Łomża (Łomża), Diocese of (LOMZA (LOMŻA), DIOCESI DI) - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VII, p. 911

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

LOMZA (Lomża), DIOCESE of. - Founded on 10 February 1925 in Poland, suffragan of Wilna. First bishop: Romuald Jalbrzykowski, future archbishop of Wilna.

Area: 13,100 sq. km. Catholics: 580,000. Parishes: 135. Churches: 147, of which 136 are parish churches, served by 229 diocesan priests, assisted by 2 male and 14 female religious communities. No further official information is available (Ann. Pont., 1951, p. 252). During the German occupation, 48 priests perished, whether killed, in prison, or in concentration camps.

Pilgrimage centres: Hodyszewo, Studzieniczna, Wąsewo. L. belonged to the dukes of Masovia; it was founded in 1418, but its origins go back to the 11th century. There is a 16th-century Gothic parish church; an 18th-century church and Capuchin convent. At Ostrołęka there is a parish church of 1399 and a Bernardine church of 1665. L. suffered various destructions as a result of wars and invasions.

BIBL.: M. Baliński-T. Lipiński, Starożytna Polska. I, Warsaw 1844, pp. 525-29; Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego, V, ibid. 1884, pp. 669-714; M. Walicki-J. Starzyński, Dzieje Sztuki Polskiej, Warsaw 1936, pp. 117-19; M. Pirozyński, Statystyka Kościoła katolickiego w Polsce, in Homo Dei, 1946, II, pp. 80-82; id., Seminaria Duchowne w Polsce, ibid., 1984, I, p. 84; id., Ze statystyki Kościoła w Polsce, ibid., 1948, IV, pp. 464-467; V. pp. 578-79; Statystyka strat Kościoła w Polsce, in Intercatholic press agency, 9 March 1949, no. 10, p. 11.

Adam Macieliński