The
Archdiocese of Paderborn is an Archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
; 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
dioceseA diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
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 realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
.
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, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe....
,
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 in 1802, the Diocese of Paderborn, originally suffragan to Mainz Archdiocese (till 1805), was recreated by
Pope Pius VIIPope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...
as a suffragan to
Cologne ArchdioceseThe Archdiocese of Cologne is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.-History:...
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 the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg 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 spa town in Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Eichsfeld district.-Geography:Heiligenstadt is approximately 14 km east of the tripoint where the states of Thuringia, Hesse and Lower Saxony meet...
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. Founded in 815 as a missionary diocese by King Louis the Pious, his son Louis the German appointed the famous former archbishop of Rheims, Ebbo, as bishop...
were made its suffragans.
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 Benedict XVI. announced Hubert Berenbrinker as a new
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-Elector 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)
- Henry IV of Saxe-Lauenburg
Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg was a Prince-Archbishop of Bremen , then Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück , then Prince-Bishop of Paderborn . The Roman Catholic Church never confirmed the Lutheran Henry as bishop....
† ( 1577 Appointed - 3 May 1585 Died)
- Dietrich von Fürstenberg † (5 Jun 1585 Appointed - 4 Dec 1618 Died)
- Ferdinand of Bavaria
-Biography:Ferdinand was born in Munich, one of the sons of William V, Duke of Bavaria.His parents decided early that he would have church life, and they sent him to the Jesuit school at Ingolstadt for education in early 1587. He quickly became a canon in: Mainz, Cologne, Würzburg, Trier, Salzburg,...
† (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)
- Konrad Martin
Konrad Martin was a Catholic Bishop of Paderborn.-Life:...
† (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 Jaeger
Lorenz Jaeger was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Paderborn from 1941 to 1973, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965.-Biography:...
† (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