The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bacău ( pl, diecezja bakowska) was a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of the

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

(present Romania).

History

* Since the 13th century, missionaries of the mendicant orders, Franciscans and Dominicans, created several Latin Catholic communities in present Romania, for whom the Holy See decided to created bishoprics, south and east of the Carpathians (in Walachia and Moldavia), generally short-lived; the most durable was to be Bacău. The diocese was created in 1590 (or 1591) by

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

. It was first situated in Curtea de Argeş (in Walachia; which had been the see of on earlier Latin Diocese of Argeș, vacated over a century earlier). * Due to the Ottoman occupation of the region in the early 17th century, the see was moved in 1607 to Bacău in

, which region had earlier had at least three Latin bishoprics: Diocese of Milcovia, Diocese of Siret and

Diocese of Baia Baia (german: Baja, Stadt Molde, or Moldenmarkt; hu, Moldvabánya; lat, Civitas Moldaviae) is a commune in Suceava County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, northeastern Romania with a population of 6,793 (2002 census).suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the Hungarian Archdiocese of Kalocsa. * In 1611, its territory was extended vastly, comprising in Walachia three 3 parishes, a Franciscan monastery and a Dominican one, and in Moldavia 35 parishes (only 9 having a resident priest). Also in the 1610s, Bacău fell into the sway of the Catholic Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 1621, its new Metropolitan was the Archdiocese of Lwów in Poland (now in Ukraine) and Polish Friars Minor were nominated to the see requiring the assent of the King of Poland, who could reside in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

provided they visited the bishopric annually, while delegating daily administration to an '' apostolic vicar'' (properly a vicar general), who resided at

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

. From 1621 it also had jurisdiction in the eastern part of Moldavia (which later became known as

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

). Its cathedral (1627, now Biserica de vizitarea Maicii Domnului) was dedicated the

Visitation of Mary In Christianity, the Visitation is the visit of Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, to Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist, in the Gospel of Luke, . It is also the name of a Christian feast day commemorating this visit, celebrate ...

. * In the 18th century, the episcopal residence was shifted to Iași (the capital of Moldavia) or to Śniatyn, Poland (now in Ukraine). In 1774 the diocese had 10 parochial churches and circa 8.000 baptized Catholics. Around 1800, the see was vacant for decades after the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

, then a few bishops were appointed again. * It was suppressed in 1818, its territory being reassigned to establish the (pre-diocesan)

Apostolic Vicariate of Moldavia Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Chur ...

(now Diocese of Iași), yet it was still mentioned in the Annuario Pontificio till 1840.

Episcopal ordinaries

(all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Bacău'' * Bernardino Quirini, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1591.01.07 appointed by

Pope Gregory XIV Pope Gregory XIV ( la, Gregorius XIV; it, Gregorio XIV; 11 February 1535 – 16 October 1591), born Niccolò Sfondrato or Sfondrati, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 December 1590 to his death in October ...

– death 1604.10) * Gerolamo Arsengo, Conventual Franciscans (O.F.M. Conv.) (1607.02.17 – death 1610?) * Walerian Lubieniecki, O.F.M. (1611.04.18 – death 1617) * Adam Górski, O.F.M. Conv. (1618.11.26 – death 1626) * Mikołaj Gabriel Fredro, O.F.M. Conv. (1627.07.19 – death 1632?) * Jan Chryzostom Zamoyski, Dominican Order (O.P.) (1633.07.18 – 1649.12.06), next Bishop of

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...

( Poland) (1649.12.06 – 1654.10.19), Bishop of Łuck (Poland) (1654.10.19 – death 1655.01.01) * Maciej Marian Kurski, O.F.M. (1651.05.07 – 1661.02.21), next Titular Bishop of Ænos (1661.02.21 – 1681.03.27) as Auxiliary Bishop of

Diocese of Poznań In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

(Poland) (1661.02.21 – death 1681.03.27) * Anastazy Rudnicki, O.F.M. (1662.07.31 – death 1675.08) * Jakub Górecki, O.P. (1678.01.31 – ?death ?) * Jakub Franciszek Dłuski (1681.12.22 – ?) * Armand Wiktoryn Cieszejko, O.P. (1694.03.15 – ?) * Franciszek Biegański, O.F.M. Conv. (1698.11.24 – death 1709.01) Jan Lubieniecki

* Jan Damascen Lubieniecki, O.P. (1711.02.23 – ?) * Adrian Skrzetuski, O.F.M. Conv. (1715.09.23 – ?) * Jozafat Parysowicz, O.F.M. Conv. (1717.06.14 – death 1732?) * Stanisław Rajmund Jezierski, O.P. (1737.12.20 – death 1782.04.28) **

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

: Ignacy Franciszek Ossoliński, O.F.M. Conv. (1765.04.22 – 1773.12.20), Titular Bishop of Dardanus (1765.04.22 – 1774.01.07), next

of Kyiv–Černihiv (Poland) (1773.12.20 – 1774.01.07), succeeding as Bishop of Kyiv–Černihiv (Poland) (1774.01.07 – death 1784.08.07) * Dominik Piotr Karwosiecki, O.F.M. Conv. (1782.04.28 – death 1789.09.30), succeeding as previous Titular Bishop of

Byblus Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 8 ...

(1774.05.09 – 1782.04.28) and

of Bacău (1774.05.09 – 1782.04.28) * long vacancy * Bonaventura Carenzi, O.F.M. Conv. (?Italian) (1808.12.20 – 1814.09.26), next Bishop of Città della Pieve (Italy) (1814.09.26 – 1817.11.13) * Giuseppe Bonaventura Berardi, O.F.M. Conv.) (1815.03.20 – death 1818.04.10).

Sources and external links

GCatholic - former bshopric

; Bibliography * Pius Bonifacius Gams, ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae'', Leipzig 1931, p. 365 * Karl Auner, ''Începuturile episcopiei de Bacău'', „Revista Catolică”, I, București, 1912, pp. 383–408. * Konrad Eubel, ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', vol. 3, p. 116; vol. 4, p. 107; vol. 5, p. 111; vol. 6, pp. 112–113 * Gaetano Moroni, ''Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica'', vol. 4, p. 24 e vol. 46, pp. 26–28 *

Radu Rosetti Radu Rosetti (Francization, Francized ''Rodolphe Rosetti''; September 14, 1853 – February 12, 1926) was a Moldavian, later Romanian, politician, historian, and novelist, father of General Radu R. Rosetti, and a prominent member of the Rosetti fa ...

, ''Despre unguri și episcopiile catolice în Moldova'', in Analele Academiei Române, Tom. XXVII, Memoriile Secțiunii Istorice No. 10, Institutul de Arte Grafice „Carol Göbl” București, 1905, pp. 297–301 ; Further reading * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bacau, Roman Catholic Diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in Romania Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Europe 1591 establishments in Europe 1818 disestablishments in Europe Religious organizations established in the 1590s Religious organizations disestablished in the 19th century Roman Catholic dioceses established in the 16th century

History

Episcopal ordinaries

See also

Sources and external links