Diocese of Osnabrück
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Country: | Germany |
| Metropolitan: | Archdiocese of Hamburg |
| Rite: | Latin Rite |
| Area: | 12,573 km² (4,856 square miles) |
| Population: Total: Catholics: |
2,106,921 (2004) 580,615 (27.6%%) |
| Parishes: | 256 |
| Diocesan Priests: | 320 |
| Ordinaries | |
| Bishop: | Franz-Josef Hermann Bode |
The Diocese of Osnabrück is a diocese of the Catholic church in Germany; it was founded around 800. It was also a Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire until 1803.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück
The Diocese was erected in 772 and it is certainly the oldest see founded by Charlemagne, in order to Christianize the conquered stem-duchy of Saxony. The first bishop of Osnabrück was Saint Wilho (785–804); the second bishop, Meginhard or Meingoz (804–33), was the real organizer of the see.
The temporal possessions of the see, originally quite limited, grew in time, and its prince-bishops exercised an extensive civil jurisdiction within the territory covered by their rights of immunity. The Prince-Bishopric continued to grow in size, making its status during the Reformation a highly contentious issue.
During the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, Osnabrück did neither completely stay Catholic nor completely switch to Protestantism. Instead, each parish decided on its own which elements of Protestantism it took over. This unique situation ended with the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, when parishes were divided up between the two religions. From then on, the bishops alternated between Lutherans and Catholic office holders; the Protestant bishops were appointed by the nearby Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and were generally cadet members of the ducal family.
The last Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück was the Lutheran Prince Frederick of Great Britain (1764–1803), later Duke of York, was, until his majority (1783), under the guardianship of his father, George III, king of the United Kingdom and Hanover. Frederick was notoriously made Bishop when 197 days old.
In the German Mediatisation of 1803, the Bishopric was dissolved and given to the Hanover branch of Brunswick-Lüneburg; the see, the chapter, the convents and the Catholic charitable institutions were finally secularized. The territory of the see passed to Prussia in 1806, to the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, to Napoleonic France in 1810, and again to Hanover in 1814. Klemens von Gruben, titular Bishop of Paros, was made vicar Apostolic, and as such cared for the spiritual interests of the Catholic population.
[edit] The restoration of the diocese
Under Pope Leo XII the Papal Bull Impensa Romanorum Pontificum (26 March 1824) re-established the See of Osnabrück as an exempt see, i.e., immediately subject to Rome. This Bull, recognized by the civil authority, promised that, for the present, the Bishop of Hildesheim would be also Bishop of Osnabrück, but had to be represented at Osnabrück by a vicar-general and an auxiliary bishop, and this lasted for thirty years.
This diocese, comprised within the Prussian Province of Hanover, the civil districts of Osnabrück and Aurich (excepting Wilhelmshaven) and those parts of Hanover that were west of the River Weser. In 1910 it numbered 12 deaneries, 108 parishes, 153 pastoral stations, 271 secular and 12 regular priests, with 204,500 Catholic faithful. The only religious communities of men were the Capuchin convent at Klemenswerth and the Apostolic School of the Marists at Meppen. The religious orders of women include Benedictines, Borromeans, Franciscans, Ursulines and others.
As Apostolic administrator, the bishop was Vicar Apostolic of the Northern Missions of Germany and Prefect-Apostolic of Schleswig-Holstein; see Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Germany. According to the Bull Impensa Romanorum (26 March 1824), he was elected by the chapter of the cathedral, composed of a dean, six canons and four vicars, elected in turn by the bishop and by the chapter.
Klemens von Gruben was succeeded by the auxiliary bishop Karl Anton von Lüpke, also administrator of the North German Missions. After his death new negotiations led to the endowment of an independent see. Pope Pius IX, with the consent of King George V of Hanover, appointed Paulus Melchers of Münster as bishop on 3 August 1857. In 1866 the territory of the diocese passed, with Hanover, to Prussia; Melchers became Archbishop of Cologne, and was succeeded in 1866 by Johannes Heinrich Beckmann (1866–78), who was succeeded by Bernard Höting (1882–98) after a vacancy of four years owing to the Kulturkampf. The next bishop (to 1911), Hubert Voss, was appointed 12 April 1899.
In 1930, several Protestant areas of northern Germany were added to the diocese: Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe.
In 1995, the northern parts of the Diocese (Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg) were made into the newly-founded Archdiocese of Hamburg. Osnabrück became subordinate to this Archdiocese of Hamburg. The current bishop is Franz-Josef Bode.
[edit] Ordinaries
- Heinrich Graf von Moers † (Nov 1441 Appointed - 2 Jun 1450 Died)
- Rudolf Graf von Diepholz † (30 Aug 1454 Appointed - 24 Mar 1455 Died)
- Konrad Graf von Diepholz † (11 Jun 1455 Appointed - 21 May 1482 Died)
- Konrad Graf von Rietberg † (13 Jul 1482 Appointed - 9 Feb 1508 Died)
- Erich Herzog von Braunschweig-Grubenhagen † (6 Mar 1508 Appointed - 14 May 1532 Died)
- Franz Graf von Waldeck † (11 Jun 1532 Appointed - 15 Jul 1553 Died)
- Johann Graf von Hoya zu Stolzenau † (5 Oct 1553 Appointed - 5 Apr 1574 Died)
- Heinrich Herzog von Sachsen-Lauenburg † ( 1574 Appointed - 3 May 1585 Died)
- Wilhelm von Schenking zu Bevern † (30 Jul 1585 Appointed - 8 Aug 1585 Died)
- Bernhard Graf von Waldeck † (25 Oct 1585 Appointed - 25 May 1588 Resigned)
- Philipp Sigismund Herzog von Braunschweig-Lüneburg † (5 Jun 1591 Appointed - 19 Mar 1623 Died)
- Eitel Friedrich Graf von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen † (28 Apr 1623 Appointed - 19 Sep 1625 Died)
- Franz Wilhelm Reichsgraf von Wartenberg † (27 Oct 1625 Appointed - 1 Dec 1661 Died)
- Ernst August von Braunschweig-Lüneburg † ( 1662 Appointed - 29 Jan 1698 Died)
- Karl Joseph Ignaz Herzog von Lothringen † (14 Apr 1698 Appointed - 4 Dec 1715 Died)
- Ernst August von Braunschweig-Lüneburg † ( 1716 Appointed - 14 Aug 1728 Died)
- Clemens August Maria Herzog von Bayern † (4 Nov 1728 Appointed - 6 Feb 1761 Died)
- Friedrich von York und Albany † ( 1764 Appointed - 10 Nov 1802 Resigned)
- Paul Ludolf Melchers, S.J. † (3 Aug 1857 Appointed - 8 Jan 1866 Appointed, Archbishop of Köln {Cologne})
- Johannes Heinrich Beckmann † (5 Apr 1866 Appointed - 30 Jul 1878 Died)
- Johann Bernard Höting † (10 Feb 1882 Appointed - 21 Oct 1898 Died)
- Heinrich Hubert Aloysius Voß (Voss) † (12 Apr 1899 Appointed - 3 Mar 1914 Died)
- Hermann Wilhelm Berning † (14 Jul 1914 Appointed - 23 Nov 1955 Died)
- Gerhard Franz (Franziskus) Demann † (21 May 1956 Appointed - 27 Mar 1957 Died)
- Helmut Hermann Wittler † (22 Jul 1957 Appointed - 9 Sep 1987 Resigned)
- Ludwig Averkamp (9 Sep 1987 Succeeded - 24 Oct 1994 Appointed, Archbishop of Hamburg)
- Franz-Josef Hermann Bode (12 Sep 1995 Appointed - )
[edit] Sources and external links
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. [1]
- Official site (in German)
- Osnabrück at catholic-hierarchy.org
- Map of Lower Saxony in 1789
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