The Diocese of Banská Bystrica ( sk, Banskobystrická diecéza, la, Dioecesis Neosoliensis) is a Roman Catholic
diocese in central
Slovakia. Its seat is in
Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mo ...
. On Tuesday 20 November 2012, according to biographical information in a press release from the
Holy See Press Office
The Holy See Press Office ( la, Sala Stampa Sanctae Sedis; it, Sala Stampa della Santa Sede, links=http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/) publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the ...
's
Vatican Information Service (VIS),
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Auxiliary Bishop
Marián Chovanec of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Nitra (based in
Nitra, Slovakia),
Titular Bishop of
Massita
The Diocese of Maxita (Massita in curiate Italian) is a bishopric in Algeria. It was a Roman Catholic Church diocese in the Roman province of Africa Proconsulare.
History
Maxita is located in the region of Al-Asnam, Algeria. It is an ancient ...
, as Bishop-elect of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Banská Bystrica. Bishop Chovanec was born on 16 September 1957 in
Trenčin, Slovakia, a part of the Diocese of Nitra. He was expelled from the Seminary in
Bratislava, Slovakia, because he had refused to cooperate with the Government-backed Association "Pacem in Terris" (Peace on Earth). He then worked as a laborer. After seven years, he was able to conclude his theological studies and be ordained a priest in 1989; he became an Auxiliary Bishop of Nitra in 1999 and Vicar General in 2003 and is active in the
Slovak Bishops' Conference.
History
The diocese was established on 13 March 1776 as a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Esztergom. On 30 December 1977, it was taken from the former and became part of the newly created Slovak ecclesiastical province with metropolitan being the
Diocese of Trnava, which was renamed on 31 March 1995 to the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava. It covers western and central parts of the
Banská Bystrica Region, eastern parts of the
Trenčín Region and southern central parts of the
Žilina Region. It covered an area of 5,424 km² with 590,494 people of which 62% were of Catholic faith (2006).
On 14 February 2008, as a part of the changes in Slovak dioceses, the diocese lost area around
Martin to the newly created
Diocese of Žilina and territory around
Brezno to
Diocese of Rožňava
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 associat ...
. On the other hand, it gained former eastern areas of the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava (from
Banská Štiavnica
Banská Štiavnica (; german: Schemnitz; hu, Selmecbánya (Selmec), ) is a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. For its size, the caldera is known as the Štiavnica Mountain ...
to
Šahy and
Veľký Krtíš
Veľký Krtíš (before 1927 ''Veľký Krtýš'', hu, Nagykürtös) is a town in middle Slovakia, situated in the historical Novohrad region. The town's most important economic sectors are mining and agriculture.
Etymology
The name is of Hunga ...
) (see e.g
this map (in Slovak) and some other border changes occurred as well.
Jozef Feranec COA bishop SK Feranec Jozef.Jozef Feranec (14 March 1910 − 3 May 2003) was a Slovak Roman Catholic bishop.
Born in Pobedim, Trenčín Region on 14 March 1910 and ordained in 1932, Feranec was named bishop in February 1973. In March 1973, he wa ...
held the title from 1973 until 1990.
Bishops
Churches
*
Church of Saint Matthew of Zolná
References
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Banska Bystrica
Banská Bystrica
Roman Catholic dioceses in Slovakia