The pope named Reverend Henry Grimmelsman, rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio, as its first bishop.

[1] At the time of its founding, the diocese included five deaneries, 63 parishes and missions; it had a population of 49,737 Catholics, and 75 diocesan priests.

The diocese purchased the John Augustus Reitz Home in Evansville from the Daughters of Isabella for use as the chancery and bishop's residence.

[1] The diocese grew rapidly after World War II; 12 new parishes were founded between 1944 and 1962 in the Evansville suburbs, Jasper, Fort Branch and Bloomfield.

The pope appointed Monsignor Francis Shea of the Diocese of Nashville as Leibold's replacement in Evansville.

The diocese also made these changes: When Shea retired in 1989, Pope John Paul II named Monsignor Gerald Gettelfinger of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis as the next bishop of Evansville.

Although the number of priests continued to decrease, the diocese began to ordain several large classes of permanent deacons.

Pope John Paul II High School opened in Jasper in 2009, but closed in 2012 due to low enrollment.

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI named Monsignor Charles C. Thompson of the Archdiocese of Louisville as the fifth bishop of the diocese, replacing Gettelfinger.

[1] Pope Francis appointed Thompson as archbishop of Indianapolis in 2017 and replaced him in Evansville with Auxiliary Bishop Joseph M. Siegel from the Diocese of Joliet.

Bishop Evans in February 2019 released a list of ten clerics in the diocese who faced credible accusations of sexual assault against minors.

[6] In August 2019, the diocese notified the Evansville Police Department about an accusation of sexual abuse dating back to the 1980s.

[7] In 2007, Reverend Fredy Mendez-Morales had sex with a developmentally disabled young woman at a youth camp run by the diocese.

[8][9] In March 2022, Reverend Bernie Etienne of Holy Rosary Parish in Evansville was suspended from ministry while the diocese investigated an allegation of sexual abuse from the early 2000s.

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