The Diocese of Providence () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Rhode Island in the United States. The diocese was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872.
The Diocese of Providence is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Hartford. The Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Providence is the mother church of the diocese. As of 2023, the bishop of Providence is Richard Garth Henning.
History
1643 to 1830
Unlike the other British colonies in North America, the colony of Providence Plantations was founded in 1643 on the basis of religious tolerance for all Christians. However, by 1719, the Rhode Island General Assembly had enacted a law disenfranchising Catholics from voting to discourage any from moving to the colony.
During the American Revolution, a French army camped in Newport and Providence; the first Catholic masses in the colony were celebrated there for these soldiers. After the Revolution, the new State of Rhode Island allowed Catholics to vote in 1783.
In 1789, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Baltimore to cover the entire territory of the new United States. After the uprising by enslaved peoples in the French colony of Guadeloupe, several French families migrated to Bristol and Providence. In 1808, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Boston, covering Rhode Island and the rest of New England.
The construction of Fort Adams in Newport and the establishment of cotton mills in Pawtucket started attracting Irish Catholic immigrants to Rhode Island. The first Catholic church in Rhode Island was established in 1828 in Newport to minister to Catholics working on the fort.
1830 to 1872
In the 1830s, Reverend John Corry started looking for a plot of land to build the first Catholic church in Providence. However, many landowners were unwilling to go against anti-Catholic sentiment in the city by selling him land. Corry finally obtained a property and starting building Saints Peter and Paul Church, which was dedicated in 1838.
In 1843, Pope Gregory XVI erected the Diocese of Hartford, which included both Connecticut and Rhode Island. The pope selected Monsignor William Tyler of Boston as the first bishop of Hartford. At the time, only 600 Catholics lived in Hartford, Connecticut, as opposed to 2,000 in Providence. For that reason, Tyler petitioned the Vatican to move the diocesan see from Hartford to Providence. The oldest existing Catholic church in Rhode Island, St. Mary's, was founded in West Warwick in 1844.
1872 to 1887
On February 16, 1872, Pope Pius IX erected the Diocese of Providence, taking all of Rhode Island from the Diocese of Hartford. The pope also included the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, the Cape Cod area, and other parts of southern Massachusetts in the new diocese. The pope named Reverend Thomas Hendricken as the first bishop of Providence. The new diocese had 125,000 parishioners, 43 churches, nine parish schools and one orphanage.
During Hendricken's tenure, French Canadian Catholics started migrating into the diocese to work in the textile mills in Woonsocket and Fall River, Massachusetts. Hendricken created 13 English-speaking parishes and two French-speaking parishes during this time. By 1873, the immigration into the diocese slowed and the post-war boom ended with many of his flock unemployed or on reduced wages. Hendricken started the design and construction of the Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul.
1887 to 1900
After Hendricksen died in 1886, Pope Leo XIII in 1887 named Reverend Matthew Harkins of Boston as the next bishop of Providence. During his tenure as bishop, Harkins constructed the following institutions:
Home for the Aged in Pawtucket (1881) St. Maria Working Girls' Home in Providence (1894) St. Joseph's Hospital in Providence (started 1891) St. Vincent de Paul Infant Asylum (1892) the Working Boys' Home (started 1897) the House of the Good Shepherd (1904) Nazareth Home (1906)
During Harkins's tenure, the diocese grew to be among the largest in the country and to have one of the highest percentage of Catholics. The diocese had 20 French Canadian parishes, two Italian parishes, four Polish parishes, one Portuguese parish and one Syrian parish.
1900 to 1933
In 1904, the Vatican split the Diocese of Fall River out of the Diocese of Providence, removing all of the Massachusetts counties and islands. This left 190,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Providence. During his tenure as bishop, Harkins increased the number of parishes in the diocese from 39 to 95; most of these new parishes were erected in the cities and growing suburbs, and were designated for different ethnic groups. He founded Providence College in 1917.