Diocese of Speyer
Spiren(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Speyer, Germany
Latin rite diocese in the southern Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarpfalz district of Saarland, one of Germany's historic sees. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Bamberg. Its cathedral is the Romanesque Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen in Speyer, begun in 1030.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 400
- Latin
- Spiren(sis)
- Patron
- Mary, Mother of God
- Annuario code
- 001003101
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 508,700
- Population
- 1,574,330
- Catholic share
- 32.3%
- Priests
- 242
- Catholics per priest
- 2,102
- Extent
- 6,025 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 84
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
- Karl-Heinz Wiesemann
- Born
- 1 August 1960
- Birthplace
- Herford
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
Speyer Cathedral stands in Speyer, 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
A suffragan of Bamberg.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of BambergBamberg
- Diocese of EichstättEichstätt
- Diocese of WürzburgWürzburg
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Located in the south of the Rhineland-Palatinate and taking in the Saarpfalz district in the east of the Saarland, the Diocese of Speyer (Latin: Dioecesis Spirensis) is a Latin see of the Catholic Church in Germany, with the bishop seated in the Palatinate city of Speyer. Karl-Heinz Wiesemann is the current bishop. As of 31 December 2022, Catholics made up 32.3% of the diocese's population.
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].