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March 28, 2024

Catholic Church designates Las Vegas a metropolitan archdiocese

Inter-Faith Prayer Service For Oct. 1

Steve Marcus

Bishop George Leo Thomas speaks during an interfaith prayer service at Guardian Angel Cathedral Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018.

Updated Tuesday, May 30, 2023 | 9:39 a.m.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas is becoming a metropolitan archdiocese, with Bishop George Leo Thomas being named the initial metropolitan archbishop of Las Vegas, the Vatican announced this morning.

Pope Francis created a new ecclesiastical province in the United States — the first since Houston in 2004 — to elevate Las Vegas to archdiocese status.

There are 35 metropolitan archdioceses in the United States.

“This speaks to the tremendous growth and vibrancy of the local faith and the commitment of the women and men that serve in leadership, including our priests,” Thomas said in a statement. “I am deeply honored and humbled by this significant recognition by the Pope.”

An ecclesiastical province consists of at least one archdiocese and several smaller dioceses, with the dioceses of Reno and Salt Lake City now part of the Archdiocese of Las Vegas.

The Diocese of Las Vegas was created 28 years ago, said Thomas, who has served as the bishop of the Las Vegas diocese since 2018.

As the city experienced a population boom, the diocese has grown by leaps and bounds with new churches built in many corners of the community. There are about 620,000 Catholics in metro Las Vegas.

“Being created an Archdiocese by Pope Francis at this moment in Las Vegas history certainly reflects the Holy Father’s confidence in the spiritual leadership of this Church under Archbishop Thomas these past five years,” Bishop Gregory Gordon, the auxiliary bishop of Las Vegas, said in a statement. “Las Vegas has grown in many ways since we first became a Diocese in 1995, in population, and in size.”

Thomas next month will travel to Rome to receive a special vestment blessed by Pope Francis, called the pallium. The pallium is worn on the shoulders by archbishops, representing those in their care. It symbolizes sheep being carried on the shoulders of the shepherd, officials said.