Archdiocese of Salzburg Archidioecesis Salisburgensis Erzdiözese Salzburg | |
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 Coat of arms | |
| Location | |
| Country | Austria |
| Territory | Salzburg, Tyrol |
| Ecclesiastical province | Archdiocese of Salzburg |
| Metropolitan | Salzburg, Salzburg |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 9,715 km2 (3,751 sq mi) |
| Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2020) 746,515 460,106 ( 61.6%) |
| Parishes | 210 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Rite | Roman Rite |
| Established | 20 April 798 |
| Cathedral | Cathedral of Saint Rupert and Saint Vergilius |
| Patron saint | Saint Rupert Saint Virgil |
| Secular priests | 196 (diocesan) 97 (religious orders) 54 permanent deacons |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Metropolitan Archbishop | Franz Lackner, O.F.M. |
| Auxiliary Bishops | Hansjörg Hofer |
| Vicar General | Roland Rasser |
| Episcopal Vicars | Gottfried Laireiter |
| Bishops emeritus | Andreas Laun, O.S.F.S. (em. auxiliary bishop) |
| Map | |
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| Website | |
| kirchen.net/portal | |
The Archdiocese of Salzburg (Latin: Archidioecesis Salisburgensis; Bavarian: Erzbistum Soizburg) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Austria. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian archdioceses, serving alongside the Archdiocese of Vienna.
The Archbishopric of Salzburg was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire until 1803, when it was secularized as the Electorate of Salzburg. The archdiocese was reestablished in 1818 without temporal power.
The earliest evidence for Christianity in the area of Salzburg is the establishment of a religious community at or near Juvavia by a follower of Severinus of Noricum, a priest named Maximus. He and his followers were killed by invading Herulians in 477.[1] The only contemporary notice of him occurs in the "Life of Saint Severinus" by Eugippius, who calls him a priest, not a bishop.[2] The notion that he was a bishop derives from a Renaissance inscription in the crypt of the cathedral.[3]
In 739, Boniface, the "Apostle to the Germans," divided Bavaria into four dioceses, one of which was situated at Salzburg. Boniface appointed the abbot Joannes of S. Peter's monastery in Salzburg as its bishop. The "Liber confraternitatum" of S. Peter's gives a list of Joannes' predecessors as abbot: the first was Hrodpertus, who was bishop and abbot; then Anzogolus, who was abbot; Vitalis, who was bishop and abbot; Savolus; who was abbot; Izzo, who was abbot; Florbrigis, who was bishop and abbot; and Joannes.[4]
After the creation of the diocese, the bishops continued to live in the monastery of S. Peter, until the 12th century.[5] On 24 September 774, Bishop Vigilius (745–784) dedicated a new church, dedicated to Bishop Hrodpertus, as his cathedral, and transferred the remains of the saint to it. The monks of S. Peter performed the religious services in S. Hrodpertus as though they were canons of the cathedral.[6] Archbishop Conrad created a separate Chapter of canons for the cathedral of S. Hrodpertus in 1122; the archbishop's arrangements were confirmed by Pope Calixtus II on 19 February 1123, and by Pope Honorius II on 30 April 1125, who ordered the use of the Rule of S. Augustine.[7]
On 20 April 798, at the order of Charlemagne, Pope Leo III named Salzburg a metropolitan archdiocese, with the suffragan diocenses Passau, Ratisbon, Freising, Säben-Brixen, and Neuburg. He sent Bishop Arno the pallium.[8]
In 1070–1072, Archbishop Gebhard created the diocese of Gurk out of part of Carinthia. In 1075, Pope Gregory VII pointed out that the archbishop had not yet assigned appropriate decimae to the new diocese.[9] The boundaries of the diocese of Gurk were finally delimited in 1131 by Archbishop Conrad, and the decima tax assigned in 1144.[10]
On 28 February 1163, Pope Alexander III appointed Archbishop Eberhard of Salzburg his legate for the German kingdom (Legatum in regno Teutonico).[11]
Archbishop Adalbert (Vojtěch) was the third son of Vladislaus II, Duke and King of Bohemia, and Gertrude of Babenberg, Duchess of Bohemia, the daughter of Leopold III, Margrave of Austria. Elected in the autumn of 1168, he was enthroned on 1 November, and on 16 March 1169 consecrated a bishop by the Patriarch of Aquileia, and on 23 March Cardinal Conrad von Wittelsbach presented him with the pallium which had been sent by Pope Alexander.[12] In the schism which had begun at the papal election of 1159, Adalbert took the side of Alexander III against the minority of imperialist cardinals who elected Cardinal John of Struma as antipope Calixtus III (1168–1178). When the archbishop appeared as summoned at the diet of Babenberg on 8 June 1169, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa refused to receive him, and at the beginning of August invaded the territory of Salzburg.[13] On 28 January 1171, Pope Alexander wrote to the king of Bohemia and to the duke of Austria, urging them to come to the aid of the archbishop, who was being harassed by the schismatics.[14] In 1172, on 20 February, the emperor held a diet at Salzburg, to which the archbishop was not invited; he appeared anyway, but did not receive a friendly welcome from the emperor. The bishop of Gurk and the Provost, Dean and Chapter of Salzburg informed the pope that Frederick was pressuring them to elect a different archbishop of Salzburg.[15] In 1773, Barbarossa attacked both Austria and Bohemia, and deposed Archbishop Adalbert's father and uncle Henry II, Duke of Austria.[16]
On 26 May 1174, Frederick Barbarossa held another diet in Ratisbon, attended by nearly all the important men in Germany, and by all the suffragan bishops of Salzburg, except the Bishop of Freising. Archbishop Adalbert and his uncle Henry, Duke of Austria, were present. The stated purpose of the meeting was to decide on the tenure of the diocese of Salzburg by Adalbert. A motion to depose the archbishop was presented by Richerius, the bishop-elect of Brixen, and agreed to by all the leaders of the kingdom except Duke Henry of Austria. At the emperor's command, the assembly elected Heinrich, the Prior of Berchtesgaden, as the new archbishop.[17] On 8 September 1174, Pope Alexander voided all the actions of the diet against Adalbert, and declared Heinrich intrusus.[18]
Archbishop Adalbert of Bohemia was deprived of the diocese of Salzburg by Pope Alexander III on 9 August 1177, to win the favor of the Emperor.[19] Archbishop-elect Heinrich was named bishop of Brixen, on the instigation of the emperor. Cardinal Conrad of Mainz was appointed archbishop of Salzburg.[20]
Adalbert was restored to his diocese on 19 November 1183, ex praecepto Imperatoris.[21] Pope Lucius III confirmed him in all his rights and privileges in a bull of 3 December 1184.[22]
In 1246 (or 1247), Pope Innocent IV issued a decree inhibiting all the cathedral Chapters in Germany from electing a new bishop to a vacant see without consultation with the pope and obtaining his consent.[23] He was well aware that a number of German bishops were supporters of Frederick II, and that, when their sees fell vacant, it was imperative to supply them with successors loyal to the papacy. Archbishop Eberhard of Salzburg had been a supporter of Frederick since 1240, and when he died on 1 December 1246,[24] Pope Innocent was prepared to act, but the Chapter had already unanimously elected Philippus, the son of Duke Bernhard von Kärnten and grandson of King Ottokar I of Bohemia, Provost of Vyšehrad. Innocent paid no attention to their presumption.[25] On 25 February 1247, he wrote to the Chapter of Salzburg that he had appointed the Provost of Fritzlar, Burcardus, to the post of archbishop of Salzburg,[26] and he consecrated him with his own hands.[27] Unfortunately, Archbishop Burcardus died during his journey from Avignon to Salzburg, at Salmannsweiler im Breisgau, at the end of July or beginning of August 1247.[28]
On 12 October 1247, Pope Innocent immediately appointed his subdeacon and chaplain, Philippus, as procurator of the Church of Salzburg, and ordered the Provost and Chapter of the cathedral to obey him as procurator and administrator.[29] Philippus von Kärnten, as archbishop-elect, according to the "Salzburg Chronicle",[30] at the mandate of the pope of 6 February 1249, held a provincial synod in Mühldorf that Spring. The bishops of Frising, Ratisbon, and Seckau were present.[31] Philippus is again noticed as the Elect of Salzburg in 1250, 1251, and 1252.[32] On 20 May 1251, Pope Innocent was compelled to write to the Dean of the cathedral of Ratisbon, charging him to suspend and excommunicate Philippus if he did not obey the agreements approved and mandates given by the pope.[33] Finally, in 1256, the new pope, Pope Alexander IV had heard enough of Philippus' tyrannical behavior, his belligerent attitudes, and his insolent refusal to obey papal orders; he authorized the Church of Salzburg to choose a new archbishop. The leaders of the church assembled and chose Ulrich, Bishop of Seckau, as the new archbishop. The action was contested by Stephen Gutkeled, the Duke of Zagreb (Carinthia) and King Béla IV of Hungary, who promised to support Philippus. The Provost and the Scholasticus of the cathedral headed a delegation to Rome, accompanied by archbishop-elect Ulrich, to acquaint the pope with their activities.[34] Finally, on 5 September 1257, Pope Alexander confirmed the deposition of Philippus and the succession of Archbishop Ulrich;[35] on 19 September 1257, he wrote to the Provost and Chapter of Salzburg, rehearsing everything that had taken place, and confirming Ulrich as archbishop of Salzburg.[36]
Archbishop Arno (785–821) held a provincial synod on 20 January 799;[37] he held another on 16 January 807.[38] Archbishop Eberhard of Regensburg 1200–1246) held a provincial synod in 1219.[39] In 1569, Archbishop Johann Jakob von Kuen-Belasy (1560–1586) presided over a provincial synod.[40]
