The Diocese of Nitra (; ; ) is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

diocese of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in western

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, with its seat in

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

. , the bishop is

Viliam Judák Viliam Judák (born 9 November 1957 in Nová Bystrica, Harvelka) is the diocesan Bishop of Nitra, Slovakia. He was a priest in Nitra, where he gained a Doctor of Theology, Th.D. in 1991, and was then seminary rector of St. Gorazd in Nitra (1996– ...

History

The diocese was created as the first one on the territory of present-day Slovakia around 880 (from the

Diocese of Regensburg The Diocese of Regensburg (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church with its episcopal see based in Regensburg, Germany. Its district covers parts of northeastern Bavaria; it is subordinate to the archbishop of Munich and Freising. ...

), during the time of

Great Moravia Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...

. Its first bishop was the Saint Methodius. Its destiny after the fall of Great Moravia isn't known. It was re-established in 1105 as part of the ecclesiastical province of Esztergom in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. In 1977, it was taken from the Archdiocese of Esztergom and attached into the newly established Diocese of Trnava. Before the reorganization in 2008, it was situated in the western parts of the

Trenčín Trenčín (, also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a List of towns in Slovakia, city in western Slovakia of the central Váh River valley near the Czech Republic, Czech border, around from Bratislava. It has a populati ...

and

Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...

regions (basically the former

Trencsén County Trencsén county (Latin: ''comitatus Trentsiniensis / Trenchiniensis''; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Trencsén (vár)megye''; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Trenčiansky komitát / Trenčianska stolica / Trenčianska župa''; ) was an administra ...

) with a strip connecting it to the city of Nitra. It had an area of 5,321 km² and a population of that area was 838,861 of which around 84% were of Catholic faith (2004). On 14 February 2008, the territory of the diocese was reorganized. The diocese lost northern parts to the newly created Diocese of Žilina, but gained territory around the "strip" and southern parts from the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava.

Bishops through 1892

Saint Methodius of Thessaloniki Cyril (; born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (; born Michael, 815–885) were brothers, Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are ...

Wiching Wiching or Viching"Wiching", '' :sk:Encyklopédia Slovenska'' () was the first bishop of Nitra, in present-day Slovakia. Life He served between 880 and 891 AD. Wiching was originally a Benedictine monk from Swabia. After 874, he served Svat ...

(880—891) * Anonymus (900—906) (?) * Svätý Bystrík (?1005—1046) * Gerváz (1106) * I. Miklós (1133) * Pál (Savol) (1137) * I. János (1156) * I. Tamás (1165) * Edvárd (1168—1198) * II. János (1204) * I. Vince (1220—1222) * I. Jakab (1223—1240) * I. Ádám (1241) * Bartolomäus (1242—1243) * II. Ádám (1244—1252) * II. Miklós (1253—1255) * II. Vince (1255—1272) * I. Fülöp (1272) * I. Péter (1279—1281) * Pascház (1281—1297) * III. János (1302—1328) * Mieszko of Bytom (1328—1334) * Vasvári Vid (Vitus de Castroferreo) (1334—1347) * III. Miklós Vásári (1347—1348) * Nicholas Apáti (1349) * I. István de Insula (Szigeti) (1350—1367) * I. László de Demjen (Demjéni) (1368—1372) * Domonkos de Novoloco (Újhelyi) (1373—1384) * I. Dömötör (1387—1388) * I. Gergely (1388—1392) * II. Mihály de Hédervári (1393—1399) * II. Péter Poliak (Polonus) (1399—1403) * Hinco (14041427) * I. György Berzeviczy (1429—1437) * Dénes Szécsi de Felsőlendva (1438—1439) * II. László Csetneki (1440—1447) * IV. Miklós (1448—1456) * Albert Hangács Vétesi (1458—1459) * Illés (1460—1463) * II. Tamás Debrenthei (1463—1480) * II. Gergely (1484—1492) * I. Antal Sánkfalvi (1492—1500) * V. Miklós Bácskai (1501—1503) *Zsigmond Thurzó (4 August 1503 - 15 November 1504) *II. István Podmanický (1505-1530) *I. Ferenc Thuróo (1534-1557) *Pál Abstemius-Bornemissza (1557-1579) *Zakariás Mossóczy (1582-1587) *III. István Fejérkövy (1587-1596) * Ferenc Forgách (1596-1607) *István Szuhay (1607 - 9 June 1608) *

Bálint Lépes Bálint Lépes de Váraskeszi (c. 1570 – 26 April 1623)Markó 2006, p. 317. was a Hungarian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as bishop of several dioceses. He was the Archbishop of Kalocsa from 1619 to 1623. He also function ...

(1608-1619) * János Telegdy (1619-1624) *V. István Bosnyák (1644) *V. János Püsky (1645-1648) *II. György Szelepcsényi (1648-1666) * Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch (1666-1669) *III. Tamás Pálffy (1669-1679) *János Gubasóczy (1679-1685) *III. Péter Korompay (1686-1690) *II. Jakab Haskó (1690-1691) *I. Balázs Jáklin (1691-1695) *III. László Mattyasovszky (1696-1705) *IV. Count László Ádám Erdödi de Monyorókerék (1706-1736) *János Ernő Harrach (1738-1739) *I. Count Imre Gábor Esterházy de Galántha (1740-1763) *János Gusztínyi-Zubralovszky (1 January 1764 - 31 January 1777) *Antal Révai (1780-1783) *Ferenc Xavér Fuchs (1787-1804) *József Kluch (1808-1826) *József Vurum (1827-1838) *Imre Palugyay (1838 - 27 July 1858) * Ágoston Roskoványi (1859-1892)

Recent bishops

Imre Bende

Bishop Imre Bende (born 28 August 1824,

Baja, Hungary Baja () is a city with county rights in , southern Hungary. It is the second largest city in the county, after the county seat at Kecskemét, and is home to some 35,000 people. Baja is the seat of the Baja municipality. The environs of Baja have ...

; died 26 March 1911, Nitra) was a religious writer and

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Bishop of Banská Bystrica in 1887, then Bishop of Nitra in 1893. He studied theology at the University of Vienna and in 1847 in Kalocsa ordained a priest. In 1869 he became a priest in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

. Between 1878 and 1884 he was elected official in the Hungarian Parliament, for the

Hungarian Liberal Party Hungarian Liberal Party (, , shortened form Liberals () or MLP) is a liberal political party in Hungary. The party was founded on 27 April 2013, founded by former Alliance of Free Democrats politician and minister Gábor Fodor. As part of opp ...

Vilmos Batthyány

Viliam Batan or Vilmos Batthyány (full name Hung. Vilmos Németújvár Count Batthyány Mary Tivadar Gobert) (born 14 March 1870, Zalaszentgrót, Hungary today; died 24 November 1923, Körmend, Hungary) Born into the

Batthyány The House of Batthyány () is an ancient and distinguished Hungarian noble magnate family. The Head of the family bears the title Prince (Fürst) of Batthyány-Strattmann, while other members of this family bear the title Count/Countess ( Graf ...

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

of Hungary, the son of Count Batthyány de Németújvár and Countess Sigismund Erdődy. He studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

and Rome and received a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

. He was ordained priest in 1894 and was connon of Nitra, Auxiliary Bishop of Nitra (1904); in 1911 he became Bishop of Nitra. After the establishment of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in 1918 Hungarian Church hierarchy were perceived as a threat to national interests of the new republic and demanded to resign. Batan as a lawyer, tried to oppose the demands, however he was unsuccessful and several Hungarian prelates were escorted to the bridge over the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

. Batan left shortly after.

Karol Kmeťko

Karol Kmeťko (born 12 December 1875, Dolné Držkovce; died 22 December 1948, Nitra) was a Roman Catholic cleric, Bishop of Nitra, and the author of religious books and articles. Karol Kmeťko was one of the signatories of the Martin Declaration of 30 October 1918. From 1918 to 1920 he was a member of the Revolutionary National Assembly, in 1920 he became a Member of the National Assembly. On its mandate, he resigned in 1922 after assuming the functions of a bishop. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of Czechoslovakia, the Nitra bishop (Viliam Batan) was expelled from Czechoslovakia.

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (; ; born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, ; 21 November 1854 – 22 January 1922) was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I a ...

secretly appointed Karol Kmeťko the Bishop of Nitra on 16 December 1920. On 11 May 1944 Pope Pius XII appointed him Archbishop ad personam.

Eduard Nécsey

Dr. Eduard Nécsey (born 9 February 1892, Oslany; died 19 June 1968, Nitra) was a Roman Catholic cleric, Titular Archbishop and Apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Nitra. Studied and ordained at

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

In 1943 he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Nitra and was consecrated in Nitra on 16 May 1943. He defended his appointment to the communist regime and latter attended

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilic ...

; he died in Nitra in 1968.

Ján Pásztor

Ján Pásztor (born 27 January 1912,

Prievidza Prievidza (; , ) is a city in the western Slovakia. With approximately 46,000 inhabitants it is the second biggest municipality in the Trenčín Region and 11th List of cities and towns in Slovakia, largest city in Slovakia generally. Name The ...

– died 8 November 1988) Educated in his native

. He studied

in Nitra seminary and at the

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

. Ordination in 1934 at Nitra parish and further studytill WW2. A doctorate in theology at Charles University (1937) Law at University of Bratislava (1942). He became a priest in Dubnica in 1947 and In 1950 he was interned in a camp at Močenku and in 1953 imprisoned. After his release he worked as a parish administrator till 1961 and as till 1967. Pope Paul VI appointed him consultor of the Roman Commission for the revision of the Church's Code (1968), and he later became the capitular vicar. In the 1960s he negotiated between the Czech government and the Vatican, and in 1973 he was appointed Bishop of Nitra.

Ján Chryzostom Korec

Ján Chryzostom Korec Ján Chryzostom Korec, SJ (22 January 1924 – 24 October 2015) was a Slovak Jesuit priest and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was ordained as a priest in 1950 and consecrated as a bishop in 1951. Because of the government's suppressio ...

; born 22 January 1924; died 24 October 2015.
He was ordained in 1950, and named a bishop in 1951 (at 27, and was consecrated clandestinely). On 6 February 1990, he was appointed Bishop of Nitra (Cardinal in 1991); retired 9 June 2005.

Viliam Judák

is the current bishop.

References

External links

Diocese of Nitra at catholic-hierarchy.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nitra, Diocese of Roman Catholic dioceses in Slovakia Nitra