Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamburg

The Archdiocese of Hamburg (Lat. Archidioecesis Hamburgensis; Ger. Erzbistum Hamburg) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the north of Germany and covers the Federal States of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein as well as the Mecklenburgian part of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In terms of surface area it is the largest in Germany. It is characterized by its situation as a diocese in the Diaspora. Seat of the archbishop is the New St. Mary's Cathedral in Sankt Georg, Hamburg. On January 26, 2015 Stefan Heße, Generalvikar of the Archdiocese of Cologne, was appointed Archbishop of Hamburg.[1]

For the medieval archdiocese, see Archbishopric of Bremen.
Archdiocese of Hamburg

Archidioecesis Hamburgensis

Erzbistum Hamburg
Cathedral of Our Lady, Hamburg
Location
CountryGermany
Ecclesiastical provinceHamburg
Deaneries17
Statistics
Area32,493 km2 (12,546 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2019)
5,871,102
398,425 (6.8%)
Information
DenominationCatholic Church
Sui iuris churchLatin Church
RiteRoman Rite
Established23 July 1973
(As Apostolic Administration of Schwerin)
24 October 1994
(As Archdiocese of Hamburg)
CathedralCathedral of Our Lady, Hamburg
Patron saintSt Ansgar
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
ArchbishopStefan Heße
SuffragansDiocese of Hildesheim
Diocese of Osnabrück
Auxiliary BishopsRev. Msgr. Horst Eberlein (Auxiliary Bishop-elect; Titular Bishop-elect of Tisedi; appointed by Pope Francis Feb. 9 '17)
Vicar GeneralRev. Ansgar Thim
Bishops emeritusWerner Thissen
Map
Website
erzbistum-hamburg.de

History

In 831, Hamburg was elevated to an archbishopric by Pope Gregory IV and in 834 the Benedictine monk Ansgar was elected as the first archbishop. After the looting of Hamburg by Vikings, in 845, the archbishopric of Hamburg was united with the bishopric of Bremen, and the archbishop's seat was moved to Bremen. Still, there was a cathedral chapter in Hamburg with several special rights, which started to build St. Mary's Cathedral. The incumbents of the Hamburg-Bremen see are usually titled Archbishop of Hamburg and Bishop of Bremen between 848 and 1072, however, some later archbishops continued the tradition of naming both dioceses until 1258. During the Reformation the bishopric underwent steady deterioration and finally, with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, it ceased to exist.

By the apostolic constitution Omnium Christifidelium of Pope John Paul II, of October 24, 1994 coming into effect on January 7, 1995, the archdiocese of Hamburg was erected again. Today it consists of territory that once belonged to the dioceses of Osnabrück, and Hildesheim, namely the Free and Hanse-City of Hamburg, the State of Schleswig-Holstein and the half-State of Mecklenburg. The cathedral and the vicar-general are seated in the city-quarter Sankt Georg which is located in the borough of Hamburg-Central.

Ordinaries

References
  1. "Freue mich auf die Begegnungen", domradio, Germany, 26 January 2015. Retrieved on 26 January 2015.
  2. "Rinunce e Nomine, 26.01.2015" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2021.

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