Czech Republic and Slovakia

This blog covers two ecclesiastical provinces in the Czech Republic and three ecclesiastical provinces in Slovakia.

Czech Republic

An early ruler of Bohemia (what is now the western part of the Czech Republic) was converted to Catholicism by Saints Cyril and Methodius in the 9th Century and adopted Catholicism as the state religion.  Most Bohemians became Hussites—a form of Protestantism—in the 15th Century and by 1600, only about 20 percent of the people were Catholic.  Bohemia and Moravia (what is now the eastern part of the Czech Republic) were conquered by the Holy Roman Empire under the Hapsburgs in 1620 and the people were re-converted to Catholicism.  As recently as 1910, 97 percent of Czechs were Catholic.  After the First World War and the end of what was then called the Austro-Hungarian Empire, many Czechs abandoned the Church due to their resentment of their former Austrian rulers who were both German and Catholic.  It was at this time that the nation of Czechoslovakia was born.  The Germans conquered Czechoslovakia at the beginning of the Second World War and the Soviet Union took control after the war.  The Communists tightly controlled the Church and by 1991, after Communism fell, only 39 percent of the people claimed to be Catholic.  In 1993, the Czech Republic and Slovakia became separate nations.

The Czech Republic has 11 million people and 10 percent are Catholic and one percent are Protestant.  Almost 89 percent of Czechs are not religious.  The Czech Republic has two Catholic provinces—Prague and Olomouc.  There is also the Apostolic Exarchate of the Czech Republic, established in 1996, to serve about 17,000 Ruthenian-rite Catholics.  It is immediately subject to the Pope.

Province of Prague

The province consists of the western and central portions of the Czech Republic.  The Diocese of Prague was established in 973 and became a metropolitan archdiocese in 1344.

The Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus, and Adalbert in Prague is a Gothic church located within the Prague Castle complex.  It contains the tombs of many Kings of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperors.  The cathedral is 407 feet long and 197 feet wide and has three towers.  Construction of the current cathedral began in 1344 and was not completed until early in the 20th Century.  Relics of St. Wenceslaus are contained in a chapel dedicated to him.  The chapel’s lower walls are decorated with more than 1,300 semi-precious stones.  There are also several 14th and 16th Century paintings.  Behind the Chapel is the Crown Chamber which holds the Czech Crown Jewels.  The Cathedral’s pipe organ was built by Josef Melzel in 1931 and has 4,475 pipes.

All the pictures are from Wikipedia.

The Province has four suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Litomerice was established in 1655.
• The Diocese of Hradec Kralove was established in 1664.
• The Diocese of Ceske Budejovice (Budweis) was established in 1785.
• The Diocese of Plzen (Pilsen) was established in 1993.

Province of Olomouc

The province consists of the eastern portion of the Czech Republic.  The Diocese of Olomouc was created in 1063 and became a metropolitan archdiocese in 1777.

St. Wenceslas Cathedral in Olomouc was built in a Romanesque style in the 12th Century and greatly modified in a Gothic style in the 13th and 14th Centuries.  The Cathedral has three towers, with the one in the rear rising 330 feet.  Mozart composed his 6th Symphony here in 1767.  See katedralaolomouc.cz.

The first picture is from TripAdvisor and the other two are from Wikipedia.

The Province has two suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Brno was established in 1777.
• The Diocese of Ostrava-Opava was established in 1996.

Slovakia

For 1000 years, until the end of the First World War, Slovakia was part of the Hungarian Kingdom.  After the war, the Slovaks and the Czechs formed one nation—Czechoslovakia.  This union lasted (except during the Second World War) until 1993, when they split into two nations.  Catholic missionaries (including Benedictines and Cistercians) came to Slovakia in the 8th Century and the Diocese of Nitra was established in 880.  In 1001, Slovakia became part of the Province of Esztergom (in what is now Hungary).  Even from early times, Catholics in Slovakia were divided between the Roman rite and the Eastern (Slovak) rite.  Two significant events happened in the 16th Century.  First, the Protestant Reformation was successful in Slovakia with many members of the nobility converting—by 1600, most Slovakians were Protestant.  Second, Turkey occupied Esztergom in 1543 forcing the Archbishops to flee to Trnava, where they resided for 300 years.  The archbishops began a long process of restoring the Faith to the people helped by the Jesuits.  In the 18th Century, Slovakia became part of the Holy Roman Empire by which time most Slovakians were Catholic.

Slovakia has 5.4 million people—62 percent are Catholic, 12 percent are other Christians, and 20 percent are not religious.  Slovakia has two Roman-rite Catholic provinces—Kosice and Bratislava—and one Slovak-rite province—Presov.  A military diocese was established in 2003.

Province of Kosice

The province consists of eastern Slovakia.  The Diocese of Kosice was created in 1804 and became the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kosice in 1995.

The Cathedral of St. Elizabeth in Kosice is Slovakia’s largest church—it covers 13,000 square feet and can hold 5,000 worshipers.  It is a Gothic church, with two towers, built between 1380 and 1508.  The main altar was built in the late 15th Century and features 48 paintings featuring scenes related to St. Elizabeth, the Passion of Christ, and Advent.  There are also nine other altars.  The Cathedral’s bronze baptistery dates to the 14th Century and comes from the previous St. Elizabeth Cathedral.  Among the Cathedral’s other features are Gothic frescoes, some dating to the 16th Century; a sculpture of Calvary from 1420, and a pipe organ adorned with statues of four Kings of Hungary.  There were periods during the 16th and 17th Centuries when the church was controlled by Protestants.

The first picture is from Flickr and the others are from Wikipedia.

The Co-Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Presov was built in the 14th Century in a Gothic style.  Major changes were made in the 16th Century, in the 18th Century in a Baroque style, and in the 19th Century in a Neo-Gothic style.  In addition to the main altar, which is primarily Gothic, there are five other altars built in a variety of architectural styles.  The Cathedral’s larger pipe organ dates to the 17th Century and has 3,480 pipes.  There is also a smaller 17th Century pipe organ.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

The Province has two suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Roznava was created in 1776.
• The Diocese of Spis was created in 1776.

Province of Bratislava

The province consists of western Slovakia.  The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava was established in 1995 and became the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bratislava in 2008.

St. Martin’s Cathedral in Bratislava is a Gothic church that was constructed between 1311 and 1452, although work continued through the 18th Century.  Its 279-foot tower is topped with a gold-plated replica of the Crown of St. Stephen (weighing 330 pounds).  St. Martin’s served as the coronation church for the Kings of Hungary from 1563 to 1830.  Outside the cathedral is a Baroque equestrian statue of St. Martin.  The cathedral’s Baroque Chapel of St. John the Merciful contains the remains of this 7th Century saint.

The top two pictures are from Expedia and the bottom two are from Wikipedia.

The Province has four suffragan dioceses.

• The Archdiocese of Trnava began as an apostolic administration in 1922 and became the Metropolitan Diocese of Trnava in 1977.  It was demoted to an archdiocese in 2008.
• The Diocese of Nitra was established in 880.
• The Diocese of Banska Bystrica was established in 1776.
• The Diocese of Zilina was established in 2008.

Slovak Metropolitanate of Presov

The Metropolitanate consists of the 210,000 Slovak-rite Catholics in Slovakia.  The Diocese of Presov was established in 1818 and became the archdiocese for the Slovak-rite Metropolitan in 2008.

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Presov dates to the 14th Century, but it was essentially rebuilt in a Baroque style in the 18th Century.  Over the years, various artists have painted murals and frescoes in the Cathedral.  The Archbishop’s crosier (staff) was donated by Emperor Franz Jozef in 1883.  The Cathedral has a copy of the Shroud of Turin and a statue of the Virgin and Child.  Both Mary and the Child Jesus wear gold crowns with semi-precious jewels.

Pictures are from Inspirock and Wikipedia.

The Metropolitanate has two suffragan dioceses.

• The Diocese of Kosice began as an apostolic exarchate in 1997 and became a diocese in 2008.
• The Diocese of Bratislava was established in 2008.

Definitions

The Catholic Church is mostly divided into ecclesiastical provinces—a province consists of a metropolitan archdiocese and one or more dioceses.  The province and the archdiocese are led by an archbishop.  Each of the dioceses is called a suffragan diocese and is led by a bishop.  Archbishops have some responsibilities for the province, but all bishops answer directly to the Pope.  There are also archdioceses that are not metropolitan archdioceses.  There are also jurisdictions below the level of a diocese.  These include apostolic administrations, which are missionary territories below the level of a diocese.

Most Catholics in the world belong to the Latin or Roman rite.  Rite refers to liturgical practices, ecclesiastical discipline, and spiritual heritage.  Many Catholics belong to one of two dozen Eastern rite churches.  Eastern rite churches trace their heritage to Eastern Europe and the Middle East.  Eastern rite churches sometimes use different terminologies.  For example, an apostolic exarchy is a missionary diocese.