Diocese of Linz Dioecesis Linciensis Diözese Linz | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | Austria |
Territory | Upper Austria |
Ecclesiastical province | Vienna |
Metropolitan | Archdiocese of Vienna |
Statistics | |
Area | 11,909 km2 (4,598 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2019) 1,480,000 963,820 (65.1%) |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | January 28, 1785 |
Cathedral | Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception |
Patron saint | Saint Florian Severinus of Noricum |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Manfred Scheuer |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Christoph Schönborn |
Bishops emeritus | Maximilian Aichern Ludwig Schwarz |
Map | |
Website | |
Website of the Diocese |
The Diocese of Linz (Latin : Dioecesis Linciensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria.
In the early Middle Ages the greater part of the territory of the present Diocese of Linz was subject to the bishops of Lauriacum (Lorch); [1] at a later date it formed part of the great Diocese of Passau, which extended from the Isar to the Leitha. The Prince-Bishop of Passau personally administered the upper part or Upper Austria, while an auxiliary bishop, having his residence in Vienna and called the Official, administered for him the eastern part or Lower Austria.
To do away with the political influence in his territories of the bishops of Passau, who were also princes of the Empire, emperor Joseph II decided to found two new dioceses. These were in Linz and St. Pölten, which in a certain measure were to renew the old Lauriacum. The emperor only awaited the death of Cardinal Firmian, then Bishop of Passau, to carry out his plans.
The cardinal's eyes were scarcely closed (d. 13 March 1783), before the emperor on 16 March seized all the landed property of the Diocese of Passau in his territories.
By an agreement of 4 July 1784, the confiscation of all the properties and rights belonging to the Diocese of Passau in Austria was annulled, and the tithes and revenues were restored to it.
The first bishop (1785-8), Ernest Johann Nepomuk, Imperial Count von Herberstein and formerly titular Bishop of Eucarpia, had been the Official of the Prince-Bishop of Passau and Vicar-General of Lower Austria.
The next bishop, Joseph Anton Gall (1788–1807), was a political ally of Joseph II and of josephinism. The third Bishop of Linz, Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart had been a cathedral canon of Gurk and Vicar-General of Klagenfurt. His successor was the Benedictine Gregorius Thomas Ziegler (1827–52), formerly Bishop of Tarnov.
The Revolution of 1848 not only increased political liberty, but also gave to the Church greater independence in its own province.
The session of the Third German Catholic Congress, held at Linz in 1850, also strengthened the Church in the diocese. A great development of religious life in the diocese resulted from the restored liberties of the Church. Much of the credit for this growth is due to the vigorous and unwearied labours of the fifth bishop, the Franz-Josef Rudigier (1853–84), who opposed the Interconfessional laws of 1868.
His successor, Ernst Maria Müller, had only a short episcopate (1885-8). In the next bishop, Franz Maria Doppelbauer (1889–1908), the diocese received a truly apostolic head, whose influence extended far beyond his own sphere of work. The present bishop is Manfred Scheuer.
The Gothic cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, built from the plans of the Cologne architect, Vincenz Statz, was begun in 1862 and consecrated in 1905; the tower, 443 feet (135 m) high, was finished in 1902. The Old Cathedral, originally the church of the Jesuits, was built in the Baroque style between 1669 and 1682. There are several old collegiate churches (St. Florian, Kremsmünster, Mondsee, Lambach, Garsten, Reichersberg, Wilhering, etc.), originally built in the Romanesque period and nearly all rebuilt in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Baroque style.
The most important churches in the Baroque style of architecture are the collegiate churches of St. Florian (1636–1745), and of Baumgartenberg (rebuilt 1684–1718). The most important buildings of the Gothic period are the parish church at Steyr (begun in 1443), with a tower 263 feet (80 m) high, and the church of the hospital at Braunau on the Inn (1439–92), with a tower 300 feet high. A work of sculpture celebrated in the history of art is the high altar at St. Wolfgang carved by Michael Pacher in 1481.
The New Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Linz, Austria. The neo-Gothic church is the largest church building in Austria.
Josephinism is a name given collectively to the domestic policies of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–1790). During the ten years in which Joseph was the sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy (1780–1790), he attempted to legislate a series of drastic reforms to remodel Austria in the form of what liberals saw as an ideal Enlightened state. This provoked severe resistance from powerful forces within and outside his empire, but ensured that he would be remembered as an "enlightened ruler" by historians from then to the present day.
Diocese of Augsburg is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich.
The Diocese of Graz-Seckau is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church comprising the Austrian state of Styria. It is part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Salzburg.
The Diocese of Sankt Pölten is a Latin Church diocese located in the city of Sankt Pölten in the ecclesiastical province of Wien in Austria.
Engelszell Abbey was the last Trappist monastery in Austria. It is located near Engelhartszell an der Donau in the Innviertel in Upper Austria.
The Archdiocese of Vienna is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Austria. It was erected as the Diocese of Vienna on 18 January 1469 out of the Diocese of Passau, and elevated to an archdiocese on 1 June 1722. The episcopal see is situated in the cathedral of S. Stephen in Vienna.
Leopold Ernst von Firmian was an Austrian bishop and cardinal.
Gerhard Maria Wagner is an Austrian Catholic priest who was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Linz on 31 January 2009. Amidst controversy over his views that sin caused Hurricane Katrina, Wagner turned the post down on 15 February 2009.
Franz Josef Rudigier was an Austrian Roman Catholic prelate and served as the Bishop of Linz from his appointment in 1853 until his death. Much of his local diocese grew due to his vigorous in promoting evangelic zeal and fundamental religious principles. He became the intellectual figurehead for Catholics in their struggle with liberalism. He promoted the Christian press and took a visible stand defending the 1855 concordat, when liberals annulled it without papal consultation in 1870. A beatification process for Rudigier was initiated under Pope Pius X in 1905 and he was titled as a Servant of God. The confirmation of his life of heroic virtue allowed for Pope Benedict XVI to name him as Venerable in 2009.
Ernest Johann Nepomuk, Imperial Count von Herberstein, was the first bishop of the diocese of Linz from 1785 to 1788.
Josef Franz Anton Graf von Auersperg was an Austrian bishop, prince bishop of Passau and cardinal. He was a member of the House of Auersperg.
Lauriacum was an important legionary Roman town on the Danube Limes in Austria.
The Old Cathedral, also called the Church of Ignatius or the Jesuit Church, is a church in Linz, Austria. It was built between 1669 and 1683 in Baroque style. From 1785 to 1909 it served as cathedral of the Diocese of Linz.
Thomas Johann Nepomuk Kaspar, Count of Thun and Hohenstein was the 72nd Bishop of Passau.
Sigismund Anton Graf von Hohenwart, S.J. was from 1791 to 1794 Bishop of Trieste, from 1794 to 1803 Bishop of St. Pölten, and from 1803 to 1820 he was Prince-Archbishop of Vienna.
Wenzeslaus of Thun was a Czech clergyman and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Passau.
The Anton Bruckner Prize is the main Culture Prize of the Province of Upper Austria for music. The prize, which is awarded by the Land of Upper Austria, is named after the composer Anton Bruckner, who was cathedral organist in Linz from 1855 to 1868. The award is endowed with 11,000 euros and is presented in a ceremony in Linz.
Schiedlberg Parish Church is the Roman Catholic parish church of the village of Schiedlberg in Upper Austria, dedicated to the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It belongs to the deanery of Steyr in the Diocese of Linz. The church is a protected historical monument.