By the early 1700s, the Spanish Franciscans had established a network of forty missions in what is now Northern and Central Florida. However, raids by British settlers and their Creek Native American allies from the Carolinas eventually shut down the missions.
After the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, Spain ceded all of Florida to Great Britain for the return of Cuba. Given the antagonism of Protestant Great Britain to Catholicism, the majority of the Catholic population in Florida fled to Cuba. After the American Revolution ended in 1783, Spain regained control of Florida in 1784. In 1793, the Vatican changed the jurisdiction for Florida Catholics from Havana, Cuba, to the Apostolic Vicariate of Louisiana and the Two Floridas, based in New Orleans.
In 1825, Pope Leo XII erected the Vicariate of Alabama and Florida, which included all of Florida, based in Mobile, Alabama. In 1858, Pius IX moved Florida into a new Apostolic Vicariate of Florida, which in 1870 was converted into the Diocese of St. Augustine. The new diocese covered all of Florida except for the Florida Panhandle region. The first Catholic church in Ocala was St. Philip Neri, a clapboard structure built in 1883. Today the parish is called Blessed Trinity.In 1898, St. Paul's Church was dedicated in Daytona Beach, the first Catholic church in that community.
1900 to 1970
The first Catholic church in Brevard County was St. Joseph in Melbourne, dedicated in 1914.In 1939 Florida Catholic started publication.Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Orlando on June 18, 1968, taking its present territory from the Diocese of St. Augustine and making it a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Miami. He appointed William Borders of the Diocese of Baton Rouge as the first bishop of Orlando. At its formation, the new diocese consisted of 50 parishes with 128,000 Catholics. Soon after his installation as bishop, Borders opened a chapter of the Council of Catholic Women.
In 1969, the Apollo 11 moon mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island. According to a diocesan publication, Borders joked to Paul VI that he was now bishop of the moon, citing canon law about newly discovered territories. Also in 1969, Borders established the Catholic Charismatic Commission to serve Charismatic Catholics. In 1971, Borders initiated a ministry for migrant farm workers in Apopka. He also established that year a Catholic committee on Scouting for parishes sponsoring boy scout and girl scout packs.
Former St. Charles Borromeo Cathedral, Orlando, Florida (2016)
During his tenure in Orlando, Borders oversaw the creation of parish councils and education boards, allowed the laity to serve as extraordinary ministers of the eucharist and formed a Sisters' Council for the nuns of the diocese. A Social Services Board correlated the work of already-existing agencies, and developed an educational program aimed at coordinating efforts in Catholic schools, campus ministry, and religious education. Borders also initiated social outreach centers to the poor.
1970 to 1980
In 1974, Paul VI named Borders as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The second bishop of Orlando was Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Grady from the Archdiocese of Chicago, appointed by Paul VI in 1974. Grady converted a diocesan summer camp in Winter Park into the San Pedro Spiritual Development Center. He oversaw the establishment of 18 new parishes.. Grady wrote a weekly column for the Florida Catholic.
Archbishop Wenski (2014)Bishop Noonan (2012)Basilica of Mary, Queen of the Universe, Buena Vista (2016)
During Grady's tenure, the diocese saw significant growth. In 1976, St. Charles Borromeo Church in the College Park section of Orlando, the original cathedral, was destroyed by fire. St. James Church in Orlando was designated as the new cathedral. To provide ministerial outreach to vacationers visiting Walt Disney World and the Lake Buena Vista Resort, Grady created a parish in the Lake Buena Vista area.
In 1984, Grady oversaw the beginning of construction of the Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe in Buena Vista; it was a site closer to the Disney theme parks. The diocese also expanded ministries to migrants and minorities, founded a scholarship program for African American students, and built apartment buildings for the elderly.
The first Catholic Parish in The Villages was St. Timothy, erected to serve the retirees in that community.Grady resigned as bishop of Orlando in 1989. By the time of Grady's retirement as bishop of Orlando in 1990, the Catholic population of the diocese had grown over 76% and the number of parishes had increased by more than a third.
Pope John Paul II in 1990 named Auxiliary Bishop Norbert Dorsey of Miami as the next bishop of Orlando. In August 1993, the diocese dedicated Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine. In 1996, the diocese held a large-scale confirmation ceremony at the Orlando Arena. Over 11,000 people attended the event.
2000 to 2010
The diocese in 2001 purchased the former post office in downtown Orlando for its new chancery.Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Wenski of Miami was selected by John Paul II as coadjutor bishop of Orlando in 2003 to assist Dorsey.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at Wenski's request, designated the Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe as a national shrine in 2004. Dorsey's tenure saw further growth especially due to the growing Hispanic community. Radio Paz and health clinics for migrant and farm workers were established to minister to this community. Bishop Grady Villas in St. Cloud was founded by the diocese in 2004 as a residential community in Orlando for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Today it is part of Magnify of Central Florida. Dorsey retired as bishop of Orlando in November 2004. Wenski automatically succeeded him as bishop or Orlando.
Basilica of St. Paul, Daytona Beach (2016)
Wenski convoked the first synod for the diocese in 2004. During his tenure, Wenski created six new parishes and two mission churches. A capital and endowment campaign raised $100 million. In 2006, Wenski celebrated the designation of St. Paul Church in Daytona Beach as the Basilica of St. Paul.
The Spanish language radio station, Buena Nueva FM, and a newspaper, El Clarin, were also started. The USCCB held their spring convocation in the diocese in 2008. Wenski also designated 2008 as the "Year of Evangelization".
2010 to present
In 2009, the Vatican raised the Mary, Queen of the Universe National Shrine in Orlando to the status of minor basilicas. That same year, the diocese began both a $150 million capital campaign and an extensive renovation of St. James Cathedral in Orlando.
Pope Benedict XVI named Wenski as archbishop of Miami in April 2010. Richard Walsh, pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish in Winter Park, was elected as diocesan administrator of Orlando until the next bishop was installed. Auxiliary Bishop John Noonan of Miami was Wenski's replacement, nominated in October of 2010.
In 2019, referring to the 1969 story about the moon being part of the diocese, a diocesan spokesperson stated that Noonan did not consider himself bishop of the moon or of the International Space Station.
A man set a fire inside Queen of Peace Church in Ocala in July 2020 while the staff was preparing for mass. He first crashed his minivan through the front doors, spilled gasoline on the floor and ignited it, then drove away. The fire was quickly extinguished and no one was injured. The perpetrator, reportedly suffering from schizophrenia, was quickly arrested.
Reports of sex abuse
In November 1985, the families of four boys sued the Diocese of Orlando, claiming sexual abuse by William Authenrieth, associate pastor at St. Mary's Parish in Rockledge. That same year, Bishop Grady permanently removed Authenrieth from ministry; he left the priesthood in 1986. In December 1987, the diocese settled the case with the Rockledge families for $3 million.
In February 1995, a man sued the diocese, saying that he had been sexually abused as a youth by former priest Thomas Pagni. The plaintiff claimed that Pagni, then a mental health counselor in Brevard County, sexually assaulted him for several months in 1992. Pagni was arrested in March 1995 on charges of engaging in sexual activity with a minor and engaging in lewdness. Another victim was added to the criminal case in June 1995. In January 1996, Pagni pleaded no contest to the ten charges against him and was sentenced to ten years in prison.
In 2004, the diocese announced that it had removed from ministry 12 priests accused of committing sex abuse since the founding of the diocese in 1968.
Wladyslaw Gorak (also known as Walter Fisher), pastor of the Church of the Resurrection in South Lakeland, was arrested in October 2004 after breaking down the door at the residence of a female acquaintance and sexually assaulting her. Gorak had transferred to Orlando in 2000 from the Archdiocese of Newark. Despite him having a record of inappropriate behavior with women in Newark, the archdiocese did not mention that to diocesan officials in Orlando. Gorak was sentenced to four years of probation in 2007. The woman later sued the Archdiocese of Newark and received a settlement from them.
Central Deanery (Osceola, Orange, Seminole Counties) – Orlando
The diocese has a sister diocese in La Cucarita in the Dominican Republic. Volunteers from the Diocese of Orlando built two churches and one community center in La Cucarita. The medical mission there helped 2,000 patients in 2007.
Education
Bishop Moore High School
As of 2026, the Diocese of Orlando was operating five high schools, 29 elementary schools, one special education school, and three early childhood centers.
↑"About Us". Diocese of Orlando, Florida. Retrieved 5 May 2022. Mary, the Mother of God, is the patroness of the Diocese of Orlando and we seek her intercession so that our efforts to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, form leaders, harmonize ministries and enkindle deeper faith will be blessed by God.
↑"Documents in Newark Archdiocese Case". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2026-08-29. These documents are part of the case file in a recently settled lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark and Diocese of Orlando, Fla.
↑Other bishops made similar claims, notably Archbishop Terence Cooke who had jurisdiction over the Kennedy Space Center as vicar of the Military Ordinariate. The validity of the bishop's Moon argument has been questioned. In any case, the pope has ultimate authority over diocesan boundaries. Additionally, the issue remains moot as long as the moon is uninhabited.
United States
