Diocese of Speyer

Diocese of Speyer Dioecesis Spirensis Bistum Speyer
Speyer Cathedral Speyer Cathedral
Location
Country	Germany
Ecclesiastical province	Bamberg
Metropolitan	Archdiocese of Bamberg
Statistics
Area	6,025 km2 (2,326 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2022) 1,574,330 508,700 (32.3%)
Parishes	346
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	4th Century
Cathedral	Speyer Cathedral
Patron saint	Mary, Mother of God
Secular priests	242 (Diocesan) 27 (Religious Orders) 65 Permanent Deacons
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	Karl-Heinz Wiesemann Bishop of Speyer
Metropolitan Archbishop	Ludwig Schick Archbishop of Bamberg
Auxiliary Bishops	Otto Georgens
Map
Website
bistum-speyer.de

The Diocese of Speyer (Latin: Dioecesis Spirensis) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is located in the South of the Rhineland-Palatinate and comprises also the Saarpfalz district in the east of the Saarland. The bishop's see is in the Palatinate city of Speyer.

The current bishop is Karl-Heinz Wiesemann.

As of 31 December 2022, 32.3% of the population of the diocese was Catholic.

History

In a slightly different hierarchic structure, it is one of the oldest Dioceses in Germany. A bishop of Speyer was first mentioned in a document in 346. Through grants by the Holy Roman Emperor, the prince-bishops of Speyer established themselves as worldly as well as spiritual rulers. The Diocese of Speyer in its current form was established within the borders of the former Rheinkreis, a district of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1817 after the secularization and division of the former bishopric in 1803.

For these historical reasons, Speyer belongs to the Province of Bamberg in Bavaria now, even though its territory has no direct border to Bamberg or any other Bamberg suffragan, and is a member of the Episcopal Conference of Bavaria as well as (like all Bavarian bishops) that of Germany.

20th Century

The German Catholic Churches suffered greatly under persecution by the Nazi regime, and the Diocese of Speyer was among those freed in April 1945, which finally allowed the bishop of Speyer to attend a synod in Fulda after an involuntary, extended break. It is not known if and how many priests of the Diocese were among the 400 deacons, priests, bishops, and pastors imprisoned in Dachau.

In the early 20th Century, the Diocese was a net exporter of priests to other dioceses, including to the United States.

In 1985, Pope John Paul II elevated former Speyer bishop Friedrich Wetter to be a cardinal. This was one of the largest Consistories ever.

21st Century

In April 2020, a Nigerian priest in the Diocese of Speyer quit after “massive” racist threats and abuses were showered upon him. In early 2020, a German court took testimony that during the 1970s, nuns in the Diocese of Speyer had aided and abetted sexual abuse of children at a children’s home, after a legal complaint was filed; the Diocese settled the case in December of that year for €15,000.

In May 2022, Andreas Sturm, a past vicar general of the Diocese of Speyer, left the Roman Catholic Church to join the German Old Catholic Church, after admitting that he broke his vow of celibacy, and over doctrinal disputes.

As of 2023, the Diocese of Speyer authorizes same-sex blessings in the diocese, after a ruling by Bishop Weisemann.

The Diocese of Speyer hosted a meeting of the Synod on Synodality, in 2024, which garnered criticism from a Togolese theologian and priest, who advocated for small dioceses.

Bishops

The current bishop is Karl-Heinz Wiesemann. See also Bishop of Speyer for lists of bishops of the diocese and auxiliary bishops.

Administration

The diocese is directed by bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann.

The diocese is structured in the following deaneries, with borders that are almost the same as the local county borders:

Deanery	City / County	Dean
Bad Dürkheim	City of Neustadt, district Bad Dürkheim	Priest Michael Paul, Neustadt
Donnersberg	District Donnersbergkreis	Priest Markus Horbach, Rockenhausen
Germersheim	District Germersheim	Priest Jörg Rubeck, Germersheim
Kaiserslautern	Kaiserslautern city, Kaiserslautern district	Priest Steffen Kühn, Kaiserslautern
Kusel	District Kusel	Priest Michael Kapolka, Schönenberg-Kübelberg
Landau	Landau city, district Südliche Weinstraße	Priest Axel Brecht, Landau
Ludwigshafen	City of Ludwigshafen	Priest Dominik Geiger, Ludwigshafen
Pirmasens	Pirmasens city, Zweibrücken city, district Südwestpfalz	Priest Johannes Pioth, Pirmasens
Saarpfalz	Saarpfalz district	Priest Eric Klein, Blieskastel-Lautzkirchen
Speyer	City of Speyer, Frankenthal city, district Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis	Priest Pfarrer Markus Hary, Bobenheim-Roxheim

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.

External links

• Official website

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Speyer (SPIRA)

Diocese in Bavaria. The city dates back to the stronghold of Noviomagus, in the territory of the German tribe of the Nemetes, on the left bank of the Rhine. In the course of time a Roman municipality (Colonia Nemetum) developed out of this stronghold; in 451 the municipality was entirely destroyed by Attila. From its ashes arose a new city, Spira of Speyer. Christianity found entrance into the city in the time of the Romans. The first bishop, Jesse (Jessius), is mentioned in the Acts of the synods of Sardica (343) and of Cologne (346), but his historicity is not quite certain. On the other hand there is positive proof of Bishop Hilderich who attended the Synod of Paris held in 614. Since his episcopate the succession of bishops has been unbroken. In 748 Speyer was made suffragan of Mainz; and in 1030 the first stone of the present Romanesque Cathedral of Our Lady was laid; it was intended to be the mausoleum of the Salian emperors. In the struggle over investitures, Bishops Huzmann (1073-90) and Johann I (1090-1104) upheld the Emperor Henry IV and died under the ban of the Church. In 1146 St. Bernard preached the Crusade at Speyer and won King Conrad III to the cause. Beside the four Salian emperors, Philip of Swabia, Rudolph of Habsburg, and the rival kings, Adolph of Nassau and Albert of Austria, are also buried in the cathedral. A lay brotherhood, the Twelve Brothers of Prayer, prayed without intermission in the cathedral, for the repose of the souls of these kings. Among the later bishops Matthias of Ramung (1464-78) should be especially mentioned for his reforming the clergy and people, and bringing new life into the diocese.

At the time of the Reformation several Diets were held at Speyer, the most important being in 1526 and 1529. In 1526 the condition of political affairs enabled the Protestants to secure the relatively favourable decision that each constituent state should act in reference to the matters contained in the Edict of Worms (1521) as it could answer to God and the emperor. But the action taken in 1529 was more decided: the Edict of Worms was to be executed, and the ecclesiastical innovations were to be abolished. Against this the Evangelical constituents protested. By the Reformation the diocese lost two thirds of its churches and benefices. Bishop Eberhard von Dienheim (1581-1610) sought to introduce the reforms ordered by the Council of Trent in the remaining territory. The gains temporally acquired during the Thirty Year's War were nearly all lost by the Treaty of Westphalia (1648). The diocese suffered greatly during the predatory wars of Louis XIV of France, and in 1689 the city and cathedral were burned. In 1794 the cathedral, which had been restored at great expense, was once more ravaged by the lawless soldiery of the French Revolution. In 1801 that part of the diocese on the left bank of the Rhine had to be ceded to Mainz; in 1815 the diocese was assigned to Bavaria; in 1817 it received new boundaries in the Bavarian Concordat and was made suffragan of the new metropolitan Bamberg. By the liberality of King Louis I of Bavaria, the cathedral was suitably decorated (1846-53), the frescoes being done by Schraudolph. The area of the diocese corresponds to that of the Bavarian Palatinate of the Rhine. Dr. Michael Faulhaber, formerly a professor at the University of Strasburg, was appointed bishop in 1910. The diocese has 120 deaneries, 235 parishes, 6 curacies, 86 chaplaincies and vicarships, 377 secular clergy, and 10 regular clergy. The Catholic population is 413,481; the Protestant population is about 500,000. The diocese has also 1 Dominican monastery (Oggersheim), 1 Capuchin monastery (St. Ingbert), and 100 houses for nuns.

REMLING, Gesch. der Bischofe zu Speyer nebst Urkundenbuch (4 vols., Mainz, 1852-54); IDEM, Neuere Gesch. der Bischofe zu Speyer (Speyer, 1867); GEISSEL, Der Kaiserdom zu Speier, I-III (Mainz, 1828; 2nd ed., Cologne, 1876).

Bibliography

49°19′02″N 8°26′33″E / 49.3171°N 8.4424°E