Diocese of Königgrätz

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Diocese of Königgrätz
Map of the Diocese of Königgrätz
Basic data
Country Czech Republic
Metropolitan bishopric Archdiocese of Prague
Diocesan bishop Jan Vokál
Auxiliary bishop Josef Kajnek
Vicar General Josef Kajnek
Josef Socha
founding November 10, 1664
surface 11,650 km²
Vicariates 14 ()
Parishes 264 (2016 / AP 2017 )
Residents 1,272,000 (2016 / AP 2017 )
Catholics 454.200 (2016 / AP 2017 )
proportion of 35.7%
Diocesan priest 161 (2016 / AP 2017 )
Religious priest 41 (2016 / AP 2017 )
Catholics per priest 2,249
Permanent deacons 36 (2016 / AP 2017 )
Friars 47 (2016 / AP 2017 )
Religious sisters 129 (2016 / AP 2017 )
rite Roman rite
Liturgical language Czech
cathedral Holy Spirit Cathedral
address Velké nám. 35
500 01 Hradec Králové
Česká republika
Website www.diecezehk.cz

The Diocese of Königgrätz ( Czech : Biskupství královéhradecké or Diecéze královéhradecká ; Latin: Dioecesis Reginae Gradecensis ) is a Roman Catholic suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Prague in the Czech Republic with its seat in Hradec Králové ( Königgrätz ).

Diocese coat of arms since 2014

It includes the region of Eastern Bohemia, which essentially consists of the Královéhradecký kraj and the Pardubický kraj . It is divided into twelve vicariates .

history

Original diocese coat of arms
Königgrätz, Cathedral of the Holy Spirit
Bishop's Palace in Hradec Králové

In Eastern Bohemia there have been structures of the Catholic Church since the Christianization of Bohemia. The Prague diocese, founded at the end of the 10th century, also included communities in Eastern Bohemia. Later Königgrätz gained greater importance with the seat of an archpriest . Parts of Eastern Bohemia became part of the newly established Leitomischl diocese in the 14th century and at the beginning of the 15th century , which, however, perished during the Hussite Wars .

The establishment of an independent diocese was primarily related to the efforts of the Catholic Church and the Austrian imperial family, with which Bohemia was to be recatholized after the Thirty Years War . However, the foundation was delayed because of the disputes over the first bishop and the material equipment of the diocese. Finally, Countess Anna Eusebia von Harrach set up a foundation to endow the diocese, and Emperor Leopold I provided funds from the salt treasury. After the Chrast estate had been acquired for financial support , Pope Alexander VII founded the diocese of Königgrätz with the bull "Super universas" of November 10, 1664 and at the same time elevated the previous Holy Spirit Church to a cathedral. The diocese initially consisted of 129 parishes that had been separated from the Archdiocese of Prague and divided into nine vicariates. The diocese area corresponded to the later district of Königgrätz. In 1783, in the course of the Josephine reforms, it was enlarged by three further districts with 141 parishes in a southern direction.

The first bishop was the Benedictine Matthäus Ferdinand Sobek von Bilenberg . The cathedral chapter was financially secured with the acquisition of the Skály estate ( Bischofstein ). In his capacity as King of Bohemia, Emperor Leopold provided 300,000 guilders and received the right of nomination for future bishops in return. A citizen of Königgrätz endowed a canonical .

However, the establishment of the diocese caused tension with the city council, so that a bishop's residence could not be established and the second bishop, Johann Friedrich von Waldstein , could not take possession of his diocese either. Although Bishop Johann Franz Christoph von Talmberg resided in the city at the insistence of the Pope, he was unable to build a seminary and the planned canons' houses because of the ongoing disputes with the city council. Bishop Tobias Johannes Becker was able to start building a bishop's residence in 1709, which was completed under Bishop Johann Adam Wratislaw von Mitrowitz . He established the seminary and appointed the martyr Clemens of Rome as patron of the diocese.

In the course of the decades after its foundation, the diocese became a center of the Counter Reformation . The Jesuits and other religious orders founded branches in Königgrätz, which should serve the re-Catholicization . In the course of these measures there was an uprising of the Protestants in the Opočno domain in 1722 , which was militarily suppressed and resulted in a new wave of non-Catholics emigrating.

During the time of the Josephine reforms, Bishop Johann Leopold von Hay supported the Austrian emperors in their endeavors to achieve religious tolerance. After the patent of tolerance was issued in 1781, numerous Protestant parishes could also be established in Eastern Bohemia.

After the death of Bishop Mořic Pícha in 1956, the state communist authorities prevented a re-occupation of the bishopric. Karel Otčenášek , who was secretly ordained bishop in 1950, was only able to take up the office of bishop after the political change in 1989. During the period of vacancy, the diocese was administered by the state appointed vicar capitular Václav Javůrek (1956-1969) and Karel Jonáš (1969-1989).

As part of his pastoral trip, Pope John Paul II also visited Königgrätz and its cathedral in 2002 .

literature

See also

Web links

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

Individual proof

  1. ↑ Diecézní catalog . bihk.cz, accessed on January 24, 2018.