WICHITA, Diocese of. - Diocese and city in the State of Kansas and in the ecclesiastical province of St. Louis (United States of America).
The area of W. is 42,915 miles; in 1952 it had a total population of 704,721 inhabitants, of whom 45,468 were Catholics. There are 175 diocesan priests and 19 religious (5 congregations), 105 parishes, one male congregation and two female ones, 59 seminarians, 1 classical college, 1 orphanage, 16 hospitals.
The diocese of W. was erected on 2 Aug. 1887 by the splitting off of that of Leavenworth. There were then 16 priests with churches of their own, 23 mission churches, 9 parish schools and about 8,000 Catholics. The first bishop, Msgr. James O'Reilley, a priest of Topeka, Kansas, died before his consecration, and Msgr. Joseph John Hennessy succeeded him. The city of W., whose name comes from the native Wichita tribe, had 20,000 inhabitants at the time of the founding of the diocese.
In 1897 (1 July), by apostolic letters, the boundaries of the diocese were changed and 14 counties were added.
BIVL.: John J. Hennessy, s. v. in Cath. Enc., XV, pp. 616; Th. Boemer, The Catholic Church in the United States, St. Louis-London 1950, p. 283; The Official Catholic Directory 1951, New York 1951, pp. 608-11; Ann. Pont. 1955, p. 454. Gastone Carrière