The
Archdiocese of Paderborn is an Archdiocese of the
Latin RiteThe Latin Church or Rite is the majority Rite or particular church within the Catholic Church, comprising roughly 80% of its membership. The Latin Rite is one of the 23 sui iuris particular Churches within the Catholic Church...
of the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
; its seat is
PaderbornPaderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...
. It was a
dioceseIn some forms of Christianity, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bishop,...
from its foundation in 799 until 1802, and again from 1821 until 1930. In 1930, it was promoted to an archdiocese. From 1281 until 1802, the
Bishopric of PaderbornThe Archdiocese of Paderborn is an Archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany; its seat is Paderborn. It was a diocese from its foundation in 799 until 1802, and again from 1821 until 1930. In 1930, it was promoted to an archdiocese...
(German:
Fürstbistum Paderborn) was also a state of the
Holy Roman EmpireThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
.
History
The diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by
Pope Leo IIIPope Saint Leo III was Pope from 795 to his death in 816. Protected by Charlemagne from his enemies in Rome, he subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position by crowning him as Roman Emperor....
. In the early years it was subordinated to the bishop of
WürzburgThe Bishopric of Würzburg was a prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire, located in Lower Franconia, around the city of Würzburg, Germany. Würzburg was a diocese from 743. In the 18th century, its bishop was often also Bishop of Bamberg...
. Since 855 the clergy had the right to elect the bishop. The diocese included the larger part of
LippeLippe is a Kreis in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Schaumburg, Hameln-Pyrmont, Holzminden, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld....
,
WaldeckWaldeck was a sovereign principality in the German Empire and German Confederation and, until 1929, a constituent state of the Weimar Republic. It comprised territories in present-day Hesse and Lower Saxony, ....
, and nearly half of the County of Ravensberg.
Restoration and later history
While the bishopric as a state had been permanently dissolved, the Diocese of Paderborn was recreated by
Pope Pius VIIPope Pius VII, OSB , born Count Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was Pope from March 14, 1800 to August 20, 1823.-Early life:...
in 1821. Through the Prussian Concordate, it was promoted to an archdiocese in 1930; at the same time, Paderborn lost its districts around
ErfurtErfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and is the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nürnberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
and
HeiligenstadtHeilbad Heiligenstadt is a Thuringian town in the Eichsfeld in Germany. It is the capital of the district Eichsfeld. Heiligenstadt is near three-state corners of Thuringia, Hesse and Lower Saxony...
to the Diocese of Fulda, and two small areas to the Archdiocese of Cologne. The dioceses of Fulda and
HildesheimThe Diocese of Hildesheim is a diocese or ecclesiastical territory of the Latin rite of the Catholic Church in Germany...
were made subordinate to it.
When the Diocese of Essen was created in 1958, Paderborn lost a significant portion of its district to it.
In the 80s the
CampingkircheCampingkirche is a German term for church service during summer holiday. The Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches in Germany offer spiritual guidance and church services on campsites. Some have existed for more than 30 years....
was founded.
In 1994 Paderborn lost the part of its district located in the former East Germany to the newly created
Diocese of MagdeburgThe Diocese of Magdeburg is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church located in the Germany. Its seat is Magdeburg; it is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Paderborn....
. Both Magdeburg and the Diocese of Erfurt were made subordinate to Paderborn. At the same time, Hildesheim was made subordinate to the Archdiocese of Hamburg.
In the 1990s, the conflict between the Archdiocese and renegade priest
Eugen DrewermannEugen Drewermann is a German church critic, theologian, peace activist and former Roman Catholic priest. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.Drewermann was born in Bergkamen near Dortmund...
made headlines.
The current archbishop is
Hans-Josef BeckerHans-Josef Becker is the Catholic archbishop of Paderborn, Germany.-Life:Hans Josef Becker completed his advanced level examination in 1967, in Rüthen. Subsequently, he completed a teaching study, which was confirmed with a second state examination in 1972. Thereafter, he studied theology and...
.
In April 2008 pope Benedikt XVI. announced Hubert Berenbrinker as a new
suffragan bishopA suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop.- Catholic Church :In the Catholic Church, the word "suffragan" is generally used only to refer to a diocese in relation to the metropolitan archdiocese of its ecclesiastical province, e.g., the Diocese of...
(
Auxiliary bishopAn auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
).
Ordinaries
- Dietrich Graf von Moers † (13 Apr 1415 Appointed - 24 Jan 1446 Resigned)
- Simon zur Lippe † (21 Feb 1463 Appointed - 7 Mar 1498 Died)
- Hermann Landgraf von Hessen † (7 Mar 1498 Succeeded - 19 Oct 1508 Died)
- Erich Herzog von Braunschweig-Grubenhagen † (17 Nov 1508 Appointed - 14 May 1532 Died)
- Rembert von Kerssenbrock † (26 Mar 1547 Appointed - 12 Feb 1568 Died)
- Johann Graf von Hoya zu Stolzenau † (22 Feb 1568 Appointed - 5 Apr 1574 Died)
- Salentin VII of Isenburg-Grenzau
Salentin IX of Isenburg-Grenzau was the Archbishop of Cologne as "Salentin of Isenburg" from 1567 until 1577, the Bishop of Paderborn from 1574 until 1577, and the Count of Isenburg-Grenzau from 1577 to 1610.-Early life:Salentin IX was the second son of Count Henry of Isenburg-Grenzau...
† (21 Apr 1574 Appointed - 5 Sep 1577 Resigned)
- Heinrich Herzog von Sachsen-Lauenburg † ( 1577 Appointed - 3 May 1585 Died)
- Dietrich von Fürstenberg † (5 Jun 1585 Appointed - 4 Dec 1618 Died)
- Ferdinand of Bavaria
Ferdinand of Bavaria was Prince-elector archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne from 1612 to 1650 as successor of Ernest of Bavaria...
† (13 Dec 1618 Succeeded - 13 Sep 1650 Died)
- Dietrich Adolf von Reck † (3 Nov 1650 Appointed - 30 Jan 1661 Died)
- Ferdinand Reichsfreiherr von Fürstenberg † (20 Apr 1661 Appointed - 26 Jun 1683 Died)
- Hermann Werner Reichsfreiherr von Wolf-Metternich zu Gracht † (15 Sep 1683 Appointed - 21 May 1704 Died)
- Franz Arnold Reichsfreiherr von Wolf-Metternich zur Gracht † (21 May 1704 Succeeded - 25 Dec 1718 Died)
- Clemens August of Bavaria
Clemens August of Bavaria , was a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria and Archbishop-Elector of Cologne.-Biography:...
† (27 Mar 1719 Appointed - 6 Feb 1761 Died)
- Wilhelm Anton Freiherr von der Asseburg zu Hinnenburg † (25 Jan 1763 Appointed - 26 Dec 1782 Died)
- Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Westphalen † (26 Dec 1782 Succeeded - 6 Jan 1789 Died)
- Franz Egon Freiherr von Fürstenberg † (6 Jan 1789 Succeeded - 11 Aug 1825 Died)
- Friedrich Klemens Freiherr von Ledebur † (10 Nov 1825 Appointed - 30 Aug 1841 Died)
- Richard Kornelius Dammers † (27 Nov 1841 Appointed - 11 Oct 1844 Died)
- Johann Franz Drepper † (11 Jan 1845 Appointed - 5 Nov 1855 Died)
- Martin Konrad † (29 Jan 1856 Appointed - 16 Jul 1879 Died)
- Franz Kaspar Drobe † (24 Mar 1882 Appointed - 7 Mar 1891 Died)
- Hubert Theophil Simar † (25 Jun 1891 Appointed - 24 Oct 1899 Appointed, Archbishop of Köln {Cologne})
- Wilhelm Schneider † (10 May 1900 Appointed - 31 Aug 1909 Died)
- Karl Joseph Schulte
Karl Joseph Schulte , was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Cologne from 1920 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1921.-Biography:...
† (30 Nov 1909 Appointed - 8 Mar 1920 Appointed, Archbishop of Köln {Cologne})
- Kaspar Klein † (30 Apr 1920 Appointed - 26 Jan 1941 Died)
- Lorenz Jäger † (29 May 1941 Appointed - 30 Jun 1973 Retired)
- Johannes Joachim Degenhardt
Johannes Joachim Degenhardt was the Archbishop of Paderborn, Germany, as well as a cardinal.-Life:...
† (15 Mar 1974 Appointed - 25 Jul 2002 Died)
- Hans-Josef Becker
Hans-Josef Becker is the Catholic archbishop of Paderborn, Germany.-Life:Hans Josef Becker completed his advanced level examination in 1967, in Rüthen. Subsequently, he completed a teaching study, which was confirmed with a second state examination in 1972. Thereafter, he studied theology and...
(3 Jul 2003 Appointed - )
External links