NASHVILLE, DIOCESE of. - In the United States of America. Over an area of 42,022 miles, the diocese of N. now has (1950 census) 3,129,718 inhabitants and 37,852 Catholics. There are 116 diocesan priests and 29 religious. It has 56 parishes, 17 chapels, 30 missions, 96 stations, and 4 hospitals. The Brothers of the Christian Schools have a college for boys and the Sisters of St. Dominic a college for girls.
The diocese of N. was erected by Gregory XVI on 28 July 1837. It resulted from a division of the diocese of Bardstown (now Louisville), which was restricted to the State of Kentucky, while N. covers the State of Tennessee. The first bishop was Msgr. Pio Miles, while Fr. Abell, who had come from Bardstown in 1820, was building the first church in Tennessee. After his first view of the territory of his new diocese, Msgr. Miles declared that he had found no more than 300 Catholics.
The diocese became suffragan of St-Louis on 8 Oct. 1847, and by 1852 already numbered 5,000 Catholics and 9 priests. In 1860 it was the scene of the civil war.