Diocese of Gniezno

Archdiocese of Gniezno Archidioecesis Gnesnensis Archidiecezja Gnieźnieńska
Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Gniezno
Location
Country	Poland
Statistics
Area	8,122 km2 (3,136 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2013) 664,608 656,716 (98.8%)
Information
Rite	Latin Rite
Cathedral	Bazylika Katedralna Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Marii Panny i św. Wojciecha (Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Wojciech Polak
Auxiliary Bishops	Krzysztof Wętkowski
Emeritus Bishops	Józef Kowalczyk Henryk Muszyński Szczepan Wesoły Bogdan Józef Wojtuś
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

The Archdiocese of Gniezno (Latin: Archidioecesis Gnesnensis, Polish: Archidiecezja Gnieźnieńska) is the oldest Roman Catholic archdiocese in Poland, located in the city of Gniezno. The ecclesiastical province comprises the suffragan dioceses of Bydgoszcz and Włocławek.

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Gniezno was established in 1000 AD at the instigation of the Polish duke Bolesław I the Brave. He had the relics of the missionary and martyr Adalbert of Prague (Wojciech) transferred to Gniezno Cathedral, which soon became a major pilgrimage site. Here Bolesław met with Emperor Otto III in the Congress of Gniezno, where the duke obtained investiture rights and created the Gniezno archbishopric, superseding the older Diocese of Poznań. Led by Adalbert's half-brother Radim Gaudentius, the ecclesiastical province then comprised the suffragan dioceses in Kraków, Wrocław, and Kołobrzeg (extinct in 1015); from about 1075 also Poznań.