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Diocese of Osnabrück

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Diocese of Osnabrück
Dioecesis Osnabrugensis
Bistum Osnabrück
St Peter's Cathedral, Osnabrück
St Peter's Cathedral, Osnabrück
Location
Country Germany
Ecclesiastical province Hamburg
Statistics
Area 12,573 km2 (4,854 sq mi)
Population
Total
Catholics 		(as of 2013)
2,150,000
569,400 (26.5%)
Parishes 256
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 772
Cathedral St. Peter's Cathedral
Secular priests 320
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop-designate Dominicus Meier
Metropolitan Archbishop Stefan Heße
Auxiliary Bishops Johannes Wübbe
Bishops emeritus Franz-Josef Bode
Theodor Kettmann
Map
Map of Diocese of Osnabrück
Website
bistum-osnabrueck.de

The Diocese of Osnabrück (Latin: Dioecesis Osnabrugensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.[1][2] The diocese was originally founded circa 800. It should not be confused with the smaller Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück–an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire until 1803–over which the bishop, as prince-bishop, exercised both temporal and spiritual authority.

History

The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück

The diocese was erected in 772 and it is certainly the oldest see founded by Charlemagne, in order to Christianize the conquered stem-duchy of Saxony. The first bishop of Osnabrück was Saint Wilho (785–804); the second bishop, Meginhard or Meingoz (804–33), was the real organizer of the see. Osnabrück diocese was originally a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Cologne (until 1824).

The temporal possessions of the see, originally quite limited, grew in time, and its prince-bishops exercised an extensive civil jurisdiction within the territory covered by their rights of immunity. The prince-bishopric continued to grow in size, making its status during the Reformation a highly contentious issue.

During the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, Osnabrück did not remain completely Catholic nor switch to Protestantism. Instead, each parish decided on its own which elements of Protestantism it took over. This unique state of affairs ended with the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which froze the parishes at their religious status as of 1624. From then on, the bishops alternated between Lutheran and Catholic office holders. While the prince-bishopric was ruled by a Protestant bishop, the Archbishop of Cologne would oversee the exercise of the Catholic religion in Osnabrück.

The Protestant bishops were selected from the neighboring Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, with priority given to the cadets of what became the House of Hanover. The last Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück, the Lutheran Prince Frederick of Great Britain (1764–1803), was made Bishop in 1764 when he was only 197 days old. At the time, he was the younger of two sons of George III, giving him the strongest claim to election as prince-bishop.

In the German Mediatisation of 1803, the bishopric was dissolved and given to the Hanover branch of Brunswick-Lüneburg; the see, the chapter, the convents and the Catholic charitable institutions were finally secularized. The territory of the see passed to Prussia in 1806, to the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, to Napoleonic France in 1810, and again to Hanover in 1814. Klemens von Gruben, titular Bishop of Paros, was made vicar Apostolic, and as such cared for the spiritual interests of the Catholic population.

The restoration of the diocese

Under Pope Leo XII the papal bull Impensa Romanorum Pontificum (26 March 1824) re-established the See of Osnabrück as an exempt see, i.e., immediately subject to Rome. This Bull, recognized by the civil authority, promised that, for the present, the Bishop of Hildesheim would be also Bishop of Osnabrück, but had to be represented at Osnabrück by a vicar-general and an auxiliary bishop, and this lasted for thirty years.

This diocese, comprised within the Kingdom of Hanover, the Landdrosteien (high-bailiwicks, governorates) of Osnabrück and Aurich (excepting Wilhelmshaven) and those parts of Hanover that were west of the River Weser. In 1910 it numbered 12 deaneries, 108 parishes, 153 pastoral stations, 271 secular and 12 regular priests, with 204,500 Catholic faithful. The only religious communities of men were the Capuchin convent at Clemenswerth and the Apostolic School of the Marists at Meppen. The religious orders of women include Benedictines, Borromeans, Franciscans, Ursulines and others.

As Apostolic administrator, the bishop was Vicar Apostolic of the Northern Missions of Germany and Prefect-Apostolic of Schleswig-Holstein (as of 1868). According to the Bull Impensa Romanorum (26 March 1824), he was elected by the chapter of the cathedral, composed of a dean, six canons and four vicars, elected in turn by the bishop and by the chapter.

Klemens von Gruben was succeeded by the auxiliary bishop Karl Anton von Lüpke, also administrator of the North German Missions. After his death new negotiations led to the endowment of a new independent see. Pope Pius IX, with the consent of King George V of Hanover, appointed Paulus Melchers of Münster as bishop on 3 August 1857. In 1866 the territory of the diocese passed, with Hanover, to Prussia (Province of Hanover); Melchers became Archbishop of Cologne, and was succeeded in 1866 by Johannes Heinrich Beckmann (1866–78), who was succeeded by Bernhard Höting (1882–98) after a vacancy of four years owing to the Kulturkampf. The next bishop (to 1911), Hubert Voss, was appointed 12 April 1899.

In 1930, following the Prussian Concordat, the Prefecture of Schleswig-Holstein and the Northern Missions of Germany, comprising several Protestant areas of Northern Germany, were added to the diocese: Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Schaumburg-Lippe (the latter ceded to Hildesheim diocese in 1965). On the same occasion Osnabrück became again a suffragan of Cologne.

In 1995, the northern parts of the Diocese (Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg) were made into the newly founded Archdiocese of Hamburg. Osnabrück became subordinate to this Archdiocese of Hamburg. The former Bishop of Osnabrück was Franz-Josef Bode. His resignation was accepted by the Pope on March 25, 2023.

Incumbents of the see

Bishops

  • 783–809: Wiho I (Wicho I; 783 to 1 April 809)
  • 810–829: Maynard (Meginhard; 810 to 12 April 829)
  • 829–845: Goswin
  • 845–860: Gosbert (845 to 11 April 860)
  • 860–887: Eckbert (860 to 1 February 887)
  • 887–906: Egilmar (887 to 11 May 906)
  • 906–918: Bernard I
  • 918–949: Dodo I (918 to 14 May 949)
  • 949–967: Drogo (949 to 7 November 967)
  • 967–978: Ludolf (967 to 31 March 978)
  • 978–996: Dodo II (978 to 12 April 996)
    • 978–980: Kuno (counter-bishop)
  • 996–1000: Günther (996 to 27 November 1000)
  • 998–1003: Wodilulf (998 to 17 February 1003)
  • 1003–1022: Dietmar (1003 to 18 June 1022)
  • 1023–1027: Meginher (1023 to 10 December 1027)
  • 1028–1036: Gozmar (1028 to 10 December 1036)
  • 1036–1052: Alberich (1036 to 19 April 1052)
  • 1052–1067: Benno I (Werner; 1052–3 December 1067)
  • 1068–1088: Benno II (also Bernard; 1068 to 27 July 1088)
  • 1088–1093: Marquard
  • 1093–1101: Wicho II (1093 to 21 April 1101)
  • 1101–1109: John I (1101 to 13 July 1109)
  • 1109–1119: Gottschalk of Diepholz (1109 to 1 January 1119)
  • 1119–1137: Diethard
    • 1119–1125: Conrad (counter-bishop)
  • 1137–1141: Udo of Steinfurt (1137 to 28 June 1141)
  • 1141–1173: Philipp von Katzenelnbogen (1141 to 15 June 1173)
    • 1141: Wezel (counter-bishop)
  • 1173–1190: Arnold of Altena
  • 1190–1216: Gerard I of Oldenburg-Wildeshausen
  • 1216–1224: Adolphus of Tecklenburg

Prince-bishops and administrators

Prince-Bishops of Osnabrück include:

Sede vacante

  • 1802–1857: sede vacante
    • 1803–1827: Karl von Gruben, Catholic Vicar Apostolic to the See of Osnabrück, void of any regalia
    • 1830–1855: Carl Anton Lüpke, Catholic leading auxiliary bishop
    • 1855–1857: Eduard Jakob Wedekin, in personal union Catholic bishop of Hildesheim

Ordinaries

  • 1857–1866: Paul Ludolf Melchers, S.J. † (3 Aug 1857 Appointed – 8 Jan 1866 Appointed, afterwards Archbishop of Cologne)
  • 1866–1878: Johannes Heinrich Beckmann (5 Apr 1866 Appointed – 30 Jul 1878 Died)
  • 1878–1882: sede vacante
  • 1882–1898: Johann Bernard Höting † (10 Feb 1882 Appointed – 21 Oct 1898 Died)
  • 1899–1914: Heinrich Hubert Aloysius Voß (Voss) † (12 Apr 1899 Appointed – 3 Mar 1914 Died)
  • 1914–1955: Hermann Wilhelm Berning † (14 Jul 1914 Appointed – 23 Nov 1955 Died)
  • 1956–1957: Gerhard Franz (Franziskus) Demann † (21 May 1956 Appointed – 27 Mar 1957 Died)
  • 1957–1987: Helmut Hermann Wittler † (22 Jul 1957 Appointed – 9 Sep 1987 Resigned)
  • 1987–1994: Ludwig Averkamp (9 Sep 1987 Succeeded – 24 Oct 1994 Appointed, afterwards Archbishop of Hamburg)
  • 1995–2023: Franz-Josef Hermann Bode (12 Sep 1995 Appointed – 15 mar 2023 Resigned)
  • 2024–: Dominicus Meier (28 May 2024 Appointed)

Auxiliary bishops

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[9]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Osnabrück — (OSNABRUGENSIS)

This Diocese, directly subject to the Holy See, comprises, in the Prussian Province of Hanover, the civil districts of Osnabrück and Aurich (excepting Wilhelmshaven) and that part of Hanover situated on the west of the Weser. In 1910 it numbered 12 deaneries, 108 parishes, 153 pastoral stations, 271 secular and 12 regular priests, 204,500 Catholics. As Apostolic administrator, the bishop is Vicar Apostolic of the Northern Missions of Germany and Prefect-Apostolic of Schleswig-Holstein (see GERMANY, VICARIATE APOSTOLIC OF NORTHERN). According to the Bull "Impensa Romanorum" (26 March, 1824), he is elected by the chapter of the cathedral, composed of a dean, six canons, and four vicars, elected in turn by the bishop and by the chapter. Among the higher educational institutions of the diocese is the Gymnasium Carolinum, founded by Charlemagne; similar schools are at Meppen, Papenburg, and Osnabrück. The only religious communities of men are the Capuchin convent at Klemenswerth and the Apostolic School of the Marists at Meppen. The religious orders of women include Benedictines, Borromeans, Franciscans, Ursulines, and others.

The Romanesque cathedral of Sts. Crispin and Crispinian was built at the beginning of the twelfth century, and replaced the wooden church erected by Charlemagne. Later it took on Gothic embellishments, and in time became a treasury of precious objects of medieval art. Other fine churches are St. John's, Osnabrück, with three naves, Transition style (1256-1592), the Sacred Heart church (1897-1901), and the churches in Iburg, Lingen, Meppen, Kloster-Oesede, Bissendorf, Norden, Salzbergen, and others. 

HISTORY

The foundation of the diocese is veiled in obscurity, for lack of authentic documents. Osnabrück is certainly the oldest see founded by Charlemagne in Saxony. The first bishop was St. Wiho (785-804); the second bishop, Meginhard, or Meingoz (804-33), was the real organizer of the see. The temporal possessions of the see, originally quite limited, grew in time, and its bishops exercised an extensive civil jurisdiction within the territory covered by their rights of immunity (q. v.). The temporal protectorate (Advocatia, Vogtei) exercised over so many medieval dioceses by laymen became after the twelfth century hereditary in the Amelung family, from whom it passed to Henry the Lion. After Henry's overthrow it fell to Count Simon of Tecklenburg and to his descendants, though the source of many conflicts with the bishops. In 1236 the Count of Tecklenburg was forced to renounce all jurisdiction over the town of Osnabrück, and the lands of the see, the chapter, and the parish churches. On the other hand, the bishop and chapter, from the thirteenth century on, spread their jurisdiction over many convents, churches, and hamlets. Scarcely any other German see freed itself so thoroughly from civil jurisdiction within its territory. The royal prerogatives were transferred little by little to the bishop, e. g., the holding of fairs and markets, rights of toll and coinage, forest and hunting rights, mining royalties, fortresses, etc., so that the bishop by the early part of the thirteenth century was the real governor of the civil territory of Osnabrück.

Among the prominent medieval bishops are Drogo (952-68); Conrad of Veltberg (1002); the learned Thietmar or Detmar (1003-22); Benno II (1067-88); Johann I (1001-10), who built the actual cathedral in place of the wooden one destroyed by fire in the time of his predecessor; Diethard I (1119-37) was the first bishop elected by the free choice of the cathedral clergy; Philip II (1141-73) ended the conflicts between his see and the Abbeys of Corvey and Hersfeld; Arnold (1137-1191) died a crusader before Akkon. In the time of Engelbert of Isenburg (1239-50), Bruno of Isenburg, and Conrad II of Rietberg (1269-97) the new orders of Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians were received with favour. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the power of the bishops waned before the increasing influence of the chapter, of the military servants (or knights) of the diocese, and of the town of Osnabrück. The latter sought to free itself from the bishop's sovereignty, but never became a free city of the empire. The see was almost continually engaged in warlike troubles and difficulties and had also to defend itself against the Bishops of Minden and Münster. From the fourteenth century on we meet many auxiliary bishops of Osnabrück, made necessary by the civil duties that absorbed the attention of the ordinary.

The successor of Bishop Conrad IV of Rietberg (1488-1508) was Eric of Brunswick (1508-32), simultaneously Bishop of Münster and Paderborn. He opposed the Reformers strongly and successfully. Franz of Waldeck (1533-53), also Bishop of Minden, acted, on the contrary, a very doubtful part. He offered little resistance to Lutheranism in Münster, though he vigorously opposed the Anabaptists; after 1543 he allowed in Osnabrück an evangelical service. But the chapter and the Dominicans opposed a German service that dispensed with all the characteristics of the Mass. In 1548 Bishop Franz promised to suppress the Reformation in Osnabrück, and to execute the Augsburg "Interim", but fulfilled his promise very indifferently; on his death-bed he received Lutheran communions. His successor, John IV of Hoya (1553-74), was more Catholic, but was succeeded by three bishops of a Protestant temper: Henry III of Saxony (1574-85), Bernhard of Waldeck (1585-91), and Philip Sigismund (1591-1623). Under them the Reformation overran nearly the whole diocese.

In 1624 Cardinal Eitel Frederick of Hohenzollern became Bishop of Osnabrück, and called in the Jesuits. But he had scarcely begun his work when he died, and left to his successor, Francis of Wartenberg (1625-61), the task of executing the Counter-Reformation (q. v.). The city-council was purified of anti-Catholic elements, and the former Augustinian convent was turned over to the Jesuits. The Edict of Restitution was executed successfully by him, and in 1631 he founded a university at Osnabrück. But in 1633 Osnabrück was captured by the Swedes, the university was discontinued, Catholic religious exercises suppressed, and the see (1633-51) administered by the conquerors. By the Peace of Westphalia, the bishop succeeded in preventing the secularization of the see, as contemplated by the Swedes. Nevertheless, it was stipulated that henceforth a Catholic and a Protestant bishop (of the Augsburg Confession) would alternately hold the see. During the rule of the Protestant bishop, always chosen from the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the spiritual government of the Catholics was committed to the Archbishop of Cologne. Wartenberg was made cardinal in 1660, and was succeeded by the Protestant married "bishop", Ernest Augustus (1661-98), who transferred the residence to Hanover. He was succeeded by the Catholic bishop, Prince Charles Joseph of Lorraine, Bishop of Olmütz, later Archbishop of Trier (1698-1715). The Protestant Bishop Ernest Augustus (1715-21) was succeeded by Clemens August of Bavaria, Elector of Cologne (1721-61). The last bishop, Prince Frederick of England (1761-1803), later Duke of York, was, until his majority (1783), under the guardianship of his father, George III of England.

In 1803 the see, the chapter, the convents, and the Catholic charitable institutions were finally secularized. The territory of the see passed to Prussia in 1806, to the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, to France in 1810, and again to Hanover in 1814. Klemens von Gruben, titular Bishop of Paros, was made vicar Apostolic, and as such cared for the spiritual interests of the Catholic population. Under Leo XII the Bull "Impensa Romanorum Pontificum" (26 March, 1824) re-established the See of Osnabrück as an exempt see, i. e., immediately subject to Rome. This Bull, recognized by the civil authority, promised that, for the present, the Bishop of Hildesheim would be also Bishop of Osnabrück, but had to be represented at Osnabrück by a vicar-general and an auxiliary bishop, and this lasted for thirty years. Klemens von Gruben was succeeded by the auxiliary bishop Karl Anton von Lüpke, also administrator of the North German Missions. After his death new negotiations led to the endowment of an independent see. Pius IX, with the consent of King George V of Hanover, appointed Paulus Melchers of Münster, bishop, 3 August, 1857. In 1866 the territory of the diocese passed, with Hanover, to Prussia; Melchers became Archbishop of Cologne, and was succeeded in 1866 by Johannes Heinrich Beckmann (1866-78), who was succeeded by Bernard Höting (1882-98) after a vacancy of four years owing to the Kulturkampf. The present bishop (1911), Hubert Voss, was appointed 12 April, 1899.

MÖSER, Osnabrückische Geschichte (Osnabrück, 1768), also in MÖSER'S collected works, vols. VI-VIII (Berlin, 1843); SANDROFF, Antistitum Osnabrugensis ecclesiœ regesta (2 parts, Münster, 1785); F. E. STÜVE, Beschreibung und Geschichte des Hochstifts und des Fürstentums Osnabrück (Osnabrück, 1789); C. STÜVE, Gesch, des Hochstifts Osnabrück (Jena and Osnabrück, 1853, 1872, 1882), three pts.; MEURER, Das Bistum Osnabrück (Münster, 1856); MÖLLER, Gesch. der Weihbischöfe von Osnabrück (Lingen, 1887); Osnabrücker Urkundenbuch, ed. by PHILLIPS AND BÄR (4 vols., Osnabrück, 1892-1902); JOSTES, Die Kaiser- und Königsurkunden des Osnabrücker Landes (Münster, 1899); Osnabrücker Geschichtsquellen (Osnabrück, 1891-); SOPP, Die Entwicklung der Landesherrlichkeit im Fürstentum Osnabrück (Idstein, 1902); HOFFMEYER, Gesch. der Stadt und des Regierungsbezirks Osnabrück (Osnabrück, 1904); JAEGER, Die Schola Carolina Osnabrugensis (Osnabrück, 1904); numerous papers in Zeitschrift für vaterländische Gesch. und Altertumskunde (Münster, 1838-); and in Mitteilungen des Vereins für Geschichte und Landeskunde von Osnabrück (33 vols., Osnabrück, to 1909); Elenchus cleri diœceseos Osnabrugensis pro 1910 (Osnabrück, 1910); WÜRM, Führer von Osnabrück (2nd ed., 1906).

References

  1. Back to citation "Diocese of Osnabrück" Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016
  2. Back to citation "Diocese of Osnabrück" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
  3. Back to citation "Bishop Johannes Fabri, O.F.M." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved September 5, 2016
  4. Back to citation "Bishop Johannes Fabri, O.F.M." GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved September 5, 2016
  5. Back to citation "Bishop Godefridus Yerwerd, O.S.B." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved March 21, 2016
  6. Back to citation "Bishop Johannes Meppen, O.S.A." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved March 21, 2016
  7. Back to citation "Bishop Heinrich Schodehoet, O.S.A." Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved September 5, 2016
  8. Back to citation "Bishop Heinrich Schodehoet, O.E.S.A." GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved September 5, 2016
  9. Back to citation Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück, official website

52°16′39″N 8°02′41″E / 52.2776°N 8.0447°E

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