The Diocese of Scranton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church. It is a suffragan see of Archdiocese of Philadelphia, established on March 3, 1868. The seat of the bishop is St. Peter's Cathedral in the most populated city in the diocese, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Other cities in the diocese include Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, Hazleton, Nanticoke, Carbondale, and Pittston. The diocese comprises Lackawanna, Luzerne, Bradford, Susquehanna, Wayne, Tioga, Sullivan, Wyoming, Lycoming, Pike, and Monroe counties, all in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania. The area of the diocese is . Early history The first Catholic settlers in the area were principally of Irish and German descent. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Slavic and Italian populations attracted by the coal-mining industry came to comprise one-half of the Catholic population. Although many of the early settlers were Catholic immigrants, the first official visit of a priest to this territory of which there is any authentic record was not until 1787. In that year (during the suppression of the Society of Jesus) the former Jesuit James Pellentz (1727–1800) traveled from Baltimore up the Susquehanna River as far as Elmira, New York, ministering to the Catholics scattered through this region. A few years later, the famous French settlement of Asylum or "Azilum" was founded (1793–94). Planned as a retreat for French nobility, the site chosen was on the banks of the Susquehanna River, opposite the present village of Standing Stone in Bradford County. Today scarcely a trace of this unique settlement remains. The earliest permanent Catholic settlements were at Friendsville and Silver Lake in Susquehanna County. These, as well as the other Catholic settlers scattered throughout this district, were attended occasionally by priests sent from Philadelphia. In 1825 – largely due to the solicitations of Patrick Griffin, father of Gerald Griffin – Francis Kenrick, Bishop of Philadelphia, sent the Rev. John O'Flynn as the first resident pastor. His work, however, was similar to that of a missionary, as his field of labor comprised thirteen counties in northeastern Pennsylvania and five counties in New York state. The first church in the diocese was built in 1825 near Silver Lake. Father O'Flynn died at Danville in 1829, and was succeeded by Father Clancy. On February 1, 1836, Henry Fitzsimmons was sent to take charge of this territory and took up his residence in Carbondale, where a church had been built in