KATOWICE, DIocese of. — Founded in 1925 as a suffragan of Kraków, comprising the territories of Upper Silesia, an industrial center of Poland. Its first bishop was August Hlond, later Primate of Poland and cardinal.
Area: 4,216 sq. km. Catholics: 1,209,000. Parishes: 227. Parish churches: 248; branch churches: 30; convents: 15; chapels: 184. Diocesan priests: 371, plus priests from the dioceses of Lwów, Łuck, Pińsk, Wilno, occupied by the Soviets, and from other dioceses. Regular priests: 111. Religious sisters: 1,651. Male religious houses: 26 with 55 members; female: 149 with 1,618 members. Seminaries: 66. Male educational institutions: 18 with 811 pupils; female: 24 with 1,721 pupils. Charitable, assistance, and care institutions: 110, with 8,910 residents. Of the diocesan clergy, 43 died during the German occupation, some massacred, others in prison or concentration camps. Pilgrimage centers: Piekary Śląskie and Pszów.