WORCESTER, DIOCESE of. — City and diocese in the State of Massachusetts. The diocese of W., suffragan of Boston, was erected by Pius XII, by the apostolic constitution Ad animarum bonum sotius provehendum of 14 January 1950, through the dismemberment of Springfield (Campionis).
W. County, which constitutes the diocese, has an area of 1,582 sq. km. and a total population of 541,247 inhabitants, of whom 263,514 are Catholics. There are 255 diocesan priests, 160 religious from 8 different congregations, 114 parishes, 1,141 Sisters (21 different congregations), 2 colleges: «Assumption College», directed by the Assumptionists, and «Holy College of the Holy Ghost», directed by the Jesuits, 3 orphanages, and 1 hospital.
BIBL.: AAS, 42 (1950), pp. 423-25; The Official Catholic Directory 1951, Nuova York 1951, pp. 619-22; Ann. Pont. 1953, p. 4. Gastone Carrière