It comprises a territory of approximately 26,685 square miles in northwestern Kansas. It has a population of 337,052 inhabitants, of whom 41,788 are Catholic; it has 99 parishes, served by 85 diocesan priests and 42 religious. In the diocese there are also 2 male and 4 female religious institutes. In 1950 there were 295 conversions.
This territory was elevated to a diocese by Leo XIII on 2 Aug. 1887, by separation from the Diocese of Leavenworth, whose western portion gave rise to two dioceses, Concordia and Wichita, suffragan to St. Louis. Following subsequent boundary adjustments, 31 counties were assigned to the Diocese of Concordia. The diocese is suffragan to St. Louis; the see was transferred to Salina on 23 Dec. 1944.
BIBL.: A. T. Eunis, Concordia, in Cath. Enc., IV, pp. 206-207; Leonis XIII Acta, VII, Rome 1887, pp. 178-80; XVIII, IV, 1902, pp. 209-11; The official cath. directory 1950, New York 1950, pp. 528-30.