Western South Dakota went through several Catholic jurisdictions before the Vatican erected the Diocese of Rapid City: •
Diocese of Saint Louis (1826 to 1837) •
Diocese of Dubuque (1837 to 1850) •
Diocese of Saint Paul (1850 to 1879) • Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota (1879 to 1889) •
Diocese of Sioux Falls (1889 to 1902) • Diocese of Lead (1902 to 1930) The first Catholic church in the present-day diocese was Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church near
Vermillion. In Sioux Falls, St. Michael was dedicated in 1881, making it the earliest Catholic church in that city.
1900 to 1930 On August 6, 1902,
Pope Pius X established the diocese as the
Diocese of Lead, with territory taken from the
Diocese of Sioux Falls.
Lead was a small mining town in South Dakota. The pope named Monsignor
John Stariha of the Diocese of Saint Paul as the first bishop of Lead. During his seven years as bishop, Stariha increased the number of priests in the diocese from 17 to 25 and the number of parishes and missions from 25 to 53. Due to poor health, he moved from his official residence in
Lead to
Hot Springs in 1908. Due to his health, Stariha retired in 1909. In 1910, Pius X named
Joseph Busch of Saint Paul as the second bishop of Lead. During his tenure, Busch called for the abolition of work on Sundays. His proposal received so much criticism that he was forced to relocate from Lead to
Rapid City. Busch became bishop of the
Diocese of Saint Cloud in 1915.
1930 to 1988 Pope Pius XI suppressed the Diocese of Lead on August 1, 1930, replacing it with the Diocese of Rapid City. In 1947,
Pope Pius XII named Auxiliary Bishop
William McCarty of the
Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA as
coadjutor bishop in the diocese to assist Lawler. When Lawler died in 1948, after 32 years as bishop, he was automatically succeeded by McCarty. McCarty retired in 1969. The next bishop of Rapid City was
Harold Dimmerling of Saint Cloud, named by
Pope Paul VI in 1969. Dimmerling established a
permanent diaconate program and a lay ministry program and ordained the first
Native American deacon in the country. He also set up offices in the diocese for rural life, stewardship and social concerns. He set up a ministry for people who were separated or divorced, and for widows. Dimmerling also established the
West River Catholic newspaper. Dimmerling died in 1987.
1988 to present In 1988,
Charles J. Chaput was appointed bishop of Rapid City by
Pope John Paul II. He was the second priest of Native American ancestry to become a Catholic bishop in the United States. Chaput became archbishop of the
Archdiocese of Denver in 1997. John Paul II then named
Blase J. Cupich of the
Archdiocese of Omaha to replace Chaput that same year. As bishop, Cupich banned children from receiving their first holy communion in the
Tridentine Mass or being confirmed in the traditional form. In 2002, Cupich prohibited a Traditional Mass community from celebrating the
Paschal Triduum liturgies according to the 1962 form of the
Roman Rite. In 2010, Cupich became bishop of the
Diocese of Spokane. Monsignor
Robert D. Gruss of the
Diocese of Davenport was named the next bishop of Rapid City by
Pope Benedict XVI in 2011. In 2017, Gruss opened the cause for the canonization of
Lakota medicine man
Nicholas Black Elk. Two years later, Gruss became bishop of the
Diocese of Saginaw. On February 17, 2024, the Diocese of Rapid City announced the death of the current bishop
Peter Muhich of the
Diocese of Duluth, named by Pope Francis in 2020. Francis appointed
Scott Bullock from Dubuque as the next bishop of Rapid City on June 25, 2024.
Reports of sex abuse John Praveen, a priest from India serving in the diocese, was arrested in October 2018 on sex abuse charges. Praveen was accused of sexually molesting a 13-year-old girl in Sioux City. Arriving in South Dakota in December 2017, Praveen first worked in
Eagle Butte on the
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe reservation, then at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in June 2018. Bishop Gruss stated that,"It is important to acknowledge the horrid truth of past abuse in the church so that we can repent of these actions and to recommit ourselves to ensuring that no one is hurt moving forward."In August 2020, an individual contacted the diocese to accuse Monsignor
Michel Mulloy, the
vicar general of the diocese, of sexually abusing them as a minor in the 1980s. The diocese immediately removed Mulloy from public ministry and a started preliminary investigation. The results led the review board to call for a full investigation. Pope Francis had appointed Mulloy as bishop of Duluth in June 2020, but he hadn't been consecrated yet. In March 2023, the Diocese of Rapid City said that its investigation could not prove the sexual abuse allegation, but that it would not return Mulloy to ministry. In November 2020, the diocese reported that federal sex abuse charges were pending against Marcin Garbacz. He was already serving a prison sentence for stealing from parishes in the diocese. In March 2022, Garbacz was sentenced to five years in
federal prison for recording a pornographic video of an 11-year-old boy in
Poland, the sentence to be served after his release from state prison. ==Bishops==