The Würzburg Bishops' Conference of 1848 was a four-week workshop of the German Catholic bishops in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

. It can be regarded as the birth of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

bishops' conferences.

History

The hastily called meeting began on 21 October 1848, just three weeks after the Cologne Archbishop

Johannes von Geissel Johannes von Geissel (5 February 1796 – 8 September 1864) was a German Catholic Archbishop of Cologne and Cardinal from the Electorate of the Palatinate. Life Gessel was born in Gimmeldingen in the Electorate of the Palatinate. After co ...

had issued the invitations. It ended unexpectedly after lengthy deliberations on 16 November. Twenty-five diocesan bishops or their representatives, and selected theological advisers, participated. However, no laymen participated. The venue was the Würzburg seminary, for the last three days of the Franciscan monastery of

. It was hosted by the Bishop of Würzburg . The bishops had a strict work discipline with eight hours of daily conferences. The liturgical high point was a Pontifical Mass in the

Würzburg Cathedral Würzburg Cathedral (german: Würzburger Dom) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg and has served as the burial place for the Prince-Bishops of Wür ...

under the direction of the Primate Germaniae of Archbishop Cardinal

Friedrich Johannes Jacob Celestin von Schwarzenberg Friedrich Prince zu Schwarzenberg, or in Czech Bedřich prince ze Schwarzenberg (April 6, 1809 in Vienna, Austria – March 27, 1885 in Vienna, Austria) was a Catholic Cardinal of the nineteenth century in Austria and the Kingdom of Bohemia and a ...

. A noteworthy sign was the charitable feeding of 300 poor citizens of Würzburg. The bishops worked at the tables serving the poor. The shortness of the advance notice, the high number of participants and the long duration of the meeting are evidence of the urgency of the issues at hand. The end of the ecclesiastical order with their spiritual territories was less than 50 years ago and the reorganization of the German dioceses only 25 years. Since 18 May 1848, in the

Frankfurt Parliament The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...

there was a controversial discussion about the future government and constitutional order in

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 ...

and the bishops didn't want to be bystanders only. They formulated policy statements on the relationship between church and state, the church school inspection, the legal status of the clergy and on issues of societal and social order. They adopted three memoranda: one to all the faithful, one to the government and one to the clergy. However, the intended official national synod did not follow, because for it a papal authorization was required, and the Curia was afraid of national church tendencies, because the Bavarian bishops in the

Freising Bishops' Conference The Freising Bishops' Conference was founded in 1850. In it the bishops of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising in southern Bavaria, with the suffragans of Regensburg, Passau and Augsburg as well as the Franconia Archdiocese of Bamberg with th ...

and the bishops of the Habsburg monarchy in the Episcopal Conference of Austria went their own ways.

Participants

The lithography above shows from left to right in the... first row: * Karl August von Reisach (1800–1869), Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal later * Maximilian Joseph Gottfried von Sommerau Beeckh (1769–1853), Archbishop of Olomouc * Bonifaz Kaspar von Urban (1773–1858), Archbishop of Bamberg *

(1809–1885), archbishop of

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, and later Cardinal Archbishop of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

(1796–1864), Archbishop of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, Cardinal later *

Hermann von Vicari Hermann von Vicari (13 May 1773 at Aulendorf in Württemberg – 14 April 1868 at Freiburg) was a German Catholic churchman, who became Archbishop of Freiburg, in Baden. Life In 1789 he received tonsure at Constance and obtained a canonry ...

(1773–1868), Archbishop of

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

* Galura Bernhard (1764–1856), Bishop of Bishopric of Brixen, Brixen second row: * Melchior von Diepenbrock (1798–1853), prince bishop of Bishop of Wrocław, Breslau, later Cardinal, also a member of the Frankfurt National Assembly * Carl Anton Lüpke (1775–1855), senior bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück, Osnabrück and titular bishop of Anthedon (Palestine), Anthedon * Peter von Richarz (1783–1855), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Augsburg, Augsburg * Peter Leopold Kaiser (1788–1848), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz, Mainz * Henry of Hofstätter (1805–1875), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Passau, Passau * Georg Anton von Stahl (1805–1870), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Würzburg, Würzburg third row: * Johann Georg Müller (1798–1870), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Münster, Münster, also a member of the Frankfurt National Assembly * Valentine of Riedel (1802–1857), Bishops of Regensburg, Bishop of Regensburg * Nicholas Weis (1796–1869), Bishop of Speyer * (1780–1849), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim, Hildesheim * William Arnoldi (1798–1864), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier, Trier * Peter Josef Blum, (1808–1884), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg, Limburg * Franz Drepper (1787–1855), Bishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paderborn, Paderborn * Anastasius Sedlag (1787–1856), Bishop of Bishopric of Culm (Chełmno), Kulm (Kingdom of Prussia) * George von Oettl (1794–1866), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Eichstätt, Eichstätt * Josef von Lipp (1794–1869), Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Bishop of Rottenburg * Joseph Dittrich († 1853), Titular Bishop of Corycus, Apostolic Vicar in the Kingdom of Saxony Not shown in the picture is Franz Grossmann of the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia who represented Bishop Joseph Ambrose Geritz. Also, other clerics took part as consultants, e.g. the Cathedral Provost of Cologne Eduard Herzog (Cathedral Provost), Eduard Herzog.

References

Catholic Würzburg Sonntagsblatt B 7432 No. 6 of 10 February 2008, Volume 155

External links

* http://www.wuerzburg.de/de/themen/kultur-bildung-kulturangebot/stadtarchiv/veranstaltungenundpublikati {{DEFAULTSORT:Wurzburg Bishops' Conference Defunct episcopal conferences Catholic Church in Germany 1848 in Germany 1848 in Christianity 19th-century Catholicism 1848 conferences