Archdiocese of Bamberg
Bambergen(sis)
Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Bamberg, Germany
The Archdiocese of Bamberg in Bavaria was founded on November 1, 1007, and raised to a metropolitan archdiocese in 1817. Archbishop Herwig Gössl has led it since December 2023, with Speyer, Eichstätt, and Würzburg as suffragans.
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 1 November 1007
- Latin
- Bambergen(sis)
- Patron
- Saint Henry II and Saint Cunigunde
- Annuario code
- 001000806
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 644,200
- Population
- 2,116,121
- Catholic share
- 30.4%
- Priests
- 295
- Catholics per priest
- 2,184
- Extent
- 10,290 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 63
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Archbishop
- Herwig Gössl
- Born
- 22 February 1967
- Birthplace
- München
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
Bamberg Cathedral stands in Bamberg, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Bamberg
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of EichstättEichstätt
- Diocese of SpeyerSpeyer
- Diocese of WürzburgWürzburg
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
One of Germany's 27 Catholic jurisdictions, the Archdiocese of Bamberg (Latin: Archidioecesis Bambergensis) is a Latin Church see in Bavaria with its seat at Bamberg. Its territory takes in most of the administrative regions of Upper Franconia and Middle Franconia, together with small portions of Lower Franconia and the Upper Palatinate. In 2015, Catholics made up 32.9% of the population, and 15.6% of those Catholics reported attending Sunday Mass, a comparatively high figure for Germany.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].