Diocese of Tarnów
Tarnovien(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Tarnów, Poland
Latin-rite diocese in southern Poland, canonically erected 13 March 1786 with its see in Tarnow. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Krakow and is noted as the most religious diocese in Poland, with the country's highest Sunday Mass attendance. Its mother church is the Cathedral Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Tarnow.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 13 March 1786
- Latin
- Tarnovien(sis)
- Annuario code
- 001003178
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 1,111,080
- Population
- 1,111,907
- Catholic share
- 99.9%
- Priests
- 1,415
- Catholics per priest
- 785
- Extent
- 7,566 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 147
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Bishop
- Andrzej Jez
- Born
- 3 May 1963
- Birthplace
- Limanowa
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
Cathedral Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tarnow stands in Tarnów, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Krakow
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Krakow.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of Bielsko–ŻywiecBielsko–Żywiec
- Diocese of KielceKielce
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
By the measure of Church statistics, no diocese in Poland is more religious than Tarnów (Latin: Dioecesis Tarnoviensis), a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church, with weekly Mass attendance of 72.5%. The latest figures, published in December 2025, again put it first in the country for Sunday Massgoers at 62.3%, well ahead of the next highest dioceses, Rzeszów at 52.4% and Przemyśl at 50.0%.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].