PLOCK, DIOCESE OF. - A city and diocese in Poland, founded between 1000 and 1050. Now a suffragan of Warsaw, it was previously under Gniezno until 1818. The first certain bishop was Paschalis, who died in 1057.
The diocese covers an area of 14,616 km² with 810,000 inhabitants, of whom 800,000 are Catholic. These are distributed across 228 parishes served by 275 diocesan priests and 38 religious priests. The diocese has an upper and lower seminary, 8 male religious houses, and 50 female religious houses. During the last war, 33 churches were destroyed, including 5 of historical value, and 32 were damaged; many diocesan priests also perished. Pilgrimage centers include Skepe, Koziebrody, Św. Rozalia, Św. Miejsce, and Żuromin.
The Diocese of Płock, or of Masovia, is one of the oldest in Poland. Among the most notable churches are the cathedral of Our Lady and St. Sigismund, dating to 1144 and rebuilt between 1531 and 1550 in place of the ancient structure; the church of St. Adalbert from the 13th century; that of St. Bartholomew from the 14th century; St. Mary Magdalene from the 12th century; the monastery and abbey of the Benedictines, circa 1270; and the Dominican monastery of 1235. The seminary was founded in 1708, and the hospital of the Most Holy Trinity was established in 1403 by the Dukes of Masovia. The higher institute of learning was founded in 1483 by Bishop Piotr z Chotkowa and Duke Janusz of Masovia; among its teachers was J. Gorski (1525–85), theologian and rector of the Academy of Kraków.
Among the eminent bishops are: Stefan, who died in 1099; A. Dolega, who died in 1155; W. Roch, martyred in 1172 and considered a saint; Gedeon, who died in 1223; J. Kurdwanowski, who died in 1425; R. Leszczyński, who died in 1527; A. Noskowski (1492–1567); W. Baranowski (1548–1606), later Primate; S. Lubieński (1573–1642); H. A. Szepieycki, who took the title of Prince of Pułtusk and died in 1773; M. Nowodworski (1831–96), author of an Ecclesiastical Encyclopedia; and A. Nowowiejski (1858–1941), killed in a concentration camp. The *canonicus natus* of the Cathedral of Płock was the Archbishop of Gniezno, who as such possessed the principality of Łowicz; the second permanent canon was the abbot of the Lateran Canons of Czerwińsk, whose college was founded in 1117. In Pułtusk there is the church of Our Lady from 1449, the collegiate church, the episcopal palace from 1522, the seminary from 1594, the town hall from 1405, and the Jesuit college from 1566.