SIEDLCE, DIOCESE of. - City and diocese in Poland. It has an area of 14,300 sq. km., with a population of 784,300 inhabitants, of whom 740,188 are Catholics, distributed among 264 parishes, served by 331 diocesan and 26 regular priests; it has two seminaries, 7 male and 44 female religious communities (Ann. Pont. 1952, p. 379).
Founded in 1818 by the bull of Pius VII Ex imposita nobis, it arose from the dismemberment of parts of the dioceses of Chełm, Cracovia, Poznan, Płock, and Łuck, which from 1805 to 1818 formed Lublino (v.). The episcopal see was at Janów Podlaski and Biskupi. First bishop: Feliks Łukasz na Lewinie Lewiński (1750-1825). By decree of the Russian government in 1867, the diocese of Podlachia was suppressed and remained under the administration of the bishops of Lublino. It was re-established in 1925, with its episcopal see at S. Suffragan of Varsavia. First bishop: Henryk Przeździecki.
Podlachia and the Land of Chełm were the object, especially in 1865-75, of cruel religious persecutions by Russia, which aroused a profound echo throughout the world (v. LUBLINO). At S. the church of S. Stanislao dates from 1740, the Municipal Palace from the 18th century, and the palace known as “Aleksandria” from the 18th century. At Janów Podlaski or Biskupi, the collegiate church of the Most Holy Trinity dates from the 15th century. The church of the Dominicans dates from the 18th century, and the Seminary from 1685. At Kodeń the parish church dates from the 15th century; the miraculous image of the Madonna is venerated there.