Neosolio (Slovak Banská Bystrica), Diocese of

NEOSOLIO (Slovak Banska Bystrica), DIOCESE of. - Diocese in Slovakia, erected on 13 March 1776 by detaching it from the territory of the archdiocese of Strigonia, of which it remained a suffragan until 1937, when it was made immediately subject to the Holy See.

The church of St. Francis Xavier of the Jesuit College, then left vacant after the suppression of the Society of Jesus, was chosen as cathedral. The bishops, however, resided in the castle of Svätý Križ nad Hronom until 1943, when the new bishop A. Skrabík transferred the

residence to N. Of the bishops of N., the most illustrious is Stefano Moyses (1850–69). In the diocese is the Marian sanctuary of Staré Hory, where the “Madonna of the Slovak mountains” is venerated.

Statistics (1948): area 5,424 sq. km.; Catholics 231,078 out of 312,350 inhabitants; parishes 119; diocesan priests 202; male religious houses 7, with 60 religious; female religious houses 17, with 303 religious women.