Roman Catholic Diocese of Magdeburg

Coordinates: 52°07′35″N 11°37′54″E / 52.12639°N 11.63167°E / 52.12639; 11.63167
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the medieval diocese, see Archbishopric of Magdeburg.
Diocese of Magdeburg

Dioecesis Magdeburgensis

Bistum Magdeburg
Cathedral of St. Sebastian, Magdeburg
Coat of arms
Location
Country Germany
TerritoryMagdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt
Ecclesiastical provincePaderborn
MetropolitanArchdiocese of Paderborn
Statistics
Area23,000 km2 (8,900 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2013)
2,570,000
86,737 (3.4%)
Information
DenominationCatholic
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established27 June 1994
CathedralCathedral of St. Sebastian
Patron saintSt. Norbert of Xanten
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopGerhard Feige
Metropolitan ArchbishopHans-Josef Becker
Bishops emeritusLeopold Nowak
Map
Website
bistum-magdeburg.de

The Diocese of Magdeburg (

Latin: Dioecesis Magdeburgensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church, located in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Its seat is Magdeburg; it is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Paderborn
.

The diocese was erected out of Paderborn territories in 1994. Its history dates back to the medieval Archbishopric of Magdeburg established in 968 AD.

History

At the 967

Halberstadt bishop, Otto created the new archbishopric dedicated to Saint Maurice. It then headed an ecclesiastical province comprising the dioceses of Brandenburg, Havelberg, Zeitz, Merseburg, and Meissen, all located in the Saxon Eastern March. The first metropolitan was Archbishop Adalbert of Magdeburg (c. 910 - 981), a missionary to the Polabian Slavs, who also held the title of Primas Germaniae
.

From the 12th century onwards, the Magdeburg metropolitans ruled as

Princes of the Holy Roman Empire. At the beginning of the modern era, Magdeburg had to cope with the claims of the neighbouring Saxon and Brandenburg electorates. In 1476 Ernst II of Saxony, son of the Wettin elector Ernest, was elected archbishop; he occupied the city of Halle, where he had the Moritzburg
residence erected between 1484 and 1503.

During the

secularised and adjudicated to the Hohenzollern electors of Brandenburg. These provisions were implemented upon the death of the last administrator Duke Augustus of Saxe-Weissenfels in 1680, whereafter the secular Duchy of Magdeburg passed under the rule of the "Great Elector" Frederick William of Brandenburg
.

From 1670 the former Catholic archdiocese was under the jurisdiction of the

Apostolic Administrator, who, though officially still subordinated to Paderborn, ruled over Magdeburg as a de facto
diocese.

After German reunification, Braun's successor Leo Nowak was elevated to a bishop according to an Apostolic constitution issued on 27 June 1994 by Pope John Paul II. Magdeburg thereby was separated from Paderborn and restored as an autonomous suffragan diocese of the ecclesiastical province, dedicated to Saint Norbert of Xanten, with Saints Maurice and Gertrude of Helfta as secondary patrons.

Ordinaries

See also

References

External links

52°07′35″N 11°37′54″E / 52.12639°N 11.63167°E / 52.12639; 11.63167

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