Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Columbus

Columben(sis)

The Diocese of Columbus is a Latin Church diocese covering central and southern Ohio, erected in 1868. It is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
3 March 1868
Latin
Columben(sis)
Patron
St. Francis de Sales
Annuario code
001001194

The see in figures

Catholics
334,881
Population
2,794,439
Catholic share
12.0%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
204
Catholics per priest
1,642
Extent
75,840 km²
Catholics per km²
4.4

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Earl K. Fernandes
Born
21 September 1972
Birthplace
Toledo in America

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

St. Joseph Cathedral stands in Columbus, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Cincinnati

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Twenty-three counties of central Ohio in the United States fall within the Diocese of Columbus (Latin: Dioecesis Columbensis), erected in 1868. A suffragan see within the province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Cincinnati, it has St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus as its mother church. As of 2026 its bishop is Earl K. Fernandes.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

Ask to enter

Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].