SALT LAKE, Diocese of. - Diocese and city in the State of Utah (U.S.A.). Suffragan of San Francisco.
It now covers a territory of 84,990 square miles with a total population (1950 census) of 686,839 inhabitants and a Catholic population of 26,165. Thirty-three diocesan priests and 23 religious (Paulists, Trappists, Franciscans, Dominicans, Benedictines) exercise the sacred ministry in the 29 parishes, 15 chapels, and 9 missions. There are 6 female congregations with 175 sisters, and the diocese has 19 seminarians. Among its institutions are colleges, 2 high schools, 1 orphanage, and 2 hospitals. The Diocese of Salt Lake was first erected as an apostolic vicariate on 28 November 1886 for the entire State of Utah and a large part of Nevada; it was then elevated to a diocese on 27 January 1891 and later divided on 27 March 1931, when the Nevada section was incorporated into the Diocese of Reno.
The history of the Catholic Church practically begins when Fr. Scanlan settled in Salt Lake in 1873, the only priest in this territory.