PLOCK, DIOCESE of. — City and diocese in Poland, founded in 1000–50. Now a suffragan diocese of Warsaw, until 1818 of Gnesna. The first (certain) bishop was Paschalis, who died in 1057.
The diocese has an area of 14,616 sq. km., with 810,000 inhabitants, of whom 800,000 are Catholics, distributed among 228 parishes served by 275 diocesan priests and 38 religious priests; it has a major and a minor seminary, 8 religious houses for men and 50 for women. During the last war, 33 churches were destroyed, 5 of them of historical value, and 32 were damaged; many diocesan priests also perished. The pilgrimage centers are: Skepe, Koziebrody, Sw. Rozalia, Sw. Miejsce, Zuromin.
The diocese of P., or of Masovia, is one of the oldest in Poland. Among the more notable churches are the cathedral of Our Lady and of S. Sigismondo, dating from 1144, rebuilt in 1531–50 on the site of the ancient one; the church of S. Adalberto, from the 12th century; that of S. Bartolomeo, from the 14th century; that of S. Maria Maddalena, from the 12th century; the cloister and abbey of the Benedictines, dating from around 1270; and the cloister of the Dominicans, from 1235. The Seminary was founded in 1708 and the hospital of the Holy Trinity in 1403 by the dukes of Masovia. The Institute of Higher Education was founded in 1483 by Bishop Piotr z. Chotkowa and the duke of Masovia Janusz; J. Gorski (1525–85), theologian and rector of the Academy of Cracow, taught there.
Among the eminent bishops, the following should be remembered: Stefan, who died in 1099; A. Dolega, who died in 1155; W. Roch, murdered in 1172, in the odor of sanctity; Gedeon, who died in 1223; J. Kurdwanowski, who died in 1425; R. Leszczynski, who died in 1527; A. Noskowski (1492–1567); W. Baranowski (1548–1606), future primate; S. Lubienski (1573–1642); H. A. Szeptycki, who assumed the title of prince of Pultusk and died in 1773; M. Nowodworski (1831–96), author of an Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia; and A. Nowowiejski (1858–1941), killed in a concentration camp. The archbishop of Gnesna was natus canon of the Cathedral of P.; as such, he possessed the principality of Lowicz. The second permanent canon was the abbot of the Lateran Canons of Czerwinski, whose college was founded in 1117. In Pultusk there are the church of Our Lady, from 1449, the collegiate church, the Episcopal Palace of 1522, the Seminary of 1594, the Municipal Palace of 1405, and the Jesuit College of 1566.