The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The diocese was erected by Pope Pius IX on February 17, 1872 and originally comprised the entire state of Rhode Island and the counties of Bristol, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket in the state of Massachusetts. On March 12, 1904, those four counties were separated from the Diocese of Providence to form the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, leaving the Diocese of Providence with just the state of Rhode Island.