Archbishopric of Strasbourg

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Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, seat of the archbishop of Strasbourg

The Archbishopric of Strasbourg (French: Diocèse d'Alsace; German: Erzbistum Straßburg; Latin: Archidioecesis Argentoratensis o Argentinensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese at Strasbourg, Alsace, and is as immediate bishopric a direct subject to the Holy See in Rome, not to the Catholic Church in France.

The diocese of Strasbourg was first mentioned in 343 and belonged to the ecclesiastical province of the Archbishopric of Mainz since Carolingian times.

Since the 15th century, it is seated at Notre-Dame de Strasbourg.

The Bishopric was a client state of the Holy Roman Empire from the 13th century until 1803. During the late 17th century, most of its territory was annexed by France; this consisted of the areas around the towns of Saverne, Molsheim, Bevefelden, Dachstein, Dambach, Kochersberg, Erstein, Kästenbolz, Rhinau, and the Mundat (consisting of Rouffach, Soultz, and Eguisheim). The annexations were recognized by the Holy Roman Empire in the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697. Only the part of the state that was to the right of the Rhine remained; it consisted of areas around the towns of Oberkirch, Ettenheim, and Oppenau. The remaining territory was secularized to Baden in 1803.

The diocese was elevated to an archdiocese on 1 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II, but is not metropolitan of an ecclesiastical province. The archdiocese is currently vacant. The most recent archbishop is Jean-Pierre Grallet, in office since february 2007 (see also Archbishops of Strasbourg).The bishop of this see is appointed by the French president.

As of 31 December 2003, it comprises a total of 762 parishes covering an area of 8.280 km² with 1,713,416 inhabitants of which 75,9% or 1,300,000 are catholics. Also, 619 diocese priests, 50 deacons, 288 ordained priests and 1,728 nuns belong to the Archbishopric of Strasbourg.