Our king Saint Stephen, founder of the Christian Hungarian State, established the Diocese of Csanád in 1030. The county was given its present name and its current territory was established in 1993 based on the decision of Pope John Paul II. The Diocese of Szeged-Csanád is the third largest diocese of Hungary in terms of its territory and belongs to the Kalocsa-Kecskemét Archdiocese. Its public administration area of 10,851 square kilometres comprises the entire Békés and Csongrád-Csanád Counties and part of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County. The number of inhabitants living in its territory is 820,000 including 234,000 Catholics. The Diocese (whose patron saint is the martyr bishop Saint Gerard of Csanád) is headed by the Rt. Rev. Dr. László Kiss-Rigó, diocesan bishop. There are 68 active priests and 14 retired parish priests in the Diocese.