Roman Catholic bishopric of Odense Lolland), the latter until 1620. Finally there were hospitals of the Holy Spirit at Odense, Assens, Faaborg and Nakskov, and a Commandery of the Knights of St. John at Odense. The former Catholic dioceses in Denmark were never reestablished. Instead, the new Catholic missionary clergy in the whole, predominantly Lutheran, country was made part of the 7 July 1868 established Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Missions, which in 1869 was demoted as Apostolic Prefecture of Denmark, on 15 March 1892 promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of Denmark. Finally on April 29, 1953 it was promoted as exempt Diocese of Copenhagen, including the
Odense boundaries were redefined in 1970. As a result, the population declined slightly in the 1970s and 1980s, falling to 136,646 in 1981. It began climbing again in the late 1980s, and steadily grew to 144,518 in 1996 and 145,554 in 2004. In 2010 Odense had a population of 166,305 people. As of 2017 it had a population of 176,683. Odense Municipality is the administrative unit which covers not only the city of Odense but surrounding suburbs and villages. Odense City Council consists of 29 members, including a mayor. The former mayor of Odense, Anker Boye, is a member of the