The following is a list of bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, including Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Marianas and Samoa.
The Catholic Church in the United States comprises:
The 176 Latin Church dioceses in the United States are divided into 33 ecclesiastical provinces. Each province has a metropolitan archdiocese led by an archbishop, and at least one suffragan diocese. Each suffragan diocese is led by a bishop. The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA is the only American archdiocese that is not designated as a metropolitan archdiocese. The pope appoints all archbishops and bishops, who must be at least ordained priests. The pope chooses from a list of candidates provided by the papal nuncio of the United States to the Congregation of Bishops in Rome.[2]
In some rare cases, the pope will name a titular archbishop as the bishop of a suffragan diocese. The most recent example in the United States was that of Celestine Damiano, whom Pope John XXIII named as bishop of the Diocese of Camden in 1960.[3]
There are several dioceses in the American inhabited territories:
All active and retired bishops and archbishops in the United States —diocesan, coadjutor, and auxiliary—are members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Most nations with large Catholic populations in non-missionary geographical areas propose and elect native-born clergy to the episcopacy. An exception to this rule is the United States, which has a significant number of foreign-born bishops, with most serving as auxiliaries in culturally-diverse dioceses. As of 2024, 33 active foreign-born bishops are serving in the United States, representing about 10% of all active American bishops.
The following nations have produced at least one bishop who is serving in the United States: Italy, Haiti, Ireland, Colombia, Lebanon, Peru, Spain, Cuba, South Africa, Malta, Argentina, El Salvador, and Cameroon.
The Archdioceses of Los Angeles and San Antonio and seven dioceses (Raleigh, Fall River, Charleston, Salt Lake City, San Bernardino, Las Cruces, and St Thomas) are led by foreign-born archbishops and bishops.[6] Two American archdioceses and two dioceses have more than one foreign-born active bishop assigned to them:
Additionally, there are several dozen bishops currently serving in the United States who are first-generation American-born children of immigrant parents.
The United States has two Eastern Catholic metropoliae, each led by a metropolitan archbishop called an archeparch:
As of October 2022,[update] the Vatican has designated seven American metropolitan archbishops in the Latin Church as cardinals:
One suffragan diocese is led by a cardinal:
Four American archdioceses have retired archbishops who served as cardinal-archbishops:
Three American archdioceses have former archbishops whom the Vatican created as cardinals after they completed their tenures as diocesan archbishops:
The Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Province of Philadelphia consists of four eparchies of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and covers the entire United States.
The Metropolis of Pittsburgh is a sui iuris metropolitan province of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. The metropolis consists of four eparchies and covers the entire United States. It's geographic remit also includes the Exarchate of Toronto in Canada.
The metropolis has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all Ruthenian Catholics in the United States, as well as other Byzantine Rite Catholics without an established hierarchy in the country.
The other Eastern Catholic Churches with eparchies (dioceses) or exarchates established in the United States are not grouped into metropoliae. All are immediately subject to the Holy See, with limited oversight by the head of their respective sui iuris churches.
Several Eastern Catholic churches have jurisdictions that include members and congregations in both the United States and Canada.
The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter is a special diocese comprising Anglican converts to Catholicism. Under canon law, if the personal ordinary is not a bishop, he is treated as the equivalent of a diocesan bishop.[9][1]
The Washington post is a key one in the Vatican diplomatic corps both for the importance of the U.S. in world affairs and for its large Catholic population, which is counted on for its financial help to the Holy See and its contributions to papal charities.
