The Diocese of Copenhagen is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

ecclesiastical territory or

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, prov ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

named after its

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

, the Danish national capital,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and covers all

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The diocese also covers two Danish overseas possessions, the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

and

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

. It is estimated that 36,000 (0.7%) out of the 5,516,597 inhabitants of the diocesan territory are Catholics. The Diocese of Copenhagen is exempt immediately to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. The principal church of the diocese is St. Ansgar's Cathedral. The current

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, appointed in 1995, is Czeslaw Kozon.

History

Following the Protestant Reformation in Denmark, a Catholic mission was first reestablished in Denmark on August 7, 1688 as the Vicariate Apostolic of the Northern Missions. As in neighbouring provinces, none of the pre-

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

bishoprics were re-established after the Reformation, and the mission in Copenhagen became its only province in the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1869, the Vicariate Apostolic was demoted as the

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 ...

of Denmark. On March 15, 1892, it was again promoted as the Vicariate Apostolic of Denmark. Only on April 29, 1953 was it promoted as the regular, post-missionary Diocese of Copenhagen.

Bishops of the Diocese

*The Rev. Hermann Grüder (Prefect of Denmark: 1869–1883) *The Most Rev. Johannes Von Euch (Prefect of Denmark: 1883–1894; Vicar Apostolic of Denmark: 1894–1922) *The Most Rev. Josef Ludwig Brems, O.Praem (Vicar Apostolic of Denmark: 1922–1938) *The Most Rev. Johannes Theodor Suhr, O.S.B. (Vicar Apostolic of Denmark: 1939–1953; Bishop of Copenhagen: 1953–1964) *The Most Rev. Hans Ludvig Martensen, S.J. (Bishop of Copenhagen: 1965–1995) *The Most Rev. Czeslaw Kozon (Bishop of Copenhagen: 1995–current)

References

External links

Diocese of Copenhagen homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Copenhagen, Roman Catholic Diocese of Diocese of Copenhagen Diocese of Copenhagen Roman Catholic dioceses in Nordic Europe Diocese of Copenhagen Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Diocese of Copenhagen Roman Catholic dioceses in Denmark

History

Bishops of the Diocese

See also

References

External links