Bishop Accountability

California Dioceses 1922-2005
Worksheets Showing County Detail

Between 1922 and 2005, California's population increased more than tenfold from 3.4 million to 36 million. In order to cope administratively with this growth, California's 4 dioceses were divided and redivided over the years, so that by 2005, approximately 10 million California Catholics were organized in 12 dioceses.

One result of these demographic and administrative changes has been that the responsibility for abusive priests has shifted as the dioceses have multiplied. A priest who began offending in Los Angeles might continue his crimes as an Orange priest, for example. The creation of new dioceses also afforded the older dioceses an opportunity to off-load offenders, as seems to have happened when San Bernardino was created from San Diego. When personnel files are scattered, the chances of confusion and concealment increase as well.

Below we provide a series of maps that show how the California dioceses have changed over the years. Scroll through them or click from view to view.

1922-1936

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1936-1962

In 1936, Los Angeles and San Diego was split into two dioceses: Los Angeles and San Diego.

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1962-1966

In 1962, Northern California was reorganized. Land was taken from the dioceses of San Francisco and Sacramento to create three other dioceses:
- Santa Rosa on the northern coast
- Stockton west of the Berkeley Hills through the central valley and into the Sierra Nevada
- Oakland in the East Bay.

Sacramento also received Solano County from the San Francisco archdiocese.

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1966-1967

In 1966, Alpine County in the Sierra Nevada passed from Sacramento to Stockton.

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1967-1976

In 1967, the diocese of Monterey and Fresno was split into Monterey on the coast and Fresno in the Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada.

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1976-1978

In 1976, the diocese of Orange was split off from the archdiocese of Los Angeles.

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1978-1981

In 1978, the diocese of San Bernardino was split off from the diocese of San Diego.

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1981-2005

In 1981, the diocese of San Jose in the South Bay was split off from the archdiocese of San Francisco.

[Back to general view for 1981.]

Map Courtesy of Digital-Topo-Maps.com