TIRASPOL, DIOCESE OF. - A suffragan see of Mohilew, it comprises southern Russia from the Dniester almost as far as the Ural River.
The diocese was established on 3 July 1848. Its see was previously at Cherson; but in fact the bishop resided at Saratov (from M. N. Kelly, *Russia*, London 1952, fig. 61) until 1917, when he moved to Odessa.
The faithful of the diocese (about 390,000 in 1914, divided into 100 parishes with 179 priests) suffered greatly under the Bolshevik regime, and their numbers declined considerably. In 1926 the diocese was divided into five apostolic administrations; but this new arrangement proved ineffective, since the administrators were arrested or sent into exile. Today the diocese is completely devastated, with no churches and no priests.