Established on March 12, 1904 by Pope Pius X, the Diocese of Fall River covers 1,194 square miles in Southeastern Massachusetts, comprising Bristol County; Barnstable County – recognizable on any map as Cape Cod; Dukes County or Martha’s Vineyard; Nantucket County; and the towns of Mattapoisett, Marion and Wareham in Plymouth County. The Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., D.D., became the Eighth Bishop of Fall River on September 24, 2014. He leads a Catholic community numbering 279,000 persons who worship in 80 parishes and 11 mission churches. The Diocese is divided into five territories or deaneries with one priest in each appointed by the Bishop to serve as Dean to assist him in the coordination of ministry in that area.