Archbishopric of Strasbourg
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The Archbishopric of Strasbourg (French Diocèse d'Alsace, German Erzbistum Straßburg, Latin Archidioecesis Argentoratensis o Argentinensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese at Strasbourg, Alsace, and is as immediate bishopric a direct subject to the Holy See in Rome, not to the Catholic Church in France.
The diocese of Strasbourg was first mentioned in 343 and belonged to the ecclesiastical province of the Archbishopric of Mainz since Carolingian times.
Since the 15th century, it is seated at Notre-Dame de Strasbourg.
The Bishopric was a client state of the Holy Roman Empire from the 13th century until 1803. During the late 17th century, most of its territory was annexed by France; this consisted of the areas around the towns of Saverne, Molsheim, Bevefelden, Dachstein, Dambach, Kochersberg, Erstein, Kästenbolz, Rhinau, and the Mundat (consisting of Rouffach, Soultz, and Eguisheim). The annexations were recognized by the Holy Roman Empire in the Treaty of Ryswick of 1697. Only the part of the state that was to the right of the Rhine remained; it consisted of areas around the towns of Oberkirch, Ettenheim, and Oppenau. The remaining territory was secularized to Baden in 1803.
The diocese was elevated to an archdiocese on 1988-06-01 by Pope John Paul II, but is not metropolitan of an ecclesiastical province. The current archbishop is Joseph Doré, in office since 1997 (see also Archbishops of Strasbourg).
As of 31 December 2003, it comprises a total of 762 parishes covering an area of 8.280 km² with 1,713,416 inhabitants of which 75,9% or 1,300,000 are catholics. Also, 619 diocese priests, 50 deacons, 288 ordained priests and 1,728 nuns belong to the Archbishopric of Strasbourg.
External links
- [Homepage of the archbishopric]
- [Homepage of the cathedral]
- [Image of the cathedral]
- [At Catholic-hierarchy.org]
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