PŁOCK, Diocese of. - City and diocese in Poland, founded in 1000-50. It is now a suffragan of Warsaw, and until 1818 of Gniezno. The first (certain) bishop was Paschalis, d. in 1057.
The diocese has an area of 14,616 sq km with 810,000 inhabitants, of whom 800,000 are Catholics, distributed in 228 parishes served by 275 diocesan priests and 38 regulars; it has a higher and a lower seminary, 8 male and 50 female religious houses. During the last war 33 churches were destroyed, 5 of them of historical value, and 32 damaged, and many diocesan priests 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 most notable churches are remembered the cathedral of Our Lady and St. Sigismund of 1144, rebuilt in 1531-50 in place of the ancient one; the church of St. Adalbert of the 12th century; that of St. Bartholomew of the 14th century; of St. Mary Magdalene of the 12th century; the cloister and abbey of the Benedictines ca. 1270; the cloister of the Dominicans of 1235. The Seminary was founded in 1708 and the hospital of the Most Holy Trinity in 1403 by the dukes of Masovia. The higher institute of education was founded in 1483 by Bishop Piotr z Chotkowa and by the duke of Masovia Janusz; J. Gorski (1525-85), theologian and rector of the Academy of Krakow, taught there.
Among the eminent bishops are to be remembered: Stefan, d. in 1099; A. Dolega, d. in 1155; W. Roch, murdered in 1172, in the odor of sanctity; Gedeon, d. in 1223; J. Kurdwanowski, d. in 1425; R. Leszczynski, d. in 1527; A. Noskowski (1492-1567); W. Baranowski (1548-1606), future primate; S. Lubienski (1573-1642); H. A. Szeptycki, who took the title of prince of Pultusk, d. in 1773; M. Nowodworski (1831-96), author of an Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia; A. Nowowiejski (1858-1941), killed in a concentration camp. Natus canon of the Cathedral of P. was the archbishop of Gniezno, who as such possessed the principality of Lowicz; the second permanent canon was the abbot of the Lateran Canons of Czerwinski, whose college was founded in 1117. At Pultusk there are the church of Our Lady, of 1449, the collegiate church, the episcopal Palace of 1522, the Seminary of 1594, the municipal Palace of 1405, and the College of the Jesuits of 1566.
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Adam Macielinski