Diocese of Osnabrück
Osnabrugen(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Osnabrück, Germany
The Diocese of Osnabrück is a Latin Church diocese in northwestern Germany, erected in 772 and considered the oldest see founded by Charlemagne. It is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Hamburg, and Dominicus Meier, O.S.B., has been bishop since 28 May 2024.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 772
- Latin
- Osnabrugen(sis)
- Patron
- santos Crispín y Crispiniano
- Annuario code
- 001002481
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 569,400
- Population
- 2,150,000
- Catholic share
- 26.5%
- Priests
- 320
- Catholics per priest
- 1,779
- Extent
- 12,573 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 45
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
- Dominicus Meier
- Born
- 10 July 1959
- Birthplace
- Heggen
- Institute
- Congregazione Sublacense Cassinese dell'Ordine di San Benedetto
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
St. Peter's Cathedral, Osnabrück stands in Osnabrück, 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 Hamburg
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Hamburg.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of HamburgHamburg
- Diocese of HildesheimHildesheim
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Originally founded around 800, Osnabrück (Latin: Dioecesis Osnabrugensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It is distinct from the smaller Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück, an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that lasted until 1803, in which the bishop as prince-bishop held both temporal and spiritual authority.
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].