Welcome to the Diocese of Charleston, a territory full of history and heart that covers the entire state of South Carolina. The diocese was established on July 11, 1820, by His Holiness Pope Pius VII making it the seventh oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the United States.

The Diocese of Charleston encompasses all 32,020 square miles of South Carolina. When it was established in 1820, it covered all of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. We are now part of the Province of Atlanta, which is comprised of five dioceses within the tri-state region.

The total population of South Carolina exceeds 5.2 million, of which an estimated 10% are Catholic. We have 95 parishes, 21 missions, 32 diocesan schools — which includes 5 high schools — and one private schools. Our clergy and religious sisters are a local and worldwide representation of the answer to the Baptismal call to minister, serve and evangelize.

Our patron saint is John the Baptist, and like that voice crying out in the wilderness, our laity have been called to share the message of salvation. Through God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit we can be saved from meaninglessness, emptiness and despair to experience truth, meaning and hope.

On behalf of Most Rev. Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS, the 14th bishop of the diocese, your brothers and sisters in Christ welcome you to our website with the hopes that you will become a part of this life-giving community. Sustained in the Holy Spirit, we pray that your hearts may be filled to join us in sharing the Good News (the Gospel) of Christ, Our Lord and Savior.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston is dedicated to the Church’s mission to save souls and to proclaim the Word of God in South Carolina. As ministers of the Word, we strive to promote a culture that works toward the common good, the dignity of every human person, the sacredness of all life, and the transcendentals of truth, goodness and beauty. The diocese provides quality education to our youth, outreach and ministry to those in need, and the holy Sacraments, which are the fonts of sanctifying grace.

The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus Christ, and it has endured for over 2,000 years. Though made up of individual members, the collective Church acts to build up the Kingdom of God on earth through faith and good works.

Pope Francis said in Evangelii Gaudium (the Joy of the Gospel):

The Church is called to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide open. One concrete sign of such openness is that our church doors should always be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door… Everyone can share in some way in the life of the Church; everyone can be part of the community… This is especially true of the sacrament which is itself ‘the door : baptism… the Church is not a tollhouse; it is the house of the Father, where there is a place for everyone, with all their problems.’

To learn more about the Catholic faith, please read The Catechism of the Catholic Church, or consider joining The Catechism in Year podcast offered by Ascension Press.

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