Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg (French: Archidiocèse de Strasbourg; German: Erzbistum Straßburg; Latin: Archidioecesis Argentoratensis o Argentinensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France.

The archdiocese is unique in France as it has no suffragans and is immediately subject to the Holy See in Rome.

The Diocese of Strasbourg was first mentioned in 343 and belonged to the ecclesiastical province of the Archbishopric of Mainz since Carolingian times. Archeological diggings below the current Église Saint-Étienne in 1948 and 1956 have unearthed the apse of a church dating back to the late 4th century or early 5th century, and considered the oldest church in Alsace. It is supposed that this was the first seat of the Diocese.[1] Since the 15th century, the diocesan seat has been the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Strasbourg.

The bishop was the ruler of an ecclesiastical principality in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages and Early Modern period. For this state, see Bishopric of Strasbourg.

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 current archbishop is Jean-Pierre Grallet, in office since April 2007; see also Archbishops of Strasbourg. The bishop of this see is appointed by the French president.

As of 31 December 2003, the archdiocese comprised a total of 762 parishes covering an area of 8,280 km² with 1,713,416 inhabitants of which 75.9% (1,300,000) are Catholics. Also, 619 diocese priests, 50 deacons, 288 ordained priests and 1,728 nuns belong to the Archbishopric of Strasbourg.

Contents

Ordinaries

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Fouilles romaines sous l'église Saint-Étienne à Strasbourg (French)

External links