Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
Vhelingen(sis)-Carolopolitan(us)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Wheeling, West Virginia, United States
The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston is a Latin Church diocese coextensive with the state of West Virginia, erected in 1850 and suffragan to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Bishop Mark E. Brennan remains apostolic administrator pending the July 2, 2026 installation of bishop-elect Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, the tenth bishop named on May 1, 2026.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 1850
- Latin
- Vhelingen(sis)-Carolopolitan(us)
- Patron
- Saint Joseph
- Annuario code
- 001000150
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 109,260
- Population
- 1,818,470
- Catholic share
- 6.0%
- Priests
- 137
- Catholics per priest
- 798
- Extent
- 62,890 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 1.7
of the people living within its bounds
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
- Apostolic Administrator
- Mark E. Brennan (apostolic administrator)
- Born
- 8 September 1943
- Birthplace
- Philadelphia
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
Cathedral of Saint Joseph stands in Wheeling, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
Its co-cathedral is Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Charleston.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Baltimore
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of BaltimoreBaltimore
- Diocese of ArlingtonArlington
- Diocese of RichmondRichmond
- Diocese of WilmingtonWilmington
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Comprising the whole of West Virginia in the United States, the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston (Latin: Dioecesis Vhelingensis-Carolopolitana) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church, suffragan within the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore. Two cathedrals serve the see: the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Wheeling and the Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Charleston. On May 1, 2026, Pope Leo XIV named Evelio Menjivar-Ayala its bishop.
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.
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].