SPOKANE, DIOCESI di. - City and diocese in the State of Washington (United States). The diocese of S. (Spokanensis) was erected by Pope Pius X on 17 Dec. 1913 by division from Seattle and is situated in the eastern part of Seattle; it comprises an area of 30,192 miles.
The tribe of the indigenous Spokani was evangelized by Father De Smet and his successors, especially by Fr. G. B. Cataldo (v.), regarded as the founder of the city of S., around 1841, so that a large part of the tribe is Catholic.
The total population of the diocese (1950 census) is 487,172 inhabitants, of whom 49,972 [1951] are Catholics. There are 148 diocesan priests (76 religious: Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits), 50 parishes, 17 chapels, 55 missions, 9 women’s congregations (412 nuns), 41 seminarians, 1 scholasticate (112 Jesuits), the University (Gonzaga University College of Arts, directed by the Jesuits), 1 college, 2 orphanages, and 7 hospitals.