Roman Catholic Church in Latvia

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The Basilica of the Assumption , the most important Catholic shrine in Latvia

The Roman Catholic Church in Latvia is divided canonically in one archdiocese and three suffragan dioceses .

history

Of the four historical landscapes of Latvia ( Livonia , Courland , Semgallia and Latgale ), only Latgale remained Roman Catholic after the Reformation.

While Latvia was part of the Tsarist Empire, the Latvian Catholics and their clergy were largely subordinate to the Archdiocese of Mogilev and a small part (in Courland) to the Diocese of Kaunas . A few months before Latvia became independent, the Roman Catholic diocese of Riga was re-established on September 22, 1918 . In 1922 Latvia and the Holy See concluded a concordat . The following year, the Diocese of Riga was elevated to an archdiocese. Apostolic Nuncio in Latvia has been Archbishop Petar Rajič since August 2019 .

According to the 1935 census, 25% of Latvia's population were Catholic, with large differences between parts of the country in terms of the proportion of the population that were Catholics:

After the Soviet Union occupied the Republic of Latvia in 1940 , 29 Catholic priests were arrested and tortured. 12 of them were executed. After the Wehrmacht occupied Latvia in 1941, the German occupation authorities in the “ General District of Latvia ” decreed on June 19, 1942 that the bishops would no longer be allowed to appoint pastors without the consent of the District Commissioner. Treating the Old Testament in religious education was forbidden.

structure

The Latvian Bishops' Conference has existed since 1997 .

Statistics of the Catholic Church and denominational statistics

According to statistics, 407,333 people in Latvia profess Catholicism (as of 2014). The Roman Catholic Christians are cared for in 316 parishes by 139 priests (126 diocesan priests and 23 religious priests ), 115 religious sisters and 31 friars .

With a share of 19.5% of the total of 2,090,280 inhabitants of the country, Catholics make up the second largest Christian denomination . Most of the residents of Latvia are Evangelical Lutheran Christians . The third largest Christian denomination in the country, Orthodoxy , is predominantly made up of Latvians of Russian descent . You will receive pastoral care in the Russian Orthodox Church of Latvia .

literature

  • Ernst Benz : The Roman Catholic Church in Latvia 1918–1940 . In: Boris Meissner , Dietrich André Loeber , Detlef Henning (eds.): The German ethnic group in Latvia during the interwar period and current issues of German-Latvian relations . Bibliotheca Baltica, Tallinn 2000, ISBN 9985-800-21-4 , pp. 162-174.
  • Markus Nowak: Catholic in the Baltic States. Estonia and Latvia. Rebirth of a church . Bonifatiuswerk, Paderborn / Renovabis, Freising 2012; on the Catholic Church in Latvia pp. 20–33.

Individual evidence

  1. Orbis Terrarrum: Latvia . In: The Tablet , March 3, 1928, p. 31.
  2. ^ Rigensis erectionis in Archiepiscopatum Decretum . In: Acta Apostolicae Sedis , Jg. 1923, pp. 585-586.
  3. Ernst Benz: The Roman Catholic Church in Latvia 1918–1940 . In: Boris Meissner , Dietrich André Loeber , Detlef Henning (eds.): The German ethnic group in Latvia during the interwar period and current issues of German-Latvian relations . Bibliotheca Baltica, Tallinn 2000, pp. 162–174, here p. 163.
  4. ^ Arveds Schwabe: Histoire du peuple letton . Bureau d'Information de la Légation de Lettonie à Londres, Stockholm 1953, p. 237.
  5. ^ Arveds Schwabe: Histoire du peuple letton . Bureau d'Information de la Légation de Lettonie à Londres, Stockholm 1953, p. 238.
  6. Annuario Pontificio , edition 2016, addition of the information on the four Latvian dioceses on pages 332 (Diocese of Jelgava), 402 (Diocese of Liepāja), 608 (Diocese of Rēzekne-Aglona) and 610 (Archdiocese of Riga).
  7. Annuario Pontificio , edition 2016, p. 1125 and addition of the information on pages 332 (Diocese of Jelgava), 402 (Diocese of Liepāja), 608 (Diocese of Rēzekne-Aglona) and 610 (Archdiocese of Riga).
  8. cf. Latvijas iedzivotaju skaits pašvaldibas , Database of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Latvia, as of January 1, 2016.

Web links