Pope Pius IX split the Diocese of Monterey in 1853, erecting the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Francisco.

[13] During his 14-year tenure, Clinch implemented the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, ordained 22 priests, and established five new parishes.

[15] Shubsda was widely regarded as an expert on labor issues and social justice, and earned a reputation as an outspoken advocate of farm and factory workers in the diocese.

[17] His actions prompted labor leader César Chávez to remark, "The church has many flaws, but in many ways it is still the best friend we have.

"[16] Shubsda hosted John Paul II's visit to the Monterey Peninsula in 1987, and actively promoted the beatification of Junípero Serra.

He was succeeded by Auxiliary Bishop Richard John Garcia of the Diocese of Sacramento, named by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.

The accuser said that Kareta, then serving at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Pismo Beach, molested him as an 11-year-old altar boy in the summers of 1972 and 1973.

[21] The diocese was sued in March 2003 by a San Luis Obispo man who claimed to have been sexually assaulted in the early 1970s by Reverend Orlando Battagliola.

Cortes was convicted in March 2012 of felony charges of sodomy involving a minor and possession of child pornography and sentenced to one year in prison.

[25] The diocese paid a $1.2 million settlement in June 2009 to a man from Yuma, Arizona, who had been sexually assaulted by two priests in Salinas when he was a child.