1600 to 1784

Prior to the American Revolution, few Catholics lived in the British Colony of Virginia. In 1634, John Altham, a Jesuit companion of Andrew White, performed missionary work among the Native American tribes living on the south bank of the Potomac River. The colonial government of Virginia soon enacted stringent laws against the practice of Catholicism. During the late 17th century, the few Catholic settlers in northern Virginia, living near Aquia Creek, were attended by John Carroll and other Jesuit missionaries from Maryland.^[5]

By 1776, the city of Alexandria had a log chapel with a resident Catholic priest. John Thayer from Boston was stationed at the chapel in 1794.

1784 to 1820

After the American Revolution, Pope Pius VI erected in 1784 the Prefecture Apostolic of the United States encompassing the entire territory of the United States. With the passage in 1786 of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, written by future US President Thomas Jefferson, Catholics were granted religious freedom in the new state of Virginia.^[6]

Pius VI erected the Diocese of Baltimore, the first diocese in the United States to replace the prefecture apostolic in 1789.^[7]

Francis Neale erected a brick church in Alexandria in 1796 and replaced it with a larger one in 1811. Anthony Kohlmann and future Bishop Bitenedict Fenwick frequently officiated at services in Alexandria.

1820 to 1974

Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Richmond on July 11, 1820, including all of Virginia (except two Eastern Shore counties) and the present state of West Virginia. The Northern Virginia area would remain part of this diocese for the next 154 years.

In 1950, nuns from the Sacred Heart Order established a girls' college in Arlington that later became Marymount University.^[8] By 1957, eleven new parishes had been founded in Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax; in 1946, only eight parishes existed in the region.^[8]

1974 to 1999

Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Arlington on May 28, 1974, removing its territory from the Diocese of Richmond.^[9][1] The pope appointed Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Welsh of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as the first bishop of Arlington.

During his tenure, Welsh established six new parishes and dedicated eleven new churches. He established the Office of Migration and Refugee Services in 1975 and the Family Life Bureau in 1977. He also started the diocesan newspaper, The Arlington Catholic Herald.Walsh was the founding president of the board of the Catholic Home Study Institute which became the Catholic Distance University. The number of Catholics in Arlington increased from 154,000 to 179,000 under his tenure. In 1983, Pope John Paul II appointed Welsh as bishop of the Diocese of Allentown.

To replace Welsh, John Paul II named John Keating of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Keating issued six pastoral letters and ordained 84 priests. In 1994, he made national headlines by refusing to allow female altar servers in the diocese. When Keating died in 1998, the Diocese of Arlington had over 336,000 Catholics, 65 parishes, and five missions.^[10]

1999 to 2020

Bishop Paul Loverde of the Diocese of Ogdensburg became the third bishop of Arlington, named by John Paul II to the position in 1999. Loverde reinstated the permanent diaconate program, and allowed seminarians to study at Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts, the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, and the Catholic University of America. He also supported religious orders coming into the diocese, such as the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist and the Cloistered Dominicans.^[11] In 2006, Loverde permitted female altar servers, at the discretion of the local pastors, for the first time.^[12] Loverde retired in 2016.

Pope Francis appointed Bishop Michael Burbidge from the Diocese of Raleigh as bishop of Arlington in 2016.

In August 2017, William Aitcheson, a priest in the diocese, admitted to being a member of the Ku Klux Klan while a college student in the 1970s. Aitcheson announced that he would temporarily step down from his post at St. Leo the Great Catholic Parish in Fairfax, Virginia. Burbidge released a statement referring to Aitcheson's past as "sad and deeply troubling" while hoping that his conversion of heart would inspire others.^[13][14]

2020 to present

On August 12, 2021, Burbidge released a pastoral letter on the church's stance on transgenderism. In the letter, he criticized the use of preferred gender pronouns when addressing transgender people.^[15] In January 2022, the diocese instructed its schools to follow Virginia's Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin's anti-mask executive order for schools that was to go into effect on January 24.^[16]

Also in January 2022, Burbidge restricted use of the Tridentine Latin mass in the diocese, in accordance with the apostolic letter Traditionis custodes issued by Pope Francis in July 2021. Burbidge permitted 21 parishes already celebrating the Tridentine mass to continue the practice, but banned any other parishes from starting it.^[17][18][19] In July 2022, Burbidge restricted the Tridentine mass to eight parishes; in five of those eight parishes, the priest could not celebrate the mass in the main church.^[20]

The diocese in May 2022 sued the City of Alexandria to block the implementation of an affordable housing project. The issue was an alley separating St. Rita Church and a Catholic school from the planned project. The diocese claimed that the project was unlawfully removing access to the church and school through the alley.^[21] After the developer and the diocese reached a compromise solution, the lawsuit was dismissed in November 2022.^[22]

As of 2023, Burbidge is the current bishop of Arlington.

Sexual abuse

In August 1992, William T. Reinecke, chancellor of the Diocese of Alexandria in Virginia, committed suicide. Reinecke killed himself two days after being confronted by Joseph McDonald, one of his alleged victims from the 1960's.^[23] McDonald said he had urged Reinecke to resign and seek professional help. In September 1992 Joseph T. O'Brien Jr told the Washington Post that he had also been sexually molested by Reinecke around 1969. ^[23]

In 2012, a woman sued Loverde, the diocese, and other defendants, claiming that Thomas J. Euteneur from the Diocese of Palm Beach had sexually abused her in Virginia on several occasions in 2008. The plaintiff stated that Euteneur, under the guise of conducting an exorcism, had kissed and fondled her. Euterneur had already admitted guilt and settled separately with her. She said that Loverde and the diocese had given Euteneur permission to perform exorcisms on other individuals. The plaintiff subsequently dropped the case against Loverde and the diocese.^[24]

In February 2019, Bishop Burbidge released a list of sixteen diocesan priests who had been credibly accused of sexual abuse.^[25][26]

In March 2020, Scott Asalone was arrested on charges of sexually abusing Washington DC Councilman David Grosso when he was 14 years old. The crimes took place at Saint Francis de Sales Parish in Purcellville in 1985.^{[27] [28]}Asalone was removed from public ministry by the diocese in 1993. Asalone was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison in June 2023.^[29]

Terry Specht was charged in December 2021 with two counts of sexually abusing a minor. He allegedly molested a child under age 13 while serving as Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly in 2000. Specht had been accused of molesting a teenager at a school during the 1990's, but was never criminally charges. Specht served as director of the Office of Child Protection for the diocese from 2004 to 2011.^[30]In October 22, Specht was acquitted by a jury of all charges.^[31]

Bishops of Arlington

1. Thomas Jerome Welsh (1974–1983), appointed Bishop of Allentown^[32]
2. John Richard Keating (1983–1998), died in office
3. Paul S. Loverde (1999–2016)
4. Michael F. Burbidge (2016–present)

Other diocesan priest who became bishop

Antons Justs, appointed Bishop of Jelgava in 1995

Colleges and universities

• Christendom College – Front Royal
• Divine Mercy University – Sterling
• Marymount University – Arlington

High schools

Pre-kindergarten, elementary and middle schools

The Diocese of Arlington has 37 elementary/middle schools, one virtual school, five private elementary/middle schools, three stand-alone preschool programs, and one private day care. As of the 2020–2021 school year, there were 12,683 students enrolled in diocesan pre-K, elementary, and middle school.^[34]

Sources

• Andreassi, Anthony D. (2002). Walking in Faith: the first 25 Years. A History of the Diocese of Arlington, Editions du Signe: Strasbourg. ISBN 2-7468-0625-8.
• 2014 Catholic Diocese of Arlington Directory Archived March 27, 2016, at the Wayback Machine