[1][2] The Diocese of Richmond encompasses all of central and southern Virginia, the Hampton Roads area, and the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay.

Attempts to found Catholic settlements in Virginia were made by Lord Baltimore in 1629, and by Captain George Brent in 1687.

During the last quarter of the 18th century, the few Catholic settlers at Aquia Creek near the Potomac, were attended by Reverend John Carroll and other Jesuit missionaries from Maryland.

Reverend Jean Dubois, accompanied by several French priests and letters of introduction from the Marquis de Lafayette, arrived in Norfolk in August 1791. in December 1791, the Virginia General Assembly invited Dubois to celebrate a Mass in the courtroom of the new Virginia State House.

For two years, Dubois mainly celebrated Mass in rented rooms or at the homes of Richmond's few Catholic families.

To end the fighting, Pius VII appointed Kelly as bishop of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore in Ireland in early 1822.

To fill the gap, McGill wrote, "The True Church Indicated to the Inquirer" and "Our Faith, the Victory", republished as "The Creed of Catholics".

[9] McGill died in 1872 and Pius IX named James Gibbons, then vicar apostolic of North Carolina, as the new bishop of Richmond.

Gibbons stayed in Richmond for five years, at which point Pius IX appointed him coadjutor archbishop of Baltimore.

[10] After McGill died in 1872, Pope Leo XIII appointed Reverend John J. Keane of the Archdiocese of Baltimore as the new bishop of Richmond.

In 1889, Leo XIII appointed Monsignor Augustine Van de Vyver as bishop of the Diocese of Richmond.

In 1901, philanthropist Thomas Ryan and his wife donated almost $500,000 to buy the land and construct a new Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond.

[11] With assistance from a donor, Van de Vyver opened an industrial college for African-American boys in Rock Castle, Virginia.

[12] In August 1902, Reverend Joseph Anciaux a Belgian Josephite priest in Virginia wrote a letter to the Congregation of the Propaganda in Rome, condemning acceptance by the U.S. Catholic hierarchy of racial segregation in the United States.

He called it a radical and non-Catholic policy, and accused Van de Vyver personally of timidity in the face of "negro haters".

O'Connell resigned due to bad health in 1926 and Pope Pius XI named Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Brennan of the Diocese of Scranton to replace him.

In 1929, at Brennan's suggestion, the Holy Name Society of Richmond establish the Catholic Laymen's League of Virginia.

[15] Ireton died in 1958 and Pius XI appointed Bishop John Russell from the Diocese of Charleston as his replacement.

[16] A champion of civil rights, he had the parents of prospective students for Richmond's Catholic schools be interviewed for signs of racism.

Kahwajy said that diocesan officials had spread a story that she had covered up sexual abuse of boys at the school by Reverend John Hesch.

Pope John Paul II named Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of the Diocese of Honolulu as Sullivan's replacement in 2004.

DiLorenzo in 2006 forcibly retired Reverend Thomas J. Quinlan, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Virginia Beach for a history of using offensive language during mass.

The situation had culminated with what DiLorenzo termed a sacrilegious reference to Mary, mother of Jesus, by Quinlan at a Christmas Eve mass.

But DiLorenzo responded that he is only 25 minutes away from the diocesan offices and that the move saved the diocese money: "Do I need to live in a three-story building by myself?

According to Michael Boehling, the typical candidate was in his early to mid-20s, and was a college graduate with a degree in history, science or mathematics.

"They are articulate and bright, well-rounded individuals who are mature for their age,"[22] A judge in 2016 dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former diocesan employee.

The diocese had hired John Murphy to serve as executive director of Saint Francis Home in Richmond.

[28] In March 1994, after the suicide death of a 21 year old man, his parents sent a request to the diocese that Reverend John Hesch not participate in the funeral mass.

That request prompted an investigation by the diocese, which revealed allegations by the deceased man that Hesch had sexually molested him during the 1980s when he was a student at St. Benedict School.

[37] In October 2020, Richmond newspapers revealed that the diocese had paid $6.3 million to settle 51 out of 68 claims of sexual abuse.