[2] The Diocese of Sacramento contains the following counties: Siskiyou, Modoc, Trinity, Shasta, Lassen, Tehama, Plumas, Glenn, Butte, Sierra, Colusa, Sutter, Yuba, Nevada, Yolo, Placer, Solano, Sacramento, El Dorado, and Amador.

The first Catholic mass in northern California was celebrated in 1850 by Peter Anderson in a private home in Sacramento.

One of the attendees that day was California Governor Peter Burnett, who later donated to Anderson a property in Sacramento for a new church.

In 1860, the Vatican erected the Vicariate Apostolic of Marysville, with jurisdiction over all of northern California and western Nevada.

The Catholic population, centered in mining towns and farming communities, would rise and fall as economic conditions changed in them.

The new diocese covered the eastern section of northern California (excluding the coastal counties) and western Nevada.

The next bishop of Sacramento was Robert Armstrong of the Diocese of Spokane, appointed by Pope Pius XI in 1929.

[16] In his five years as bishop, McGucken authorized, built or approved for development nine parishes, three high schools, 33 new church buildings and one minor seminary.

In December 1991, after Sacramento police started investigating Gerardo Beltran Rico on charges of sexual abuse of minors earlier that year, he fled to Mexico.

[21][22] In March 2007, Hector Rubio sued the diocese, accusing it of negligence in allowing Beltran to molest him.

In 2002, one of the original accusers, known as John Doe, sued the diocese, claiming that Garcia had sexually abused him from 1970 to 1975.

[26] The Diocese of Sacramento in 2005 agree to pay a $35 million settlement to 33 victims of sexual abuse by diocesan clergy.

He pleaded guilty to one count of sexual intercourse and was sentenced in August 2014 to 90 days in jail and three years of probation.

[30] In April 2019, the Diocese of Sacramento provided the names of 46 priests and deacons who were credibly accused of sexually abusing 130 minors and adults, ages 25 or younger, from 1950 to 2019.

[32][33] In February 2023, the diocese reported that it was facing over 200 lawsuits relating to sexual abuse by clergy or scouting leaders.

[37] Richard Brendan Higgins, appointed auxiliary bishop of the US military in 2004 The Diocese of Sacramento has over 150 parish and mission churches in its 20 counties.