The Archdiocese of Paderborn is an

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

of the

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language onc ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

; its seat is

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

."Archdiocese of Paderborn"
''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in ...

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved February 29, 2016"Metropolitan Archdiocese of Paderborn"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016 It was a

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

from its foundation in 799 until 1802, and again from 1821 until 1930. In 1930, it was promoted to an archdiocese. From 1281 until 1802, the Bishopric of Paderborn (German: ''Fürstbistum Paderborn'') was also a state of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

History

The diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by

Pope Leo III Pope Leo III (died 12 June 816) was bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 26 December 795 to his death. Protected by Charlemagne from the supporters of his predecessor, Adrian I, Leo subsequently strengthened Charlemagne's position ...

. In the early years it was subordinated to the bishop of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

. Since 855 the clergy had the right to elect the bishop. The diocese included the larger part of

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. ...

, Waldeck, and nearly half of the

County of Ravensberg The County of Ravensberg (german: Grafschaft Ravensberg) was a historical county of the Holy Roman Empire. Its territory was in present-day eastern Westphalia, Germany at the foot of the Osning or Teutoburg Forest. History Ravensberg was f ...

History of the bishopric

Restoration and later history

While the bishopric as a state had been permanently dissolved in 1802, the Diocese of Paderborn, originally

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

to Mainz Archdiocese (till 1805), was recreated by

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...

as a suffragan to Cologne Archdiocese in 1821. Through the

Prussian Concordate The Prussian Concordat was a concordat signed between the Free State of Prussia and the Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Po ...

, it was promoted to an archdiocese in 1930, heading the new

Middle German Ecclesiastical Province The Catholic Church in Germany comprises 7 ecclesiastical provinces each headed by an archbishop. The provinces are in turn subdivided into 20 dioceses and 7 archdioceses each headed by a bishop or an archbishop. List of Dioceses Episcopal C ...

; at the same time, Paderborn lost its districts around

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

and Heiligenstadt to the

Diocese of Fulda The Diocese of Fulda (Latin ''Dioecesis Fuldensis'') is a Roman Catholic diocese in the north of the German state of Hessen. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Paderborn. The bishop's seat is in Fulda Cathedral. History The histo ...

, and two small areas to the Archdiocese of Cologne. The dioceses of Hildesheim and Fulda were made its suffragans. When the

Diocese of Essen The Diocese of Essen is a bishopric of the Catholic Church in Germany, founded on 1 January 1958. The Bishop of Essen is seated in Essen Cathedral (''Essener Dom'' or ''Essener Münster''), once the church of Essen Abbey, and over one thousand y ...

was created in 1958, Paderborn lost a significant portion of its district to it. In the 1980s the

Campingkirche Campingkirche is a German term for church service during summer holiday. The Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reforme ...

was founded. In 1994 Paderborn lost the part of its district located in the former

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

to its newly created suffragan Diocese of Magdeburg. Also the new

Diocese of Erfurt The Diocese of Erfurt is a diocese of the Catholic church in Germany. The diocese was created in 1973 as the apostolic administration of Erfurt-Meiningen, and was elevated in 1994 to the current diocese of Erfurt. The diocese is a suffragan of ...

was made subordinate to Paderborn. At the same time, Hildesheim was made subordinate to the

Archdiocese of Hamburg The Archdiocese of Hamburg (Lat. ''Archidioecesis Hamburgensis''; Ger. Erzbistum Hamburg) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese in the north of Germany and covers the Federal States of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein as well as ...

. In the 1990s, the conflict between the Archdiocese and renegade priest

Eugen Drewermann Eugen Drewermann (born 20 June 1940) is a German church critic, theologian, peace activist and former Catholic priest. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Drewermann was born in Bergkamen near Dortmund. He is best know ...

made headlines. The current archbishop is

Hans-Josef Becker Hans-Josef Becker (born 8 June 1948) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church who was the archbishop of Paderborn in Germany from 2003 to 2022. Life Hans Josef Becker was born in , Warstein, Germany, on 8 June 1948. He completed his advanced l ...

. In April 2008 pope Benedict XVI. announced Hubert Berenbrinker as a new auxiliary bishop.

Ordinaries

Bishops to 1321

Prince-Bishops (1321 to 1802)

Archbishops

* Franz Egon Freiherr von Fürstenberg † (6 Jan 1789 Succeeded – 1802 Promoted to Archbishop)

Bishops

*Franz Egon Freiherr von Fürstenberg † (1821 Demoted to Bishop – 11 Aug 1825 Died) * Friedrich Klemens Freiherr von Ledebur † (10 Nov 1825 Appointed – 30 Aug 1841 Died) * Richard Kornelius Dammers † (27 Nov 1841 Appointed – 11 Oct 1844 Died) * Johann Franz Drepper † (11 Jan 1845 Appointed – 5 Nov 1855 Died) *

Konrad Martin Konrad Martin (18 May 1812, at Geismar, Province of Saxony – 16 July 1879, at Mont St Guibert, near Brussels, Belgium) was a Catholic Bishop of Paderborn. Life Konrad Martin studied first under an elder brother who was a priest, and later at t ...

† (29 Jan 1856 Appointed – 16 Jul 1879 Died) * Franz Kaspar Drobe † (24 Mar 1882 Appointed – 7 Mar 1891 Died) *

Hubert Theophil Simar Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers. ...

† (25 Jun 1891 Appointed – 24 Oct 1899 Appointed, Archbishop of Köln ) *Wilhelm Schneider † (10 May 1900 Appointed – 31 Aug 1909 Died) *

Karl Joseph Schulte Karl Joseph Schulte (14 September 1871 – 11 March 1941), was a German Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Cologne from 1920 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1921. Biography Karl Joseph S ...

† (30 Nov 1909 Appointed – 8 Mar 1920 Appointed, Archbishop of Köln ) *

Caspar Klein Caspar Klein (born 28 August 1865 in Elben; died 25 January 1941) was a Catholic Archbishop of Paderborn, Germany, during the Nazi era. As Archbishop of Paderborn in the 1930s, Klein protested the anti-Christian propaganda put out by the Nazis. ...

† (30 Apr 1920 Appointed)

Archbishops

*Caspar Klein (1930 Promoted to archbishop – 26 January 1941 Died) *

Lorenz Jaeger Lorenz Jaeger (23 September 1892 – 1 April 1975) was a German cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Paderborn from 1941 to 1973, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1965. Biography Lorenz Jaeger was born in ...

(29 May 1941 Appointed – 30 June 1973 Retired) * Johannes Joachim Degenhardt (15 March 1974 Appointed – 25 July 2002 Died) *

(3 July 2003 – 1 October 2022)

Auxiliary bishops

Diocese (to 1802)

* Johannes Fabri, O.F.M. (1437–1458)"Bishop Johannes Fabri, O.F.M."
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved July 29, 2016"Bishop Johannes Fabri, O.F.M."
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016 * Johannes Schulte, O.S.A. (1455–1466)"Bishop Johannes Schulte, O.S.A."
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved July 29, 2016 * Heinrich Vuyst (Wust), O.F.M. (1462–1468)"Bishop Heinrich Vuyst (Wust), O.F.M."
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved October 7, 2016"Bishop Heinrich Vuyst, O.F.M."
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved October 7, 2016 * Johannes Ymminck, O.S.A. (1469–1493)"Bishop Johannes Ymminck, O.S.A."
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved July 29, 2016 * Johann Welmecher, O.F.M. (1481–1505) * Albert Engel (bishop), O.F.M. (1493–1500)"Bishop Albert Engel, O.F.M."
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved September 5, 2016 * Johannes Schneider (bishop), O.F.M. (1507–1551)"Bishop Johannes Schneider, O.F.M."
''

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved September 5, 2016"Bishop Johannes Schneider"
''GCatholic.org''. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved September 5, 2016 *

Nikolaus Arresdorf Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...

, O.F.M. Conv. (1592–1620) *

Johannes Pelking Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as " John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' ...

(Pelcking), O.F.M. Conv. (1619–1642) * Bernhard Frick (1644–1655) *Pantaleon Bruns,

O.S.B. , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

(1721–1727) *Winimar Knippschild,

O.S.B. , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

(1729–1732) *Meinwerk Kaup,

O.S.B. , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

(1733–1745) *Johann Christoph von Crass (1746–1751) *Franz Josef von Gondola,

O.S.B. , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

(1752–1761)

Diocese (1821–1830)

*Richard Kornelius Dammers (1824–1842) Appointed, Bishop of Paderborn

Archdiocese (1830–present)

*Anton Ferdinand Holtgreven (1843–1848) *Joseph Freusberg (1854–1889) *Augustinus Göckel (1890–1912) *Heinrich Hähling von Lanzenauer (1912–1925) *Johannes Hillebrand (1926–1931) *Augustinus Philipp Baumann (1932–1953) *Wilhelm Weskamm (1949–1951) *Friedrich Maria Heinrich Rintelen (1951–1970) *Franz Hengsbach (1953–1957) *Wilhelm Tuschen (1958–1961) *Paul Heinrich Nordhues (1961–1990) * Johannes Joachim Degenhardt (1968–1974) Appointed, Archbishop of Paderborn *Hans-Georg (Johannes) Braun (1970–1973) *Paul Josef Cordes (1975–1975) *Paul-Werner Scheele (1975–1979) *Hubert Berenbrinker (1977–2008) *Hans Leo Drewes (1980–1997) *Paul Consbruch (1980–1999) *Franz-Josef Hermann Bode (1991–1995) *Heinz Josef Algermissen (1996–2001) *Reinhard Marx (1996–2001) *

(1999–2003) Appointed, Archbishop of Paderborn *Karl-Heinz Wiesemann (2002–2007) *Manfred Grothe (2004–2015) *Matthias König (2004– ) *Hubert Berenbrinker (2008-2020) *Dominicus (Michael) Meier,

O.S.B. , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

(2015– )

Structure

The archdiocese is allocated in 19 districts ('' Dekanate'').Erzbistum Paderborn - Aus den Dekanaten
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References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control

799 establishments Dioceses established in the 8th century 8th-century establishments in Germany Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces in Germany