Naming conventions for dioceses

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I notice in the Episcopal Church some dioceses are named after a city (Diocese of Rochester) while others are named after a state, or part of a state (Diocese of Western New York).
In the Catholic Church, why are all dioceses named after a city? For instance any American knows where the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island is, but hardly anyone beyond the NY area would know where the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Center is, though it is large.
Is a Catholic diocese named after the city where the cathedral is, where the bishop lives,
or where the chancery or the bishop’s office is? They might not be the same city. I believe there have been a few dioceses renamed because some other city grew much faster than original see city (is that the correct term?), but what does define the “see city”?
 
Not all diocese are named for a city. For example, the Diocese of Orange in California is named for the county.
 
commenter said:
I notice in the Episcopal Church some dioceses are named after a city (Diocese of Rochester) while others are named after a state, or part of a state (Diocese of Western New York).
In the Catholic Church, why are all dioceses named after a city? For instance any American knows where the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island is, but hardly anyone beyond the NY area would know where the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Center is, though it is large.
Is a Catholic diocese named after the city where the cathedral is, where the bishop lives,
or where the chancery or the bishop’s office is? They might not be the same city. I believe there have been a few dioceses renamed because some other city grew much faster than original see city (is that the correct term?), but what does define the “see city”?
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I think it is named after the city with the cathedral or in some cases Cathedrals (I know some diocese have two, and are hyphenated, such as Kansas City-St Joseph, and Springfield-Cape Girardeau). I do know some diocese’s do change their names though. I know in my state of Nebraska the Grand Island Diocese was originally the Diocese of Kearney, but I think it had something to do with moving Grand Island into the Kearney Diocese from Omaha, and since Grand Island was larger, it became the diocese for Western NE.

I don’t think being the largest city in a diocese means it has to move though. I know many diocese’s like this. I know the Archdiocese of Dubuque is not the largest city in its diocese. I know there are also a few diocese’ in Minnesota where the cathedral city isn’t the largest city. I think it just depends where the Cathedral was built when the diocese was formed.

My question would be if a diocese could move its Cathedral to another city in its diocese
 
They are named for a city because, very often in Mediaeval Europe, most dioceses were confined to city sized areas. Look at Italy, where there are absolutely loads of itty bitty little dioceses. Dioceses were and are coterminous with the cities. Nowadays in other parts of the world, including the US, the dioceses are much bigger, which has pros and cons, but we retain the practice of naming them after whatever is their “See city,” that is, wherever the cathedral is, usually.
 
Elizium23 said:
You mean the diocese whose headquarters are located on 2811 East Villa Real Drive, Orange, CA? I am pretty sure that all dioceses, in the United States at least, are named for a city.
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In the United States, some dioceses of the Eastern Catholic Church are named for saints. For example, the Eparchy (Diocese) of St. Nicholas for the Ukrainian Catholics, which is headquartered in Chicago. The territorial limits extend from Detroit to Honolulu.
 
WildCatholic said:
My question would be if a diocese could move its Cathedral to another city in its diocese
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Yes. Our Cathedral was originally in Galveston and is now in Houston. Although colloquially called the Houston Archdiocese, it is formally the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
 
Shirtless said:
In the United States, some dioceses of the Eastern Catholic Church are named for saints. For example, the Eparchy (Diocese) of St. Nicholas for the Ukrainian Catholics, which is headquartered in Chicago. The territorial limits extend from Detroit to Honolulu.
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And then you have the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix, combining the two.
 
There is no set rule. While the large city is often used, there are other examples provided here where that is not the case. The reality is that every situation is different, and depends on local circumstances. Much the same as when a new parish is created, when a new diocese is to be created, there is much behind-the-scenes finagling regarding the precise territory that it will encompass, sometimes with the bishop(s) of the diocese(s) from which the new diocese is to be carved jockeying to keep this area or unload that area. There is also the question of which church will become the cathedral of the new diocese. Thus, there can be many factors involved.
 
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