The Diocese of Rožňava (, ) 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 ...

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 ...

in southern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. It covers central and eastern parts of the

Banská Bystrica Region The Banská Bystrica Region (, ; , ) is one of the eight regions of Slovakia. It is the largest of the eight regions by area, and has a lower population density than any other region. The Banská Bystrica Region was established in 1923; its bord ...

and western parts of the

Košice Region The Košice Region (, ; ; ) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders were established in 1996. It consists of 11 districts ( okresy) and 440 municipalities, 17 of which ...

. Its seat is in

Rožňava Rožňava (, , Latin: ''Rosnavia'') is a town in Slovakia, approximately by road from Košice in the Košice Region, and has a population of 19,182. The town is an economic and tourist centre of the Gemer. Rožňava is now a popular tourist attr ...

, covers an area of 7,000 km² with 343,352 people of which 58% are of Catholic faith (2004).

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Stanislav Stolárik,

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Barica, who until then had been serving as Auxiliary Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Košice The Archdiocese of Košice (, ) is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in eastern Slovakia, with its seat in Košice. It covers the central and eastern parts of the Prešov and Košice regions, with an area of 10,403 km2. The diocese' ...

, in Košice, Slovakia, was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Rožňava on Saturday, 21 March 2015, by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

, succeeding Bishop Emeritus Vladimír Filo, who himself had succeeded Bishop Emeritus Eduard Kojnok in 2008.

History

The diocese was established by

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

on 13 March 1776 as a suffragan of the

Archdiocese of Esztergom 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 associated ...

. It was then known by its German name ''diocese of Rosenau'', or Hungarian name ''diocese of Rozsnyó''. In 1776 János Galgóczy was appointed first Bishop of Rosenau, but died before taking charge. His successor, Count Antal Révay (1776–80), caused the church to be restored and the high altar to be renovated. In 1804 it became a suffragan see of the new Archdiocese of Eger. Among successors of Révay were: János Scitovszky (1827–38), later

Bishop of Funfkirchen A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

and Archbishop of Gran; Béla Bartakovics (1845–50), later archbishop of Eger. Wikisource:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Rosenau On 30 December 1977, it was taken from the former metropolitan, and became part of the newly created Slovak ecclesiastical province together with the metropolitan Diocese of Trnava. The last change of metropolitan took place on 31 March 1995 when it was changed to the newly elevated Archdiocese of Košice.

List of bishops

Notes

External links

Official website

Roman Catholic dioceses in Slovakia {{Slovakia-stub