The Bishop of Dresden-Meissen is the ordinary of the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Diocese of Dresden-Meissen in the

Archdiocese of Berlin The Archdiocese of Berlin is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The archepiscopal see is in Berlin, with the archdiocese's territory extending over Northeast Germany. As of 2004, the archd ...

. The diocese covers an area of and was erected as the Diocese of Meissen on 24 June 1921. The name was changed to Dresden-Meissen on 15 November 1979.

Bishops and administrators of Meissen (968–1581)

The Bishops resided until 1595 in

Wurzen Wurzen () is a town in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Mulde, here crossed by two bridges, 25 km east of Leipzig, by rail N.E. of Leipzig on the main line via Riesa to Dresden. It has a cathedral datin ...

. In 1559 the diocesan

temporalities Temporalities or temporal goods are the secular properties and possessions of the church. The term is most often used to describe those properties (a ''Stift'' in German or ''sticht'' in Dutch) that were used to support a bishop or other religious ...

within Saxony were seized by the Electorate of Saxony.

Apostolic prefects of Meissen (1567–1921)

In the Meisen diocesan area located outside of then Saxony in

Lower Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни́� ...

and

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (german: Oberlausitz ; hsb, Hornja Łužica ; dsb, Górna Łužyca; szl, Gōrnŏ Łużyca; pl, Łużyce Górne or ''Milsko''; cz, Horní Lužice) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the ...

there was no immediate overlord, since the then liege lord of the Two Lusatias, the Catholic king of Bohemia (in personal union Holy Roman Emperor) held the Lusatias as fief outright. The Kings of Bohemia did not effectively offend the spreading of the Protestant Reformation in the Two Lusatias. So it depended on the local

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s if Lutheranism prevailed or not, following the principle of

Cuius regio, eius religio () is a Latin phrase which literally means "whose realm, their religion" – meaning that the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled. This legal principle marked a major development in the collective (if not individual ...

. The Two Lusatias thus became an area of regionally altering predominant denomination. In 1560 Meissen's last bishop John IX had appointed

Johannes Leisentritt Johannes Leisentritt, also Johann Leisentrit (May 1527 – 24 November 1586) was a Catholic priest, dean of St. Peter in Bautzen and administrator of the Diocese of Meißen, responsible for Lusatia. He is known for publishing a 1567 hymnal. Care ...

diocesan administrator :''See: Catholic Church hierarchy#Equivalents of diocesan bishops in law'' A diocesan administrator is a provisional ordinary of a Roman Catholic particular church. Diocesan administrators in canon law The college of consultors elects an admini ...

for the Lusatian part of the diocese, seated in Bautzen. After the Holy See had recognised as a matter of fact the suppression of the Meissen diocese within Saxony it converted its Lusatian part into an

apostolic prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

( Apostolic Prefecture of Meissen) in 1567 with administrator Leisentrit elevated to prefect. In canon law an apostolic prefecture is a diocese on approval. According to its seat or its area comprised the prefecture was alternatively also called ''Apostolic Prefecture of Bautzen'' or ''Apostolic Prefecture of the Two Lusatias'', respectively. When in 1635 the Lutheran Electorate of Saxony annexed the Two Lusatias it guaranteed in the cession contract (''Traditionsrezess'') with Bohemia to leave the existing religious relations untouched. As a signatory of the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 Saxony later agreed to maintain the religious status quo as given in the reference year of 1624 in all its territories acquired since.Georges Hellinghausen, ''Kampf um die Apostolischen Vikare des Nordens J. Th. Laurent und C. A. Lüpke: der Hl. Stuhl und die protestantischen Staaten Norddeutschlands und Dänemark um 1840'', Rome: Editrice Pontificia Università Gregoriana, 1987, (=Miscellanea historiae Pontificiae; vol. 53), pp. 15seq. . After the Prussian annexation of Lower Lusatia and easterly Upper Lusatia in 1815 the Holy See disentangled the newly Prussian diocesan area and incorporated it into the Prussian diocese of Breslau in 1821. The remaining diocese, officially always called Apostolic Prefecture of Meissen, was thus also called the ''Apostolic Prefecture of (Saxon) Upper Lusatia''. The office of the apostolic prefect was held in personal union by the cathedral dean of Bautzen Cathedral. In the 19th century the episcopal function of the apostolic prefects was further emphasised by appointing them simultaneously with

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

Bishops of Meissen (and Dresden-Meissen as of 1980; 1921–present)

(Dates in italics indicate ''de facto ''continuation of office)

Bishops and administrators of Meissen (968–1581)

Apostolic prefects of Meissen (1567–1921)

Bishops of Meissen (and Dresden-Meissen as of 1980; 1921–present)

Notes

See also