That next year, Henri Roulleaux De la Vente became the first resident priest in the new settlement, under the authority of the Diocese of Quebec in New France.

The British mandated that the French Catholic landowners in Alabama swear allegiance to the Church of England.

[2][4]In 1793, the Vatican erected the Diocese of Louisiana and the Two Floridas centered in New Orleans to serve Catholics in the Spanish colonies.

At the time of his accession, Portier was the only clergyman in the vicariate; he had two churches in Florida and one in Mobile, with an estimated Catholic population of 6,000.

[3] Portier began his administration by riding through his vicariate, offering communion, preaching, and administering the sacraments.

In 1829, Pope Pius VIII erected the Diocese of Mobile, taking the Florida Territory and the new State of Alabama from the vicariate.

[14] Reverend Raymond Boland from the Archdiocese of Washington became the next bishop of Birmingham, named by John Paul II in 1988.

[18][19] On February 8, 2024, the diocese launched a major re-structuring program in which they temporarily passed any diocesan-level activities in the fields of religious education, evangelization, sacred music, and youth protection.

[21] In 2004, four priests accused of sexual abuse who served in the diocese agreed to pay a settlement of $45,000 to eleven of their victims.

He had fathered the boy with Christina Presnell, an EWTN employee, while he was serving as a host of the network's show Life on the Rock between 2001 and 2007.

[23] In 2018, Bishop Baker released a list of six clergy who were accused of committing acts of sex abuse while serving the diocese.