of San Diego in 1949, serving as its first
president from 1950 to 1966.
Pope Paul VI appointed Auxiliary Bishop
Francis Furey from the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia as
coadjutor bishop of San Diego in 1963 to assist Buddy. After Buddy died in 1966, Furey automatically succeed him as bishop of San Diego. Three years later, in 1969, Furey became archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
1969 to 1990 At the time of Maher's arrival, the diocese was about $15 million in debt, which Maher fully retired by 1980. He presided over the second diocesan
synod from 1973 to 1976, revising the statutes and guidelines of the diocese to implement the reforms of the
Second Vatican Council. In 1976, Maher created the first Diocesan
Pastoral Council. He also supported workers' rights to organize into
unions, but pledged an official neutrality in a farm labor dispute in 1971. That same year, he suspended Reverend Victor Salandini, a San Diego priest and ally of labor organizer
César Chávez, for wearing a
serape with the black eagle symbol of the
United Farm Workers instead of proper
vestments and for using
corn tortillas instead of
sacramental bread during his
masses. In 1978,
Pope John Paul II erected the
Diocese of San Bernardino, removing Riverside and San Bernardino Counties from the Diocese of San Diego. He prohibited priests from celebrating Mass for
Dignity, a pro-
LGBTQ+ Catholic organization, but once celebrated a mass himself for
HIV/AIDS patients at St. Joseph's Cathedral.
1990 to present After Maher retired in 1990, Brom automatically succeeded him as bishop of San Diego. Brom was responsible for the creation of two Catholic high schools: •
Mater Dei Catholic High School in Chula Vista, replacing Marian Catholic High School in
Imperial Beach •
Cathedral Catholic High School in Carmel Valley, replacing University of San Diego High School in
Linda Vista Brom also created a pastoral center in San Diego after selling the former chancery building to the University of San Diego. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named Auxiliary Bishop
Cirilo Flores from the Diocese of Orange as
coadjutor bishop in San Diego. When Brom retired in 2013, Flores became the next bishop of San Diego. However, Flores died from a stroke and cancer in September 2014. In March 2015,
Pope Francis appointed Auxiliary Bishop
Robert McElroy from the Archdiocese of San Francisco as bishop of San Diego. The pope made McElroy a cardinal in May 2022. McElroy was named
Archbishop of Washington in January 2025. In May 2025,
Pope Leo XIV appointed
Michael Pham to succeed McElroy. He was Pope Leo XIV's first episcopal appointment for the United States and the first
Vietnamese-American bishop to head a diocese. In June 2025, Pham authored a joint letter with his Auxiliary Bishops
Ramon Bejarano and
Felipe Pulido announcing that a group of clergy and faith leaders would block the detaining of immigrants at the
Edward J. Schwartz U.S. Courthouse in San Diego on June 20,
World Refugee Day. On that day, Pham led a dozen religious leaders who stopped
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and
United States Border Patrol agents from detaining immigrants.
Clergy sexual abuse cases A 16-year-old boy in 1977 filed a complaint of sexual assault against Reverend John Daly with the
Holtville police. The boy said that Daly picked up him and a companion while hitchhiking and offered to let them stay for the night at St. Joseph Church. The boy awoke in the middle of the night to find Daly performing oral sex on him. Three days after Daly's arrest, the local district attorney told police that the diocese would send Daly away for treatment and that it was dropping charges. In 2002, the 1977 complainant sued the diocese. Reverend Edward Rodrigue pleaded
no contest in 1979 of sexually abusing an 11-year-old developmentally disabled boy in
Highland. The diocese removed him from ministry and sent him for 11 months of treatment at a center in
Azusa. He was laicized in 1992. After being arrested in 1997 for child abuse, Rodrigue admitted to sexually abusing dozens of children during his time as a priest. Rodrigue was sentenced to 10 years in prison for abusing children in 1998. By the end of 2004, 15 men had sued the diocese, claiming they were sexually abused by Rodrigue. Five women sued the diocese in 2003, claiming that they had been sexually assaulted as minors by Reverend Franz Robier during the 1950s. The victims included four orphans from Europe living at a facility in the diocese. Records showed that Bishop Buddy sent Robier away for treatment after receiving complaints, then allowed him later to resume ministry. In February 2007, the diocese filed for
bankruptcy protection after the diocese was unable to reach a financial settlement with numerous plaintiffs suing over
sexual abuse by clergy. In September 2007, the diocese agreed to pay $198.1 million to
settle 144 claims of
child sexual abuse by
clergy, the second largest settlement payment by a Roman Catholic
diocese in American history. The accused included 48 priests and one lay coordinator of altar boys. In September 2018, the diocese added eight more priests to its list of clergy with credible accusations of abuse. In December 2018, Reverend Juan Garcia Castillo from St. Patrick Parish in
Carlsbad was convicted of
sexual battery. An adult seminarian had accused Castillo of sexually assaulting him while dining at a restaurant with another seminarian. When the accuser was in the men's room, Castillo grabbed his genitals. Castillo was sentenced to 60 years in jail and three years of
probation. On December 11, 2019, it was announced that four victims of convicted, and now deceased, sexual abuser Reverend Anthony Edward Rodrigue would sue the Diocese of San Diego. Their lawsuit began on January 2, 2020, along with lawsuits targeting five other priests accused of child molestation and rape. The diocese declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time since 2007 on June 17, 2024. == Statistics ==