Diocese of Nitra Dioecesis Nitriensis Biskupstvo Nitra |
|
---|---|
Location | |
Country | Slovakia |
Territory | Nitra Region, parts of the Trenčín Region |
Ecclesiastical province | Bratislava |
Metropolitan | Nitra |
Statistics | |
Area | 5,932 km2 (2,290 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2013) 710,900 587,000 (82.6%) |
Information | |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | June 880 |
Cathedral | St. Emmeram's Cathedral in Nitra |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Viliam Judák |
Emeritus Bishops | Sede vacante |
Map | |
Map of the Diocese |
|
Website | |
biskupstvo-nitra.sk |
The Diocese of Nitra (Slovak: Nitrianska diecéza, Latin: Dioecesis Nitriensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese western Slovakia, with its seat in Nitra. The current bishop is Viliam Judák.
The diocese was created as the first one on the territory of present-day Slovakia around 880 (from the Diocese of Regensburg), during the time of Great Moravia. Its first bishop was the Saint Methodius. Its destiny after the fall of Great Moravia isn't known. It was re-established in 1105 as part of the ecclesiastical province of Esztergom in the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1977, it was taken from the Archdiocese of Esztergom and attached into the newly established Diocese of Trnava. Before the reorganization in 2008, it was situated in the western parts of the Trenčín and Žilina regions with a strip connecting the city of Nitra to the main part. It had an area of 5,321 km² and a population of that area was 838,861 of which around 84% were of Catholic faith (2004).
On 14 February 2008, the territory of the diocese was reorganized. The diocese lost northern parts to the newly created Diocese of Žilina, but gained territory around the "strip" and southern parts from the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava.
Bishop Imre Bende (born 28 August 1824, Baja, Hungary – died March 26, 1911, Nitra) was a religious writer and Roman Catholic bishop of Banská Bystrica and Nitra in 1893. He studied theology at the University of Vienna and in 1847 in Kalocsa ordained a priest. In 1869 he became a priest in Novi Sad. Between 1878 and 1884 he was elected official in the Hungarian Parliament, for the Hungarian Liberal Party.