[5] Pope Pius IX in 1850 erected the Vicariate Apostolic of Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains.

This huge jurisdiction contained the present-day states of Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana.

The first Catholic presence in the present-day diocese was that of priest providing services to workers building the original Union Pacific Railroad along the Platte River.

[17] During his tenure in Grand Island, Hunkeler ordained 16 priests, and oversaw a large increase in the construction of new churches and other religious institutions.

[19][7] To replace Hunkeler, Pius XII appointed Reverend John Paschang of Omaha to serve in Grand Island.

[21] After Paschang's retirement in 1972, Pope Paul VI selected Monsignor John Joseph Sullivan of Omaha as the next bishop in Grand Island.

[22] Paul VI replaced Sullivan in Grand Island with Reverend Lawrence McNamara of Kansas City-St. Joseph in 1978.

[24] As of October 2024, the bishop of the Diocese of Grand Island is Joseph G. Hanefeldt of Omaha, named by Pope Francis in 2015.

[25] Reverend Mark Maresh from Immaculate Conception Parish in Elm Creek was arrested in June 2006 on charges of exposing himself to a woman and her two young children.

[27] In January 2019, Reverend John Kakkuzhiyil was arrested for first-degree sexual assault on a woman by the Nebraska State Patrol.