Diocese of Görlitz

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Diocese of Görlitz
Erzbistum Freiburg Erzbistum Bamberg Erzbistum Berlin Erzbistum Hamburg Erzbistum Köln Erzbistum München und Freising Erzbistum Paderborn Bistum Aachen Bistum Augsburg Bistum Dresden-Meißen Bistum Eichstätt Bistum Erfurt Bistum Essen Bistum Fulda Bistum Görlitz Bistum Hildesheim Bistum Limburg Bistum Magdeburg Bistum Mainz Bistum Mainz Bistum Münster Bistum Münster Bistum Osnabrück Bistum Passau Bistum Regensburg Diözese Rottenburg-Stuttgart Bistum Speyer Bistum Trier Bistum Trier Bistum WürzburgMap of the Diocese of Goerlitz
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Basic data
Country Germany
Ecclesiastical province Berlin
Metropolitan bishopric Archdiocese of Berlin
Diocesan bishop Wolfgang Ipolt
Vicar General Alfred Hoffmann
founding 1994
surface 9,733 km²
Dean's offices 3 (December 31, 2012 / AP2014 )
Parishes 17 (December 31, 2018)
Residents 703.190 (December 31, 2018)
Catholics 29,671 (December 31, 2018)
proportion of 4.2%
Diocesan priest 43 (December 31, 2018)
Religious priest 5 (December 31, 2018)
Catholics per priest 618
Permanent deacons 6 (December 31, 2018)
Friars 6 (December 31, 2018)
Religious sisters 44 (December 31, 2018)
rite Roman rite
Liturgical language Latin
German
Sorbian
cathedral St. James
address Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 41
D-02826 Görlitz
P.O. Box 300943
D-02814 Görlitz
Website www.bistum-goerlitz.de
Ecclesiastical province
Erzbistum Freiburg Erzbistum Bamberg Erzbistum Berlin Erzbistum Hamburg Erzbistum Köln Erzbistum München und Freising Erzbistum Paderborn Bistum Aachen Bistum Augsburg Bistum Dresden-Meißen Bistum Eichstätt Bistum Erfurt Bistum Essen Bistum Fulda Bistum Görlitz Bistum Hildesheim Bistum Limburg Bistum Magdeburg Bistum Mainz Bistum Mainz Bistum Münster Bistum Münster Bistum Osnabrück Bistum Passau Bistum Regensburg Diözese Rottenburg-Stuttgart Bistum Speyer Bistum Trier Bistum Trier Bistum WürzburgMap of the ecclesiastical province of Berlin
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The diocese of Görlitz ( Latin Dioecesis Gorlicensis , Upper Sorbian biskopstwo Zhorjelc ) is a Roman Catholic diocese in eastern Germany . It includes Lower Lusatia in Brandenburg and the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia , which belongs to the Free State of Saxony , but was part of the Prussian Province of Silesia until 1945. This means that the diocese is in the diaspora .

history

prehistory

From the Reformation to the Congress of Vienna

After the Reformation , the Catholic church system in Kurbrandenburg, Lower Lusatia and in the north-eastern (later Prussian) part of Upper Lusatia practically perished. Only the Cistercian monastery Neuzelle and the parishes of Jauernick , which belonged to the Cistercian monastery of Marienthal and Wittichenau , which belonged to the Cistercian monastery of Marienstern , remained Catholic. After a large part of Lusatia fell to Prussia as a result of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the area of ​​today's diocese was annexed to the diocese of Breslau by the bull "De salute animarum".

Archdiocese of Wroclaw

In the Archdiocese of Wroclaw of Wroclaw Archbishop elected after the death of Adolf Bertram on 6 July 1945, the cathedral chapter Wroclaw on 16 July the Domdechanten Ferdinand Piontek to Capitular . On August 12, the Primate of Poland, August Cardinal Hlond , caused Piontek to renounce the part of the archdiocese east of the Oder-Neisse border that was now under Polish administration . At the same time, Hlond divided this diocese share into three administrative districts, for which he appointed Apostolic Administrators on August 15, 1945:

The administrators were appointed to their office with effect from September 1st. As it turned out later, Hlond's special powers did not refer to the formerly German dioceses, so that they had no basis under canon law.

Archbishop's Office in Breslau / Görlitz branch

In September 1945, Prelate Ludwig Cuno (* July 15, 1881 Kassel; † August 1, 1949 Görlitz), brother of the Reich Chancellor (November 1922 to August 1923) Wilhelm Cuno , and Emanuel Tinschert (1883–1968) opened a branch in September 1945 of the Vicariate General Breslau for the part of the Archdiocese of Breslau to the west of the Oder and Lusatian Neisse rivers. Chapter Vicar Ferdinand Piontek, who was still in Breslau at the time, confirmed this institution in a letter dated November 2, 1945. In addition to the diocesan administration in the diocesan area west of the Oder-Neisse line, it was the task of the Görlitz branch to maintain contact with the Breslau priests and theology students scattered in all dioceses in Germany, which was hardly possible for the vicar of the chapter, who remained in Breslau.

Archbishopric Görlitz

In May 1946 the administration for the Görlitz-Cottbus diocesan area was renamed the Archbishopric of Görlitz. This happened at the request of Piontek, who was still in Wroclaw and tried to avoid conflicts with the Polish church and state authorities there because of the continued use of the old seals of the archbishopric under the German name. The name of the administration became the name for the entire diocesan area west of the Neisse. Piontek left Breslau on July 9, 1946 on a refugee transport that ended in Peine. In March 1947, Piontek finally came to Görlitz and took up his official duties there as chapter vicar of the Archdiocese of Breslau, now limited to the part of the diocese west of the Neisse.

In the period that followed, Piontek and his newly established diocese administration worked to turn the rest of the German archdiocese into a viable ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This included the reorganization of pastoral care structures and the establishment of numerous new pastoral care offices to care for the Catholic population, which had grown significantly as a result of the expulsions. In 1948 the Bernardinum seminary was founded in Neuzelle in order to be able to continue training our own pastors. Catechetical seminars in Görlitz and Cottbus and a new administration for the diocesan charity are also part of these development activities.

Cut off from the traditional pilgrimage sites, a youth pilgrimage was initiated in 1947 at the suggestion of the youth pastor Heinrich Theissing and in 1948 the Neuzell pilgrimage song was created for the annual pilgrimages to Neuzelle . This gave rise to a new tradition of pilgrimage for the Archbishopric of Görlitz.

Piontek appointed new members for the existing German Wroclaw Metropolitan Chapter. After his death, the chapter chose Gerhard Schaffran to succeed Piontek as vicar of the chapter.

Apostolic Administration

After the ratification of the German-Polish treaty , Pope Paul VI decreed . with the Apostolic Constitution Episcoporum Poloniae of June 28, 1972 the canonical reorganization of the former German dioceses on Polish territory. By a decree of the Bishops Congregation on the same day, the area around Görlitz and Cottbus was separated from the Archdiocese of Breslau as the Apostolic Administration .

Diocese of Görlitz

The Governorship, Pope John Paul II. At 27. June 1994 , finally, with the Apostolic Constitution Solet usque for independent diocese, which the Archdiocese of Berlin as a suffragan has been assigned. With the Apostolic Letter studuit Semper confirmed John Paul II. On 21 September the same year the Holy. Hedwig of Silesia as a diocese patron .

Measured in terms of the number of Catholics, the diocese is by far the smallest Catholic diocese in Germany today.

Diocese coat of arms

The Görlitz diocese coat of arms

Description of the coat of arms : “ Shield split in red and gold, divided by a lowered silver , black- bricked bar- bridge arch, curved below; Top right six silver lilies , top left Latin right shifted broad-ended black, again crossed at the top and cross-bar in the middle with a ring occupied Cross , the bottom left of a black mussel accompanied silver bottom right bar bottom left two border black lions on top of each other. Above the shield there is a silver, gold-lined miter with red lining and flying silver, red-lined infuln . Behind the shield, crossed diagonally on the right, a golden lecture cross , the same arms of which end in squares, on the left a golden crook with a lily in the crook. "

Meaning: The six silver lilies on a red background illustrate the earlier affiliation of the diocese area to the Archdiocese of Breslau, while the black cross and the black shell on a gold background represent the previous Apostolic Administration of Görlitz with the two ecclesiastical centers of Görlitz (Jakobus mussel / bishop's church) and Neuzelle (former Cistercian abbey / Place of pilgrimage and seminary). These signs as references to the origin are carried by a bridge that spans the personal coat of arms of St. Hedwig (red-silver-red stripes and two black lions on a gold background). In the succession of St. Hedwig, the efforts of the diocese for understanding and solidarity with the neighboring Polish people should be expressed. This bridging function of the diocese was particularly impressively expressed at the commemoration of the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Hedwig of Silesia in October 1993. A sign of the solidarity between German and Polish Catholics is the common procession across the border that takes place every four years.

Bishopric patron and diocesan calendar

Patroness of the diocese is St. Hedwig von Andechs .

In the Diocese of Görlitz, the regional calendar for the German-speaking area is supplemented by the following celebrations (followed by the rank):

Abbreviations: H = high festival, F = festival, G = required day of remembrance, g = not required day of remembrance

Bishops

Bishop Wolfgang Ipolt

The third bishop of Görlitz has been Wolfgang Ipolt since 2011 . Previously, Konrad Zdarsa held the office, who moved to Augsburg.

Chapter vicars and apostolic administrators before the elevation to the diocese 1945–1994

The following people administered the remainder of the Archdiocese of Breslau west of the Oder-Neisse border and the Apostolic Administration of Görlitz until it was elevated to the Diocese of Görlitz in 1994. They were titular bishops (Can. 376 CIC ). She headed the Archbishopric Ordinariate Breslau / Branch Görlitz and the Archbishopric Görlitz as well as the Apostolic Administration Görlitz as Chapter Vicar and Apostolic Administrator .

time Surname description
1945–1972: German part of the Archdiocese of Breslau
(September 1945 – July 1946: Archbishop's Office in Breslau / Görlitz branch; July 1946 – June 1972: Archbishopric of Görlitz)
1946-1963 Bishop and Chapter Vicar Ferdinand Piontek (After the death of Adolf Cardinal Bertram , he managed the entire Archdiocese of Breslau from July 16, 1945 to August 31, 1945 as Chapter Vicar , but after the waiver demanded he only exercised his jurisdiction over the part of the Archdiocese west of the Oder and Neisse rivers Headquarters in Görlitz, as well as full professor for all priests and believers of the Archdiocese of Breslau who no longer lived in the Polish-administered diocesan area due to flight or as displaced persons )

Titular Bishop of Barca (from 1959) and Chapter Vicar of the Archdiocese of Breslau with seat in Görlitz, later the Archbishopric of Görlitz

1963-1972 Bishop and Chapter Vicar Gerhard Schaffran Titular Bishop of Semnea , from 1962 as Auxiliary Bishop of the Chapter Vicar Piontek, then as Chapter Vicar of the Archdiocese of Breslau for the Archbishopric of Görlitz

(1970–1987 Bishop of Meissen, later Dresden-Meissen )

1972 by Pope Paul VI. raised to the Apostolic Administration and thereby separated from the Archdiocese of Breslau
1972-1994 Bishop and Apostolic Administrator Bernhard Huhn Titular Bishop of Tasaccora , from 1971 Auxiliary Bishop of the Chapter Vicar Schaffran, then Apostolic Administrator of the Apostolic Administration of Görlitz
In 1994 Pope John Paul II elevated him to the suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Berlin

Diocese structure

Development of membership numbers

The Diocese of Görlitz is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Berlin and has been divided into three deaneries since the reorganization of September 1, 2004 .

Church institutions

Monasteries

Culture and sights

Churches

St. Jakobus Cathedral , Görlitz

Pilgrimage sites

Church closings

The shortage of priests and the decline in the number of practicing Catholics in the Diocese of Görlitz meant that parishes were merged into larger parishes and places of worship were closed since the end of the 1990s . The following churches and chapels were closed:

  • Crinitz, St. Georg, consecrated on March 31, 1946, profaned on August 20, 2015
  • Freienhufen, Maria Regina Gloriosa, consecrated on July 4, 1959, profaned on March 26, 2015 (AB 5/2015)
  • Gehren, St. Marien, profaned on February 18, 2009 (AB 4/2009)
  • Görlitz, St. Josef House Chapel, profaned on March 2, 2015 (AB 3/2015)
  • Hörlitz, St. Barbara, built in 1934, profaned on January 8, 1998
  • Kolkwitz, St. Pius X., consecrated on June 8, 1958, profaned on January 14, 2010
  • Neupetershain, Hl. Geist and St. Elisabeth, consecrated on December 26, 1960, profaned on March 8, 2016 (AB 8/2016)
  • Neuzelle, chapel in the seminary, consecrated on May 2, 1948, abandoned
  • Rückersdorf, Maria Königin, consecrated on October 27, 1957, profaned on May 21, 2008 (AB 6/2008)
  • Sallgast, St. Josef and St. Petrus Canisius, consecrated on December 24, 1953, profaned on October 16, 2015 (AB 10/2015)
  • Schönborn / NL, St. Martin, consecrated on November 12, 1961, abandoned
  • Schorbus, Marienkapelle, abandoned before 2009
  • Sedlitz, St. Bonifatius, consecrated on September 29, 1930, devastated before 1986

See also

Web links

Commons : Diocese of Görlitz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Catholic Church in Germany. (PDF: 1,041 kB) Statistical data 2018. Secretariat of the German Bishops' Conference, July 19, 2019, p. 3 , accessed on July 19, 2019 .
  2. ↑ AP2019
  3. ^ Konrad Hartelt: Ferdinand Piontek (1878-1963): Life and work of a Silesian priest and bishop . In: Research and sources on the church and cultural history of East Germany . tape 39 . Cologne / Weimar 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20143-2 , pp. 247 .
  4. ↑ Paulus Episcopus servus servorum Dei ad perpetuam rei memoriam : Constititio Apostolica Vratislaviensis - Berolinensis et aliarium , Acta Apostolicae Sedis 64 (1972), n. 10, p. 657 f.
  5. ↑ Acta Apostolicae Sedis 64 (1972), p. 737 f.
  6. ↑ Ioannes Paulus II: Const. Apost. Solet usque , AAS 87 (1995), n.3, p. 219 ff.
  7. ↑ Ioannes Paulus II: Litt. Apost. Semper studuit , AAS 87 (1995).
  8. ↑ a b Diocese coat of arms. In: bistum-goerlitz.de. Retrieved September 6, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Dorothee Wanzek: When the church leaves the village. In: Day of the Lord. April 19, 2009, accessed September 6, 2019 .