The Diocese of Lansing encompasses an area of 6,218 square miles (16,100 km2) including the counties of Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Hillsdale, Ingham, Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Shiawassee and Washtenaw.

In 1763, the Michigan area became part of the British Province of Quebec, forbidden from settlement by American colonists.

In 1808, Pope Pius VII erected the Diocese of Bardstown in Kentucky, with jurisdiction over the new Michigan Territory.

[2]Pope Gregory XVI formed the Diocese of Detroit in 1833, covering the entire Michigan Territory.

Albers, still suffering from lungs weakened from poison gas in World War I, collapsed at the scene and had to be rescued by firefighters.

[12] Monsignor Carl Mengeling from the Diocese of Gary was named bishop of Lansing that same year by Pope John Paul II.

[19] In January 2021, the diocese instituted a new policy for schools, parishes, and charities regarding the biological sex of students, parishioners and others.

This policy included direction on the use of pronouns and requirements that bathrooms and sports be segregated according to biological sex.

The policy also required school officials to avoid participating in the administration of hormonal treatment of students that was designed to alter their sexual characteristics.

The diocese recommended that transgender individuals visit counselors who "hold a correct Christian anthropology of the human person and understand and adhere to Catholic teaching.

"[20] In 2022, St. John's Parish sued Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, claiming that the Michigan Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act, which deals with discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, violated the church's constitutional rights.

[23] Reverend Vincent DeLorenzo from Flint was charged by the Michigan Department of Attorney General in May 2019 with six counts of first- and second-degree sexual misconduct.

[27] The diocese in September 2019 published a list of 17 clergy with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors dating back to 1937.

[28] In September 2020, Joseph Comperchio, a former teacher at St. John Catholic School in Jackson, was arrested in Fort Myers, Florida.