1900 to 1930

On August 6, 1902, Pope Pius X established the diocese as the Diocese of Lead, with territory taken from the Diocese of Sioux Falls.^[5]Lead was a small mining town in South Dakota. The pope named Monsignor John Stariha of the Diocese of Saint Paul as the first bishop of Lead.

During his seven years as bishop, Stariha increased the number of priests in the diocese from 17 to 25 and the number of parishes and missions from 25 to 53.^[6] Due to poor health, he moved from his official residence in Lead to Hot Springs in 1908.^[7] Due to his health, Stariha retired in 1909.

In 1910, Pius X named Joseph Busch of Saint Paul as the second bishop of Lead.^[8] During his tenure, Busch called for the abolition of work on Sundays. His proposal received so much criticism that he was forced to relocate from Lead to Rapid City.^[9] Busch became bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud in 1915.^[8]

Auxiliary Bishop John Lawler of Saint Paul was appointed the third bishop of Lead by Pope Benedict XVin 1916.^[10]

1930 to 1988

Pope Pius XI suppressed the Diocese of Lead on August 1, 1930, replacing it with the Diocese of Rapid City.^[11][12] In 1947, Pope Pius XII named Auxiliary Bishop William McCarty of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA as coadjutor bishop in the diocese to assist Lawler.^[13] When Lawler died in 1948, after 32 years as bishop, he was automatically succeeded by McCarty. McCarty retired in 1969.

The next bishop of Rapid City was Reverend Harold Dimmerling of Saint Cloud, named by Pope Paul VI in 1969.^[14] Dimmerling established a permanent diaconate program and a lay ministry program and ordained the first Native American deacon in the country.^[15] He also set up offices in the diocese for rural life, stewardship and social concerns. He set up a ministry for people who were separated or divorced, and for widows. Dimmerling also established the West River Catholic newspaper. Dimmerling died in 1987.

1988 to present

In 1988, Reverend Charles J. Chaput was appointed bishop of Rapid City by Pope John Paul II.^[16] He was the second priest of Native American ancestry to become a Catholic bishop in the United States. Chaput became archbishop of the Archdiocese of Denver in 1997. John Paul II then named Reverend Blase J. Cupich of the Archdiocese of Omaha to replace Chaput that same year.^[17] As bishop, Cupich banned children from receiving their first holy communion in the Tridentine Mass or being confirmed in the traditional form. In 2002, Cupich prohibited a Traditional Mass community from celebrating the Paschal Triduum liturgies according to the 1962 form of the Roman Rite.^[18] In 2010, Cupich became bishop of the Diocese of Spokane.

Monsignor Robert D. Gruss of the Diocese of Davenport was named the next bishop of Rapid City by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.^[19] In 2017, Gruss opened the cause for the canonization of Lakota medicine man Nicholas Black Elk.^[20] Two years later, Gruss became bishop of the Diocese of Saginaw.

On February 17, 2024 the Diocese of Rapid City announced the passing of the current bishop Reverend Peter Muhich of the Diocese of Duluth, named by Pope Francis in 2020.^[21][22] In March 2020, Reverend Marcin Garbacz was convicted of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax fraud, having stolen $250,000 from parishes in the diocese. He spent some of the money on a Cadillac, artwork and jewelry. Garbacz was sentenced to over seven years in prison with $250,000 in reparations to the diocese.^[23]

Reports of sex abuse

Reverend John Praveen, an priest from India seving in the diocese, was arrested in October 2018 on sex abuse charges.^[24] Praveen was accused of sexually molesting a 13-year-old girl in Sioux City.^[25] Arriving in South Dakota in December 2017, Praveen first worked in Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe reservation, then at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in June 2018.^[24] Praveen pleaded guilty in September 2018 and was sentenced to six years in state prison in March 2019. After his prison release, the US Government was to deport him to India.^[25] In November 2020, Pope Francis laicized Praveen.^[24]

In March 2019, the diocese published a list of 21 Catholic clergy with credible accusation of sexual abuse of minors. This included clergy who served in parishes and church institutions along with the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations from 1951 to 2018.^[26] Bishop Gruss stated that "It is important to acknowledge the horrid truth of past abuse in the church so that we can repent of these actions and to recommit ourselves to ensuring that no one is hurt moving forward."^[27]

In August 2020, an individual contacted the diocese to accuse Monsignor Michel Mulloy, vicar general of the diocese, of sexually abusing them as a minor in the 1980s.^[28] The diocese immediately removed Mulloy from public ministry and a started preliminary investigation. The results led the review board to call for a full investigation. Pope Francis had appointed Mulloy as bishop of Duluth in June 2020, but he hadn't been consecrated yet.^[29] In early September 2020, Mulloy resigned as bishop-elect of Duluth.^[29] In March 2023, the Diocese of Rapid City said that its investigation could not prove the sexual abuse allegation, but that it would not return Mulloy to ministry.^[30]

In November 2020, the diocese reported that federal sex abuse charges were pending against Reverend Marcin Garbacz.^[31] He was already serving a prison sentence for stealing from parishes in the diocese.^[32] In March 2022, Garbacz was sentenced to five years in federal prison for recording a pornographic video of an 11-year-old boy in Poland, the sentence to be served after his release from state prison.^[33]

Bishops of Lead

1. John Stariha (1902–1909)
2. Joseph Francis Busch (1910–1915), appointed Bishop of Saint Cloud
3. John Jeremiah Lawler (1915–1930 see below)

Bishops of Rapid City

1. John Jeremiah Lawler (see above 1930–1948)
2. William Tibertus McCarty, C.Ss.R. (1948–1969)
3. Harold Joseph Dimmerling (1969–1987)
4. Charles Joseph Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. (1988–1997), appointed Archbishop of Denver and later Archbishop of Philadelphia
5. Blase Joseph Cupich (1998–2010), appointed Bishop of Spokane and later Archbishop of Chicago (elevated to Cardinal in 2016)
6. Robert Dwayne Gruss (2011–2019), appointed Bishop of Saginaw
7. Peter Michael Muhich (2020–2024)

Coadjutor bishop

Leo Ferdinand Dworschak (1946-1947), did not succeed to this see; appointed auxiliary bishop of Fargo in 1947

Other diocesan priests who became bishops

• Lawrence Welsh, appointed Bishop of Spokane in 1978
• Steven Biegler, appointed Bishop of Cheyenne in 2017