53°12′53″N 6°34′23″E / 53.2146°N 6.5731°E / 53.2146; 6.5731
Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden
Dioecesis Groningensis-Leovardiensis
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Coat of arms
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| Location | |
| Country |  Netherlands |
| Territory | Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe, and the Noordoostpolder |
| Ecclesiastical province | Utrecht |
| Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Utrecht |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 9,205 km2 (3,554 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2019) 1,944,920 102,150 (5.3%) |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Latin Rite |
| Established | 12 May 1559 |
| Cathedral | Saint Joseph Church, Groningen |
| Patron saint | Saint Boniface[1] |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Ron van den Hout[2][circular reference] |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Wim Eijk |
| Vicar General | Peter Wellen |
| Map | |
 Location of the Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden in the Netherlands | |
| Website | |
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The Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden (Dutch: Bisdom Groningen-Leeuwarden; Latin: Dioecesis Groningensis-Leovardiensis) is a suffragan Latindiocese of the Catholic Church in the northern part of the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht (covering all the Netherlands). It encompasses the provincesofGroningen, Friesland and Drenthe, as well as the Noordoostpolder, a part of the province of Flevoland.[3]
The cathedral episcopal seat is the Saint Joseph Cathedral in the city of Groningen, capital of the province of the same name.[4] One former cathedral remains in Catholic use : the Sint-Maartenskerk, dedicated to Saint Martin, also in Groningen, is now Protestant church; the Sint-Vituskerk, dedicated to Saint Vitus, in Leeuwarden (Friesland province, most of Dutch Frisia) is only rarely frequented by a small community of faithful from an old orphanage.
As per 2014, it pastorally served 110,000 Catholics (5.7% of 1,923,000 total) on 8,585 km2 in 81 parishes with 36 priests (30 diocesan, 6 religious), 3 deacons, 18 lay religious (7 brothers, 11 sisters) and 9 seminarians. It is the smallest Dutch diocese in population, even while it is the largest in area, covering an area of some 9,205 square kilometers (3,554 sq mi). As per the most recent data available, the number of churchgoers in 2005 was 12,435 or 0.7% of the total population.[5]
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