Dunkeld, Diocese of (DUNKELD, DIOCESI DI) - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IV, p. 1153

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

DUNKELD, DIOCESE of. - In Scotland; it is suffragan to S. Andrea ed Edimburgo, with residence at Dundee. It has an area of 9,505.46 sq. km. and comprises the counties of Angus, Clakmannan, the upper part of Fife, Kinross, and Perth.

It has a population of 353,363 inhabitants, of whom 40,000 are Catholics, with 22 parishes, 49 churches, 42 diocesan priests, and 19 regular clergy (Franciscans and Redemptorists). Moreover, the diocese contains the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Sisters of Charity of S. Vincenzo de' Paoli, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

The constitution of the diocese predates 1115; thirty-five bishops are known from its foundation until 1585, when it became vacant; among them may be recalled Giacomo Kennedy (1438-40), Gavin Douglas (1516-21), and Giovanni Hamilton (1545-47); the last was Roberto Crichton.

The diocese was re-established on 4 March 1878 by Leone XIII, by the bull: Ex supremo apostolatus apice.

Article illustration — (by courtesy of Fr. C. Boll) DUNS SCOTO, GIOVANNI - Portrait of a minister. *Ordinatio*, prologue (14th century) - Rovigo, Biblioteca Silvestrina, cod. 213, f. 1.

The ancient cathedral of D., situated near the river Tay, was begun in 1220 and completed at the end of the 15th century; it was seriously damaged by Roberto II of Scotland (1316-90); subsequently, part of it was converted into a Presbyterian church.

BIBL.: D. O. Hunter-Blair, s. V. in Cath. Enc., V, cols. 193-194; The Catholic Directory, 1948, London 1948, pp. 303-95. Enrico Josi