Roman Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northwestern United States, comprised of the northern regions of the state of Alaska. It is led by a prelate bishop which serves as pastor of the mother church, Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in the City of Fairbanks. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
The See of Fairbanks was established as the Prefecture Apostolic of Alaska on July 27, 1894. It was elevated to an apostolic vicariate on December 22, 1916. The Diocese of Juneau was carved out of the apostolic vicariate on June 23, 1951. On August 8, 1962, the apostolic vicariate was elevated to a diocese.
The first seven bishops of Fairbanks were missionaries of the Society of Jesus. On June 7, 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed Donald Joseph Kettler as the first non-Jesuit bishop of Fairbanks.
