CULMA, DIOCESI di. — In Poland (Polish Chelmno), founded in 1218, organized in 1243 by Guglielmo, bishop of Modena and papal legate of Innocent IV. Suffragan of Gnesna (Gniezno); from 1255 suffragan of Riga, and from 1466 once again of Gnesna. Episcopal residence at Chelmno, from 1251 at Chelmża, and from 1821 at Pelplin. First bishop: Krystyn da Oliwa.
Area: 16,500 sq. km. Catholics: 1,588,000. Parishes: 339. Churches: 469, of which: parish churches: 339; filial churches: 14; convent churches: 4; chapels: 112. Diocesan priests: 390, of whom: bishops, 1; parish priests and administrators: 280; vicars: 48; catechists: 25. Priests from other dioceses: 49. Religious priests: 94. Women religious: 579. Seminarians: 167; religious houses: male, 17; female, 85. Institutions of instruction and education: male: 4; female: 3. Charitable, welfare, and healthcare institutions: 59. Churches destroyed: 10; damaged: 110; permanently closed: 60. Pilgrimage centers: Piaseczno, Chelmno, Chelmoniec, Rywald, Sianowo, Swarzewo, Wejherowo, Wiele. At Pelplin, a Gothic cathedral dating from 1258; at Chelmno, a former Gothic cathedral of the fourteenth century; at Toruń, the Gothic church of Our Lady, dating from 1350–70, the Gothic church of S. Giacomo, dating from 1309–40, and the church of S. Giovanni, dating from 1250; at Chelmża, the church of S. Croce, from the fifteenth century, in place of the former one from the thirteenth century. Notable bishops: Wibold de Velstey (d. 1400), Paolo a Grabowy (d. 1479); Pietro Kostka (d. 1595), Andrea Stanislao Kostka Zaluski, founder of the Zaluski Library in Warsaw together with his brother, bishop of Kiev (1695–1758).
Adam Macieliński