The Roman Catholic Diocese of Zielona Góra-Gorzów ( la, Viridimontanensis-Gorzoviensis) is a

Latin rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

suffragan diocese in the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

of Archdiocese of Szczecin-Kamień in

Lubuskie Lubusz Voivodeship, or Lubuskie Province ( pl, województwo lubuskie ), is a voivodeship (province) in western Poland. It was created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Gorzów Wielkopolski and Zielona Góra Voivodeships, pursuant to the Po ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

episcopal see is Katedra Wniebowzięcia NMP in Gorzów Wielkopolski. It also has a Co-cathedral dedicated to

Hedwig of Silesia Hedwig of Silesia ( pl, Święta Jadwiga Śląska), also Hedwig of Andechs (german: Heilige Hedwig von Andechs, la, Hedvigis; 1174 – 15 October 1243), a member of the Bavarian comital House of Andechs, was Duchess of Silesia from 1201 and o ...

(called in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

św. Jadwigi Śląskiej), in

Zielona Góra Zielona Góra is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (2021). Zielona Góra has a favourable geographical position, being close to the Polish-German border and on several international road ...

, and a

Minor Basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

, Bazylika Matki Bożej Rokitniańskiej, Rokitno.

History

* Established in 1945 as Apostolic Administration of Kamień, Lubusz and the Prelature of Piła with see in Gorzów Wielkopolski, on the territories encompassing the Territorial Prelature of Schneidemühl and the part of the Diocese of Berlin,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, awarded to Poland, with reference in the name to the historical

Bishopric of Lebus The Diocese of Lebus (; ; ) is a former diocese of the Catholic Church. It was erected in 1125 and suppressed in 1598. The Bishop of Lebus was also, '' ex officio'', the ruler of a lordship that was coextensive with the territory of the diocese. T ...

and

Bishopric of Cammin The Bishopric of Cammin (also Kammin, Kamień Pomorski) was both a former Roman Catholic diocese in the Duchy of Pomerania from 1140 to 1544, and a secular territory of the Holy Roman Empire ( Prince-Bishopric) in the Kolberg (Kołobrzeg) area f ...

* Established on 28 June 1972 as Diocese of Gorzów, part of the ecclesiastical province of Wrocław, from the southwestern part of the territory of the dissolved Apostolic Administration of Kamień, Lubusz and the Prelature of Piła with see in Gorzów Wielkopolski, formerly the western part of the Prelature of Schneidemühl, and the eastern part of the Diocese of Berlin,

* 25 March 1992: Renamed as Diocese of Zielona Góra – Gorzów and made part of the newly established ecclesiastical province of Szczecin-Kamień, lost territory to Diocese of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg * It enjoyed a

Papal visit Papal travel outside Rome has been historically rare, and voluntary travel of the pope was non-existent for the first 500 years. Pope John Paul II (1978–2005) undertook more pastoral trips than all his predecessors combined. Pope Francis (2013� ...

from the Polish

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in June 1997.

Statistics

As of 2014, it pastorally served 989,400 Catholics (85.3% of 1,160,000 total) on 14,814 km² in 267 parishes a 2 missions with 641 priests (542 diocesan, 99 religious), 283 lay religious (107 brothers, 176 sisters) and 53 seminarians. Like in most Polish dioceses,

church attendance Church attendance is a central religious practice for many Christians; some Christian denominations, such as the Catholic Church require church attendance on the Lord's Day (Sunday); the Westminster Confession of Faith is held by the Reformed ...

has declined in the 21st century. According to the statistics 28.1% of the dioceses population attended church services weekly in 2013, however more than 40% did so back in 2000.

Episcopal ordinaries

(all Roman rite) ;''Apostolic Administrators and Vicars of Kamień, Lubusz and the Prelature of Piła'' with see in Gorzów Wielkopolski *1945–1951: Administrator Edmund Nowicki (1900–1971), deposed and banished by

Bolesław Bierut Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 to 1947, President of Po ...

government *1951–1952: Vicar Tadeusz Załuczkowski *1952–1956: Vicar Zygmunt Szelążek *1956–1958: Administrator

Teodor Bensch Teodor is a masculine given name. In English, it is a cognate of Theodore (name), Theodore. Notable people with the name include: *Teodor Muzaka III, Albanian nobleman who was born in 1393. * Teodor Andrault de Langeron (19th century), President o ...

(1903–1958) *1958: Józef Michalski *1958–1972 ''see below'': Administrator Wilhelm Pluta (1910–1986), advanced to Bishop of Gorzów ;''Diocesan Bishops of Gorzów'' * Wilhelm Pluta (''see above'' 1972.06.28 – death 1986.01.22) * Józef Michalik (1986.10.01 – 1992.03.25 ''see below'') ;''Diocesan Bishops of Zielona Góra-Gorzów'' * Józef Michalik (''see above'' 1992.03.25 – 1993.04.17), next Metropolitan Archbishop of Przemyśl (Poland) (1993.04.17 – retired 2016.04.30), Vice-President of Episcopal Conference of Poland (1999 – 2004.03.18), President of Episcopal Conference of Poland (2004.03.18 – 2014.03.12), Vice-President of Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (2011.10.02 – 2014.10) * Adam Dyczkowski (1993.07.17 – 2007.12.29) * Stefan Regmunt (2007.12.29 – 2015.11.23) * Tadeusz Litynski (since 2015.11.23)

Auxiliary Bishops

* Edward Dajczak (1989.12.15 – 2007.06.23) * Paweł Socha, C.M. (1973.11.20 – 2012.01.16) * Adrian Put (since 28 June 2022) Vatican Press Office
Resignations and Appointments, 28.06.2022
accessed 29 June 2022

References

Sources and external links