Name changes The Fort Worth area has been under several different Catholic jurisdictions since 1841: • Prefecture Apostolic of Texas (1841 to 1847) • Vicariate Apostolic of Texas (1847 to 1874) •
Diocese of Galveston (1874 to 1890) •
Diocese of Dallas (1890 to 1953) • Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth (1953 to 1969) • Diocese of Fort Worth (1969 to present)
1847 to 1890 During the 1860s, the Diocese of Galveston would periodically send priests to visit the small, but growing, town of Fort Worth. In 1870, Vincent Perrier of the
Society of Mary started visiting Fort Worth twice a year. By 1875, the population growth of Fort Worth had persuaded Bishop
Claude Dubuis of Galveston to send Perrier and another priest to the town every month.
1890 to 1969 In 1892, the new St. Patrick's Church in Fort Worth was dedicated by Bishop
Thomas Brennan of Dallas. In 1953
Pope Pius XII renamed the Diocese of Dallas as the Diocese of Dallas–Fort Worth, and elevated Saint Patrick's Church in Fort Worth to a
co-cathedral.
1969 to 2000 On August 22, 1969,
Pope Paul VI suppressed the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth, erecting the Diocese of Fort Worth and the Diocese of Dallas. When Cassata became bishop, the Catholic population of the new diocese was 67,000. Cassata retired in 1981. The second bishop of Fort Worth was
Joseph P. Delaney, appointed in 1981. In 1985, St. Patrick Cathedral, St. Ignatius Church, and the St. Ignatius rectory were added to the
National Register of Historic Places. By 1986, the Catholic population of the diocese had grown to 120,000. The diocese had 14 primary schools, three secondary schools, the Cassata Learning Center and a new Catholic Center.
2000 to present In May 2005,
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor
Kevin Vann of the
Diocese of Springfield in Illinois as
coadjutor bishop in Fort Worth to assist Delaney. However, one day before Vann's consecration, Delaney died in his sleep. The next day, July 13, Vann was consecrated as bishop of the diocese instead of coadjutor bishop. Seven years later Vann was appointed bishop of the
Diocese of Orange in 2012. As of 2026, the bishop of the diocese is
Michael Fors Olson, named by Pope Francis in 2013. In June 2021, six seminarians were ordained as priests by Olson at the Vietnamese Martyrs Church in
Arlington. This was the largest ordination class of priests in diocesan history. A study from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University showed that the diocese grew by 878,000 Catholics during the period from 2000 – 2020, making it the third fastest growing Catholic diocese in the U.S. The diocese has added new parishes to accommodate the growing Catholic population. On Sept. 4, 2022, the opening Mass was celebrated at St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church in Roanoke, making it the 92nd parish in the diocese. In April 2022, Olson requested the resignation of Christopher Plumlee, CEO of Catholic Charities Fort Worth (CCFW). The agency had planned to host a Women's Empow[her]ment Summit in
Hurst in late April. Olson criticized that speakers had not been cleared with diocesan officials. Plumlee originally refused Olson's request, but canceled the summit one month later. Plumlee resigned from CCFW. In December 2024, the
Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rome suppressed the Carmelite Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington after an extended battle, both in ecclesiastical and civil court, between Olson and the Carmelite religious sisters. The Vatican approved a new Discalced Carmelite monastery in the diocese: the Carmel of Jesus Crucified, located near Muenster, Texas. Bishop Michael Olson celebrated its founding Mass and Rite of Enclosure on Dec. 8, 2025. Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church, the only historically Black Catholic parish in the diocese, marked its 95-year anniversary in 2025. In 2026, Heather Reynolds returned to Catholic Charities Fort Worth to serve as its president/CEO, after overseeing the nonprofit from 2005 to 2018.
Sex abuse The diocese paid a $1.4 million financial settlement in 2005 to a man who claimed to have been raped as a child during the early 1990s by Thomas Teczar, a diocesan priest in
Ranger. Teczar left the
Diocese of Worcester in the early 1980s after being removed from ministry there. The plaintiff had argued that Bishop Delaney showed negligence by allowing him to serve in Fort Worth despite his record in
Massachusetts. After being tried and convicted on rape charges in
Eastland, Texas, Teczar was sentenced to 50 years in state prison. He was
laicized in 2011. In 2007, the diocese published a list of 17 clergy from the diocese with credible accusations of
sexual abuse of minors since the 1960s. ==Bishops==