1850 to 1950

In 1850, Pope Pius IX erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains. This vicariate covered all of the Missouri Territory, which then included the Kansas region.^[3] Seven years later, Pius IX create a separate Apostolic Vicariate of Kansas, covering the newly created Kansas Territory.^[4] The first resident pastor within the Wichita area was appointed in 1873.

The Diocese of Leavenworth, covering all of Kansas, was erected in 1877 by Pius IX. He named Reverend Louis Mary Fink as its first bishop.^[4] Kansas grew so rapidly over the next ten years that Fink petitioned the Vatican to establish two new dioceses in the western part of the state. In 1887, Pope Leo XIII created two dioceses out of western Kansas. The northern counties became the Diocese of Concordia and the southern counties the Diocese of Wichita.^[5] The Dodge City area remained part of the Diocese of Wichita for the next 64 years

1950 to present

In 1951, Pope Pius XII erected the Diocese of Dodge City, taking its territory from the Diocese of Wichita.^[6] He named Monsignor John Baptist Franz from the Diocese of Alton as the first bishop of Dodge City.^[7] At that time, Sacred Heart Church in Dodge City became the diocesan cathedral. Pope John XXIII named Franz as bishop of the Diocese of Peoria in 1959.^[7]

In 1960, Monsignor Marion Forst of the Archdiocese of St. Louis was appointed as the second bishop of Dodge City by John XXIII.^[8] During his tenure, he established the following new offices and ministries:

• Catholic Social Service
• The Office of Religious Education
• The Family Life Office
• Religious Education for the Handicapped
• The Southwest Kansas Register diocesan newspaper
• The Office of Mexican American Affairs
• The Youth/Young Adults Office^[9]

Pope Paul VI named Forst as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City in 1976.

To replace Forst, Monsignor Eugene Gerber from the Diocese of Wichita was appointed the third bishop of Dodge City by Paul VI in 1976. In 1982, Pope John Paul II named Gerber as bishop of Wichita.^[10] In 1983, John Paul II appointed Auxiliary Bishop Stanley Girard Schlarman of the Diocese of Belleville as the fourth bishop of Dodge City.^[11] During his tenure in Dodge City, Schlarman recruited Burmese, Filipino, and Vietnamese priests; established a diocesan vocations office, a pastoral council, and an office of aging and parenting; and promoted the pastoral ministry training program and Cursillo movement.^[12] Schlarman retired in 1998.

Monsignor Ronald Michael Gilmore of the Diocese of Wichita was named bishop of Dodge City by John Paul II in 1998.^[13] A new cathedral, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe, was consecrated in 2001. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of the diocese.^[14] Gilmore retired in 2010.

As of 2023, the bishop of the Diocese of Dodge City is John Brungardt from Wichita. He was named by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.

Sex abuse

In February 2019, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) announced that it had been investigating sex abuse allegations against all the Catholic dioceses in Kansas since November 2018. On August 14, 2020, KBI spokeswoman Melissa Underwood stated, "As of Aug. 7, we have had 205 reports of abuse and have opened 120 cases."^[15]

In October 2019, the diocese released a list of ten priests and two seminarians with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors.^[16]

In February 2021, the KBI notified Bishop Brungardt that he was under investigation for sexual abuse of a minor. Denying the accusations, he immediately suspended his episcopal duties and the Vatican instructed Archbishop Joseph Fred Naumann to start a canonical investigation.^[17] Bishop Gerald Lee Vincke from the Diocese of Salina was appointed as apostolic administrator to run the diocese during the investigation.^[18] Brungardt was cleared of the accusation against him by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome in March 2022. There were no criminal charges.^[19]

Bishops of Dodge City

• John Baptist Franz (1951-1959), appointed Bishop of Peoria
• Marion Francis Forst (1960-1976), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Kansas City in Kansas
• Eugene John Gerber (1976-1982), appointed Bishop of Wichita
• Stanley Girard Schlarman (1983-1998)
• Ronald Michael Gilmore (1998-2010)
• John Balthasar Brungardt (2011–present)