Provida solersque
The circumscription bull Provida solersque of Pope Pius VII , dated August 16, 1821, regulated the diocesan borders and ecclesiastical authorities in southwest Germany as part of the re-registration of the Catholic dioceses in Germany after the Congress of Vienna .
basis
The occasion for this papal bull was the results of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, at which the ecclesiastical matters pending since the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss had not been clearly regulated. It was important to both the Pope and the new states to align the church borders with the territorial borders.
“And after We had arranged these in the Kingdom of Bavaria four years ago in an expedient manner, we at the same time turned our care without delay to all those worshipers of the true faith who are currently under the rule of the most noble princes and states of Germany, namely the King of Württemberg, the Grand Duke of Baden, the Grand Duke of Hesse, the Elector of Hesse, the Duke of Nassau, the Free City of Frankfurt, the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, the Dukes of Saxony, the Duke of Oldenburg, the Prince of Waldeck and the Free Hanseatic cities of Lübeck and Bremen are located, which, in order to show their willingness to contribute everything so that dioceses with decent furnishings would either be newly established or established by the apostolic chair, therefore sent a joint mission to Rome. "
Archdiocese of Freiburg
The Archdiocese of Freiburg was established from parts of the dioceses of Constance , Mainz, Strasbourg, Worms and Würzburg on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Baden and the principalities of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen . The cathedral was elevated to the status of a metropolitan church . The dioceses of Fulda , Limburg , Mainz and Rottenburg were assigned to the new archbishopric as suffragan dioceses .
Diocese of Mainz
The borders of the diocese of Mainz were mostly drawn in line with the state borders of the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt . A cathedral chapter was built in Mainz . The diocese was removed from the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan of Mechelen and assigned as a suffragan to the new Archdiocese of Freiburg.
Diocese of Fulda
The diocese of Fulda was also assigned to the new archdiocese of Freiburg as a suffragan diocese, at the same time it was circumscribed as the Kurhessisches Landesbistum.
Diocese of Rottenburg
Rottenburg was raised to the episcopal seat and became an independent diocese, which was assigned to the Archdiocese of Freiburg as a suffragan. Its territory was brought into line with the Kingdom of Württemberg .
Diocese of Limburg
Limburg was given all the rights, jurisdictions, privileges and honors of an episcopal seat, and the cathedral was elevated to the status of a cathedral church . The diocese essentially comprised the Duchy of Nassau and the Free City of Frankfurt . It was assigned to the Archdiocese of Freiburg as a suffragan.
Diocese of Constance
The Diocese of Constance and the Provostry in Ellwangen were dissolved with the removal of all titles and privileges, including the predicate of an episcopal church. The areas belonging to Germany were merged into the newly founded dioceses of Freiburg and Rottenburg, the areas belonging to Switzerland were subordinated to the dioceses of Chur and Basel for administration.
Footnotes
- ↑ The correct Latin title is Provida sollersque , but the spelling mistake seems to be in the original, presumably by analogy with it. solerte .
Web links
- German text of the bull (PDF; 145 kB)