GRAND RAPIDS, DIOCESE of. - City in the State of Michigan (United States of America): erected by Leo XIII on 12 May 1882 through the division of the diocese of Detroit. Among the rural population many had emigrated from Belgium, Holland, some from Iceland, and later from Poland.
Its first bishop was Msgr. H. J. Richter. It comprises the following counties: Allegan, Antrim, Barry, Benzie, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Clare, Crawford, Grand Traverse, Emmet, Ionia, Isabella, Kalkaska, Kent, Lake, Lellanau, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Missaukee, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola, Otsego, Ottawa, Roscommon, Wexford. It has an area of 42,839 sq. km., with a population of 1,188,277 inhabitants, of whom 107,920 are Catholics, distributed among 109 parishes, 74 chapels, 57 missions, 166 diocesan priests and 38 regular clergy; one seminary (St Joseph), 5 male and 13 female religious communities; there is also a college, 33 diocesan and parochial High Schools, and 63 parochial elementary schools; in 1946 there were 628 conversions. The Cathedral is dedicated to St Andrew. The diocese is a suffragan of Detroit.