EDMUNSTON, DIOCESE OF - A city and diocese of Canada erected on 16 Dec. 1944 by Pope Pius XII with the apostolic constitution *Ad animarum bonum*, by separation from the Diocese of Bathurst, as a suffragan of Moncton. It covers an area of 4,957 sq. km. and has a population of 74,342, of whom 44,089 are Catholics (1949). It comprises the counties of Madawaska (with 16 parishes and 3 missions), Victoria (with 4 parishes and 3 missions), and Restigouche (with 4 parishes), for a total of 24 parishes and 13 missions. There are 46 diocesan priests and 28 religious priests, one seminary, and 4 male and female religious communities. The cathedral is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.
Bibl.: AAS, 37 (1945), pp. 177–79; *Le Canada ecclesiastique*, 1949, Montréal 1949, pp. 495–99.