Roman Catholic Diocese of Passau

Diocese of Passau Dioecesis Passaviensis Bistum Passau
St. Stephan's Cathedral, Passau
Location
Country	Germany
Ecclesiastical province	Munich and Freising
Metropolitan	Munich and Freising
Statistics
Area
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2004) 591,205 515,852 (87.3%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	737
Cathedral	St. Stephan's Cathedral
Patron saint	St. Conrad of Parzham St. Maximilian of Celeia St. Valentine
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Stefan Oster
Metropolitan Archbishop	Reinhard Marx
Emeritus Bishops	Wilhelm Schraml
Map
Website
bistum-passau.de

Prince-Bishopric of Passau
Fürstbistum Passau
State of the Holy Roman Empire
999–1805
Coat of arms
Capital		Passau
Government		Principality
Historical era		Early modern period
•	Bishopric established	722
•	Gained Reichsfreiheit     from Otto III	999
•	Bernhardine Charter     grants burghers     municipal freedoms	1299
•	Peace of Passau    during Reformation	1552
•	Secularised to Bavaria	1805
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Swabia Kingdom of Bavaria

The Diocese of Passau is a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. It should not be confused with the Prince-Bishopric of Passau, an ecclesiastical principality that existed for centuries until it was secularized in 1803. The diocese covers an area of 5,442 km².

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.

History

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 junction of the Enns River and the 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. 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 Lech River and the Enns, the wandering Bajuvari were converted to Christianity in the seventh century, while the Avari, to the east, remained pagan. The ecclesiastical organization of Bavaria was brought about by St. Boniface, who, with the support of Duke Odilo or at least enacting an earlier design of the duke, erected the four sees of Freising, Ratisbon, Passau, and Salzburg. He confirmed as incumbent of Passau, Bishop Vivilo, or Vivolus, who had been ordained by Pope Gregory III, and who was for a long time the only bishop in Bavaria. 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 Prince-Bishopric of Passau, circa 1760. It was much smaller than the diocese of the same name.

The boundaries of the diocese extended westwards to the Isar river, 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 River was added to the diocese, which thus included the whole eastern part (Ostmark) of Southern Bavaria and part of what is now Hungary. The first missionaries to the pagan Hungarians went out from Passau, and in 866 the Church sent missionaries to Bulgaria.

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 Lech, the Germans pressed forward and regained the old Ostmark, Bishop Adalbert (946-971) hoped to extend his spiritual jurisdiction over Hungary. His successor Piligrim (971-91), 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. 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. 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 (1013–45) 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, St. Altmann occupied the see (1065–91) and was one of the few German bishops who adhered to Pope Gregory VII. Ulrich I, Count of Höfft (1092–1121), who was for a time driven from his see by Emperor Henry IV, furthered monastic reforms and the Crusades. Reginmar (1121–38), Reginbert, Count of Hegenau (1136–47) who took part in the crusade of Conrad III, and Conrad of Austria (1149–64), a brother of Bishop Otto of Freising, were all much interested in the foundation of new monasteries and the reform for those already existing. Ulrich, Count of Andechs (1215–21), was formally recognized as a prince of the empire at the Reichstag of Nuremberg in 1217. The reforms which were begun by Gebhard von Plaien (1221–32) and Rüdiger von Rodeck (1233–1250) found a zealous promoter in Otto von Lonsdorf (1254–65), 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. (See Schmidt, "Otto von Lonsdorf, Bischof zu Passau", Würzburg, 1903.) Bishop Peter, formerly Canon of Breslau, contributed to the House of Habsburg by bestowing episcopal fiefs on the sons of King Rudolph.

Under Bernhard of Brambach (1285–1313) began the struggles of Passau 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. Albert III von Winkel (1363–80) 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 (1342–62). George I von Hohenlohe (1388–1421), who, after 1418, was imperial chancellor, energetically opposed the Hussites. During the time of Ulrich III von Nussdorf (1451–79) the diocese suffered its first great curtailment by the formation of the new Diocese of Vienna (1468). 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. Wolfgang I Count of Salm (1540–55) and Urban von Trennbach (1561–98) led the counter-Reformation. Under Wolfgang the Peace of Passau was concluded, in the summer of 1552. 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 (1625–62), 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.

The Bishop-Prince Wenzelaus von Thun (1664–73) began the new cathedral which was completed thirty years later by his successor Cardinal John Philip von Lamberg. The Cardinal-Prince and his nephew, also Cardinal-Prince Joseph Dominicus von Lamberg, some time later successor to his uncle (1723–62), both became cardinals. They were brother and son to Franz Joseph I, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg, and both front-line diplomats for the Austrian court.

When Vienna was raised to an archdiocese in 1722, he relinquished the parishes beyond the Viennese Forest, hence was exempted from the metropolitan authority of Salzburg, and obtained the pallium for himself and his successors. Leopold Ernst, Count of Firmian (1763–83), created cardinal in 1772, established an institute of theology at Passau and, after the suppression of the Jesuits, founded a lyceum. Under Joseph, Count of Auersperg (1783–95), Emperor Joseph II took away two-thirds of the diocese to form the diocese of Linz and diocese of St. Pölten. The last prince-bishop, Leopold von Thun (1796–1826), saw the secularization of the old bishopric in 1803; the City of Passau and the temporalities on the left bank of the Inn River and the right bank of the Ilz River went to Bavaria, while the territory on the left banks of the Danube and of the Ilz went to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany 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.

By the Concordat of 1818, the diocese was given new boundaries. After the death of the last prince-bishop, Passau's exemption from metropolitan power ceased, and the diocese became suffragan of Munich-Freising.

Ordinaries

№	Name	from	to	Comments
	Valentin of Raetia	?	475
	Vivilo	739	?
	Beatus	?	753/754
1	Sidonius	753	756
	Anthelm	?	?
2	Wisurich	770	777
3	Waldrich	777	804/805
4	Urolf	804/805	806
5	Hatto	806	817
6	Reginhar	818	838
	Vacancy	838	840
7	Hartwig	840	866
8	Ermanrich	866	874
9	Engelmar	875	897
10	Wiching	898	899
11	Richard	899	902
12	Burkhard	903	915
13	Gumpold	915	932
14	Gerhard	932	946
15	Adalbert	946	970/971
16	Piligrim	971	991	Sieghardinger
17	Christian	991	1013	First bishop with secular authority
18	Berengar	1013	1045
19	Egilbert	1045	1065	Engelbert
20	Altmann	1065	1091
20a	Hermann of Eppenstein	1085	1087	counter-bishop of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
21	Ulrich	1092	1121	Ulrich I.
22	Reginmar	1121	1138
23	Reginbert of Hagenau	1138	1147/1148
24	Conrad I of Babenberg	1148/1149	1164	Son of Leopold III, Margrave of Austria and Agnes von Waiblingen; also Archbishop of Salzburg (as Conrad II)
25	Rupert I	1164	1165
	Albo	1165	1169	vertrieben
	Henry I of Berg	1169	1172	resigned, later Bishop of Würzburg from 1191 until his death in 1197
26	Diepold of Berg	1172	1190	Theobald
27	Wolfger of Erla	1191	1204
28	Poppo	1204	1206	Cathedral provost of Aquileia
29	Manegold of Berg	1206	1215
30	Ulrich II	1215	1221
31	Gebhard I of Plain	1222	1232
32	Rüdiger of Bergheim	1233	1249	Bishop of Chiemsee 1216–1233; excommunicated and deposed by Pope Innocent IV
33	Konrad I, Duke of Silesia-Glogau	1249	1249	From 1248 to 1251 was, with his older brother Bolesław II the Bald, Piast duke of the Silesian duchies of Legnica and Jawor). Also duke of Głogów, again with his brother until his brother's death, and continued to rule there until his own in 1274.
34	Berthold of Pietengau	1250	1254
35	Otto of Lonsdorf	1254	1265
36	Wladislaw of Silesia	1265	1265
37	Petrus, Bishop of Passau	1265	1280	Canon of Breslau
38	Wichard of Pohlheim	1280	1282
39	Gottfried	1282	1285	Protonotary of Rudolf of Habsburg, German king
40	Bernhard of Prambach	1285	1313
Vacancy due to disputed election		1313	1317
	Albert II, Duke of Austria	1313	1313
	Gebhard II	1313	1315
41	Henri de la Tour-du-Pin	1317	1319
42	Albert II of Saxe-Wittenberg	1320	1342
43	Gottfried of Weißeneck	1342	1362
44	Albert III of Winkel	1363	1380
45	Johann of Scharffenberg	1381	1387
46	Hermann Digni	1387	1388
47	Rupert of Berg	1388	1390
48	George of Hohenlohe	1390	1423
49	Leonhard of Laiming	1423/1424	1451
50	Ulrich of Nußdorf	1451	1479
51	George Hessler	1480	1482	from 1477 Cardinal
52	Friedrich Mauerkircher	1482	1485
53	Frederick of Öttingen	1485	1490
54	Christopher of Schachner	1490	1500
56	Wiguleus Fröschl of Marzoll	1500	1517
57	Ernest of Bavaria	1517	1541	Administrator
57	Wolfgang of Salm	1541	1555
58	Wolfgang of Closen	1555	1561
59	Urban of Trennbach	1561	1598
60	Leopold V, Archduke of Austria	1598	1625
61	Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria	1625	1662
62	Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria	1662	1664
63	Wenzeslaus of Thun	1664	1673
64	Sebastian of Pötting	1673	1689
65	John Philip of Lamberg	1689	1712	Cardinal from 1700
67	Raymund Ferdinand, Count of Rabatta	1713	1722
68	Joseph Dominic of Lamberg	1723	1761	Cardinal from 1737
69	Joseph Maria, Count of Thun	1761	1763
70	Leopold Ernst von Firmian	1763	1783	Cardinal from 1772
71	Joseph Francis Anton of Auersperg	1783	1795	Cardinal from 1789
72	Thomas John Caspar, Count of Thun-Hohenstein	1795	1796
73	Leopold Leonard, Imperial Count of Thun	13 December 1796	22 October 1826	Last Prince-Bishop
74	Karl Joseph, Baron of Riccabona	25 December 1826	25 May 1839
75	Heinrich of Hofstätter	6 July 1839	12 May 1875
76	Joseph Francis of Weckert	4 October 1875	13 March 1889
77	Antonius von Thoma	24 March 1889	23 October 1889
78	Michael of Rampf	8 December 1889	29 March 1901
79	Anton of Henle	3 April 1901	18 October 1906
80	Sigismund Felix, Baron of Ow-Felldorf	18 October 1906	11 May 1936
81	Simon Konrad Landersdorfer, OSB	11 September 1936	27 October 1968
82	Antonius Hofmann	27 October 1968	15 October 1984
83	Franz Xaver Eder	15 October 1984	8 January 2001
84	Wilhelm Schraml	13 December 2001	1 October 2012
85	Stefan Oster	24 May 2014	Incumbent

Notes

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: