Diocese of Essen
Essendien(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Essen, Germany
The Diocese of Essen is a Latin Church diocese covering the industrial Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Erected in 1958, it is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cologne and led by Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck since 2009.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 23 February 1957
- Latin
- Essendien(sis)
- Patron
- Our Lady of Good Counsel
- Annuario code
- 001001377
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 844,188
- Population
- 2,525,313
- Catholic share
- 33.4%
- Priests
- 356
- Catholics per priest
- 2,371
- Extent
- 1,877 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 450
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
- Bishop
- Franz-Josef Overbeck
- Born
- 19 June 1964
- Birthplace
- Marl
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
Essen Cathedral stands in Essen, 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 Cologne
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Cologne.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of KölnKöln
- Diocese of AachenAachen
- Diocese of LimburgLimburg
- Diocese of MünsterMünster
- Diocese of TrierTrier
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Erected on 1 January 1958, the Diocese of Essen serves roughly one million Catholics across the heavily urbanized and industrial Ruhr Area of Germany. Its bishop is seated at Essen Cathedral (Essener Dom or Essener Münster), a church more than a thousand years old that once belonged to Essen Abbey. Its Latin name is Dioecesis Essendiensis.
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].