Bishopric of Wrocław

Archdiocese of Wrocław Archidioecesis Vratislaviensis Archidiecezja Wrocławska
Cathedral of St. John in Wrocław, centre of the archdiocese
Location
Country	Poland
Ecclesiastical province	Ecclesiastical province of Wrocław
Statistics
Area	8,850 km2 (3,420 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 1,199,332 1,152,710 (96.1%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	10th Century (As Diocese of Wrocław) 13 August 1930 (As Archdiocese of Wrocław)
Cathedral	Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Wrocław
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Józef Kupny
Suffragans	Diocese of Legnica Diocese of Świdnica
Auxiliary Bishops	Andrzej Siemieniewski Jacek Kiciński
Emeritus Bishops	Henryk Gulbinowicz (Cardinal-Archbishop Emeritus) Marian Gołębiewski (Archbishop Emeritus)
Website
www.archidiecezja.wroc.pl

The Archdiocese of Wrocław (Polish: Archidiecezja wrocławska; German: Erzbistum Breslau; Czech: Arcidiecéze vratislavská; Latin: Archidioecesis Vratislaviensis) is a Latin Rite archdiocese of the Catholic Church named after its capital Wrocław in Poland. From its founding as a bishopric in 1000 until 1821, it was under the Archbishopric of Gniezno in Greater Poland. From 1821 to 1930 it was subjected directly to the Apostolic See. Between 1821 and 1972 it was officially known as (Arch)Diocese of Breslau.

Christianity was first introduced into Silesia by missionaries from Moravia and Bohemia. After the conversion of Duke Mieszko I of Poland and the conquest of Silesia, the work of bringing the people to the new faith went on more rapidly. Up to about the year 1000 Silesia had no bishop of its own, but was united with neighbouring dioceses. In this way, the connection of Silesia with the Holy Roman Empire continued. The upper part of the Oder River formed the boundary of the Kingdom of Poland. All the territory which is now Silesia – lying on the right-hand bank of the Oder – belonged, therefore, to the Diocese of Poznań, which was suffragan to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. This part of Silesia was thus under the jurisdiction of a priest named Jordan who was appointed first Bishop of Poznań in 968. The part of Silesia lying on the left bank of the Oder belonged to the territory included in then Bohemia, and was consequently within the diocesan jurisdiction of Prague. The Bishopric of Prague, founded in 973, was suffragan to the Archbishopric of Mainz.