Roman Catholic Diocese of Passau

The Diocese of Passau may be considered the successor of the ancient Diocese of Lorch (Laureacum). At Lorch, a Roman station and an important stronghold at the confluence of the rivers Enns and Danube, Christianity found a foothold in the third century, during a period of Roman domination, and a Bishop of Lorch certainly existed in the fourth. The letter of Pope Symmachus (498–514) to Archbishop Theodore of Lorch is a forgery of Bishop Pilgrim.[3] During the great migrations, Christianity on the Danube was completely rooted out, and the Celtic and Roman population was annihilated or enslaved.

In the region between the rivers Lech and Enns, the wandering Baiuvarii were converted to Christianity in the seventh century, while the Avari, to the east, remained pagan. The ecclesiastical organization of Bavaria was brought about in 739 by the papal legate St. Boniface, who, with the support of Duke Odilo or at least enacting an earlier design of the duke,[4] erected the four sees of Freising, Ratisbon, Passau, and Salzburg.[5] He confirmed as incumbent of Passau, Bishop Vivilo, or Vivolus, who had been ordained by in Rome by Pope Gregory III (731-741). Thenceforth, Vivilo resided permanently at Passau, on the site of the old Roman colony of Batavis. Here was a church, the founder of which is not known, dedicated to St. Stephen. To Bishop Vivilo's diocese was annexed the ancient Lorch, which meanwhile had become a small and unimportant place. By the duke's generosity, a cathedral was soon erected near the Church of St. Stephen, and here the bishop lived in common with his clergy.

The ecclesiastical province of Bavaria was created on 20 April 798, at the request of Charlemagne. Pope Leo III named Salzburg its metropolitan archdiocese, and appointed as suffragan dioceses in the province: Passau, Ratisbon, Freising, Säben-Brixen, and Neuburg. He sent Bishop Arno of Salzburg the pallium.[6] The diocese of Passau was subject to Salzburg until 1728; from 1728 until 1817 it was directly subject to the Holy See (Papacy); from 1826, it was subject to the archdiocese of Munich-Freising.[7]

The boundaries of the diocese extended westwards to the river Isar, and eastwards to the Enns. In ecclesiastical affairs Passau was probably, from the beginning, suffragan to Salzburg. Through the favour of Dukes Odilo and Tassilo, the bishopric received many gifts, and several monasteries arose—e.g. Niederaltaich Abbey, Niedernburg Abbey, Mattsee Abbey, Kremsmünster Abbey—which were richly endowed. Under Bishop Waltreich (774–804), after the conquest of the Avari, who had assisted the rebellious Duke Tassilo, the district between the Enns and the Raab was added to the diocese, which thus included the whole eastern part (Ostmark) of Southern Bavaria and part of what is now Hungary.

Pope Eugenius II (824–827) was said to have sent a letter to four bishops in Moravia and Hungary (Pannonia), informing them that he had created Bishop Urolfus of Passau an archbishop, and made him metropolitan of an ecclesiastical province, which included the dioceses of Favianensis, Speculiiuliensis (also known as Ouguturensis), Nitravensis, and Vetuarensis.[8] Only two of the diocesan names are known. The document, however, is a forgery.[9] It was invented by Bishop Pilgrim, to advance his claim that the diocese of Passau was the successor of the (arch)diocese of Lorch, and was entitled to the pallium.[10] Neither the German kings nor the popes ever acknowledged validity of the claim.[11]

On 24 September 860, at the request of Bishop Hartwig of Passau, King Louis II granted a number of mansiones to Hartwig's chorepiscopus[12] Alberic.[13] But in May 864,[14] Pope Nicholas I, writing to King Louis, noted that Bishop Hartwig of Passau had been paralysed for the previous four years (abhinc quattuor annos), but that he could not simply be deposed or set aside; he could, however, resign the diocese, if he were able to execute the proper documents.[15]

The first missionaries to the pagan Hungarians went out from Passau, and in 866 the Church sent missionaries to Bulgaria.[16]

Before the spring 873, a three year long struggle on the part of several German bishops attempted to unseat Bishop Methodius, the "Apostle to the Slavs."[17] Pope John VIII (872–882) wrote to his legate in Germany and Pannonia, Bishop Paul of Ancona, ordering him to advise King Louis that Pannonia was directly subject to the Holy See (Papacy), and that he should inform Archbishop Alvinus of Salzburg and Bishop Ermericus of Passau that if they should deprive Bishop Methodius of his sacred ministry, the pope would do the same to them.[18] Ermericus captured Methodius, kept him in prison during the bitter winter, held a meeting of bishops, and would have had Methodius beaten in public, were it not for the intervention of others. Pope John suspended Emericus, and summoned him, along with Bishop Paul and Bishop Methodius, to Rome for trial.[19] He died on 2 January 874.[20]

The Magyars made their first incursions into northern Italy in 899; in 900, they made their first raids into Bavaria.[21] In July 900, Archbishop Dietmar of Salzburg, Bishops Waldo of Frising, Erchanbald of Eichstatt, Zacharias of Säben-Brixen, Tuto of Ratisbon, and Richarius of Passau, sent a letter of complaint to Pope John IX.[22] They wrote that three bishops had come into the diocese of Passau from Moravia, Archbishop John and Bishops Benedict and Daniel, and had consecrated an archbishop and three bishops without the knowledge of the archbishop of Salzburg or the consent of the bishop of Passau. They reminded the pope of the good deeds of the kings of the Franks toward his predecessors; they refuted the charges of the Slavs; and they advised the pope not to believe the lies that they were telling about the Bavarian bishops.[23][24]

Passau, the outermost eastern bulwark of the Germans, suffered most from the incursions of the Hungarians. At that time many churches and monasteries were destroyed. When, after the victory the Battle of Lechfeld, the Germans pressed forward and regained the old Ostmark, Bishop Adalbert (946-971) hoped to extend his spiritual jurisdiction over Hungary. He was present at the Council of Ingelheim in 948, and his title is given as "bishop", not "archbishop."[25]

His successor, Bishop Piligrim (971-991), who worked successfully for the Christianization of Pannonia, aspired to free Passau from the metropolitan authority of Salzburg, but was completely frustrated in this, as well as in his attempt to assert the metropolitan claims which Passau was supposed to have inherited from Lorch, and to include all Hungary in his diocese. By founding many monasteries in his diocese he prepared the way for the princely power of later bishops. He also built many new churches and restored others from ruins.[26]

The Prince-Bishopric of Passau, circa 1760. It was much smaller than the diocese of the same name.

His successor, Christian (991-1002) received in 999 from Emperor Otto III the market privilege and the rights of coinage, taxation, and higher and lower jurisdiction.[27] Bishop Christian attended the diet of Frankfurt in 1007, at which the decision was taken to establish the diocese of Bamberg, and in 1012 he participated in the consecration of its new cathedral.[28] The Emperor Henry II granted him a large part of the North Forest. Henceforward, indeed, the bishops ruled as princes of the empire, although the title was used for the first time only in a document in 1193. Under Berengar (1013–1045) the whole district east of the Viennese forest as far as Letha and March was placed under the jurisdiction of Passau. During his time the cathedral chapter made its appearance, but there is little information concerning its beginning as a distinct corporation with the right of electing a bishop. This right was much hampered by the exercise of imperial influence.

At the beginning of the Investiture Controversy, Bishop Altmann occupied the see (1065–1091) and was one of the few German bishops who adhered to Pope Gregory VII. He served as papal legate of Pope Gregory.[29] In 1175, he held a council in Passau, in which he had Pope Gregory's synodical letters of 1074 and 1075 read to the assembly; they mandated clerical celibacy. There was difficulty in enforcing the mandate, and Altmann wrote to the pope, who replied that if one of the clergy complied, he could be restored to his position, but if one refused, he was to be cut off completely.[30] In 1080, Pope Gregory deposed Bishop Otto of Konstanz in the Roman synod of Lent, and ordered Bishop Altmann to travel to Konstanz and supervise the election of a proper bishop.[31] In 1081, he commissioned Altmann to win back the archbishop of Salzburg and the other bishops who had gone over to King Henry IV, and that he should receive fraternally those who returned to papal obedience, in particular Bishop Benno of Osnabrück.[32]

Bishop Ulrich (1092–1121) was present at the synod held by Pope Urban II at Piacenza from 1–7 March 1095.[33] He was for a time driven from his see by Emperor Henry IV,[34] promoted monastic reforms and supported the Crusades. Reginmar (1121–1138), Reginbert, Count of Hegenau (1136–1147) who took part in the crusade of Conrad III, and Conrad of Austria (1149–1164), a brother of Bishop Otto of Freising, were all interested in the foundation of new monasteries and the reform for those already existing. Bishop Conrad attended the diet of Ratisbon on 17 September 1156, and witnessed the privilegium of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, in which he elevated the Ostmark of Austria into a duchy.[35]

Bishop Diepold of Berg went on the Third Crusade with Frederick Barbarossa in 1189, accompanied by the dean of the cathedral, Tageno,[36] whose diary contributed to later authors. Diepold died in Antioch on 3 November 1190, probably of some plague.[37]

Bishop Ulrich (1215–1221), was formally recognized as a prince of the empire at the Reichstag of Nuremberg in January 1217.[38] The reforms which were begun by bishops Gebhard von Plaien (1221–1232) and Rüdiger von Rodeck (1233–1250) found a zealous promoter in Otto von Lonsdorf (1254–1265), one of the greatest bishops of Passau. He took stringent measures against the relaxed monasteries, introduced the Franciscans and Dominicans into his diocese, promoted the arts and sciences, and collected the old documents which had survived the storms of the preceding period, so that to him we owe almost all our knowledge of the early history of Passau. [39] Bishop Peter, formerly Canon of Breslau, contributed to the House of Habsburg by bestowing episcopal fiefs on the sons of King Rudolph.

Bishop Godefrid presided over a diocesan synod, held at St. Pölten on 19 March 1284.[40] Bishop Bernhard of Prambach held a diocesan synod in Passau in June 1293.[41]

Under Bernhard of Brambach (1285–1313), Passau started striving to become a free imperial city. After an uprising in May 1298, the bishop granted the burghers, in the municipal ordinance of 1299, privileges in conformity with what was called the Bernhardine Charter. The cathedral having been burned down in 1281, he built a new cathedral which lasted until 1662. Bishop Bernhard died on 27 July 1313.[42] The cathedral Chapter met as usual to select a successor, but the result was disorder. Two factions selected two different candidates, the larger part chose Canon Gebehard Walse, the minority Canon Albertus, the son of the King of the Romans. Gebehard went to Avignon, to lodge an appeal with Pope Clement V, who died on 20 April 1314 before the matter was resolved; Gebehard too died before a new pope was elected. Pope John XXII rejected Albert, who was under age and not in holy orders. He then, on 3 June 1317, appointed Henri of Vienne, the brother of Jean, the Dauphin of Viennois, who was also under age and not in holy orders.[43] In fact, in April 1313, Pope Clement had granted Henri a license for seven years to study civil law, with the provision that he reside in one of his benefices. Then, on 6 September 1316, Pope John had written to the bishop of Grenoble that Henri wanted to resign all his benefices, and that the bishop should accept his resignations.[44] Documents indicate that there was no bishop seated in Passau in 1317–1320, and that episcopal functions were being carried out by the bishop of Frising.[45] Finally, Pope John XXII appointed Albert of Saxony to the diocese of Passau, on 14 June 1320, though he was only in minor orders, and rector of the parish of Vienna. On 22 June 1320 he was given the privilege of having all his ordinations carried out on the same day, by a bishop of his own choosing.[46] He was ordained a subdeacon in Vienna, and ordained and consecrated in Salzburg by the archbishop in September 1321.[47]

Bishop Albert von Winkel (1363–1380) was particularly active in the struggle with the burghers and in resisting the robber-knights. The Black Death visited the bishopric under Gottfried II von Weitzenbeck (1342–1362). George I von Hohenlohe (1388–1421), who, after 1418, was imperial chancellor, energetically opposed the Hussites.

During the time of Ulrich III von Nussdorf (1451–1479) the diocese suffered its first great curtailment. At the request of the Emperor Frederick III, the Diocese of Vienna was established by Pope Paul II on 18 January 1469, out of territory taken from the Diocese of Passau.[48] This diocese was afterwards further enlarged at the expense of Passau by Pope Sixtus IV. Towards the close of the fifteenth century the conflict between an Austrian candidate for the see and a Bavarian brought about a state of war in the diocese.

The Protestant Reformation was kept out of all the Bavarian part of the diocese, except the Countship of Ortenburg, by the efforts of Ernest of Bavaria who, though never consecrated, ruled the diocese from 1517 to 1541. Lutheranism found many adherents, however, in the Austrian portion. Bishops Wolfgang von Salm (1540–1555) and Urban von Trennbach (1561–1598) led the counter-Reformation. Under Bishop Wolfgang the Peace of Passau was concluded, in the summer of 1552.[49] The last Bavarian prince-bishop was Urban, who in his struggles during the Reformation received substantial aid for the Austrian part of the diocese from Albert V, Duke of Bavaria, and, after 1576, from Emperor Rudolf II. All the successors of Urban were Austrians. Bishop Leopold I (1598–1625) (also Bishop of Strasburg after 1607) was one of the first to enter the Catholic League of 1609. In the Thirty Years' War he was loyal to his brother, Emperor Ferdinand II. Leopold II Wilhelm (1625–1662), son of Ferdinand II, a pious prince and a great benefactor of the City of Passau, especially after the great conflagration of 1662, finally united five bishoprics.

Bishop Wenzelaus von Thun (1664–1673) began the new cathedral which was completed thirty years later by his successor Cardinal John Philip von Lamberg. Bishop John Philip was named a cardinal by Pope Innocent XII on 21 June 1700.[50] His nephew and successor, Bishop Joseph Dominicus von Lamberg (1723–1762), was appointed a cardinal by Pope Clement XII on 20 December 1737.[51] They were brother and son to Franz Joseph I, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg, and both cardinals served as diplomats for the Austrian court.

In November 1719, the Emperor Charles VI wrote to Pope Clement XI, requesting that he elevate the bishopric of Vienna to the rank of metropolitan see. The pope referred the proposal to the Consistorial Congregation, which reported favorably on 6 March 1721. Before the bulls could be prepared for signature, however, the pope died, on 19 March. The new pope, Innocent XIII, issued the bulls on 1 June 1722, and named Sigismund von Kollonitz to the archbishopric.[52] When Vienna was raised to an archdiocese in 1722, Bishop Raymond von Rabatta relinquished the parishes beyond the Viennese Forest, but in compensation the diocese of Passau was exempted from the metropolitan authority of Salzburg, and became a metropolitan diocese itself, directly dependent upon the Holy See (Papacy); the bishop obtained the pallium for himself and his successors.[53] Archbishop Leopold Ernst von Firmian (1763–1783), created cardinal by Pope Clement XIV on 14 December 1772,[54] established an institute of theology at Passau, and, after the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773,[55] founded a lyceum.

Under Archbishop Joseph von Auersperg (1783–1795), the Emperor Joseph II took away two-thirds of the diocese to form the dioceses of Linz and St. Pölten and to enlarge for the last time the archdiocese of Vienna. Pope Pius VI issued the bull "Romanus Pontifex" on 28 January 1784, establishing the diocese of Linz.[56] On the same day, the pope issued another bull, "Inter plurimas," in which he established the diocese of St. Pölten, also partially on territory which had been part of the diocese of Passau.[57]

The last prince-bishop, Leopold von Thun (1796–1826), saw the secularization of the old bishopric in 1803;[58] the City of Passau and the temporalities on the left bank of the Inn and the right bank of the Ilz went to Bavaria, while the territory on the left banks of the Danube and of the Ilz went to Ferdinand III of Habsburg-Lorraine, the former Grand Duke of Tuscany, becoming part of the Electorate of Salzburg and afterwards to Austria. On 22 February 1803, when the Bavarians marched into Passau, the prince-bishop withdrew to his estates in Bohemia, and never revisited his former residence.[59]

After the abdication of Napoleon (1815), Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria was confirmed as king of Bavaria by the Congress of Vienna, and as a member of the Federative Constitution of Germany, on 8 June 1815. There were adjustments in boundaries, the most significant being the transfer of Salzburg from Bavaria to Austria. New boundaries of ecclesiastical provinces and dioceses, therefore, had to be negotiated. A concordat between Bavaria and the Papacy was negotiated by Cardinal Ercole Consalvi and Baron Johann Casimir Häffelin, and signed on 5 June 1817.[60] The diocese of Freising was suppressed and its territory incorporated into the diocese of Munich.[61] Article IX granted the kings of Bavaria in perpetuity the right to nominate candidates to all the vacant archbishoprics and bishoprics in the kingdom, subject to papal approval.[62]

On 1 April 1818, Pope Pius VII issued the bull "Dei ac Domini", in which he put into effect canonically the changes agreed to in the Concordat with Bavaria.[63] He began by abolishing the ecclesiastical province of Ratisbon, with all the dioceses within it, including Passau, and the Provostship of Berchtesgaden.[64] When the diocese was reconstituted, it contained, in addition to the city of Passau, 136 parishes, which are listed in the papal bull.[65] The Chapter of the cathedral of S. Stephen in Passau was to consist of two dignities, the Provost and the Dean, and eight canons, four major and four minor.[66]

Passau was made directly subject to the Holy See until the death of the last prince-archbishop, Leopold von Thun, which took place on 22 October 1826. Thereafter, the diocese became a suffragan of Munich-Freising.[67]

Pope Benedict XVI was born and baptized on Holy Saturday, 16 April 1927, at Marktl am Inn, which is located within the Diocese of Passau.

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