Archdiocese of Prague
Urged by Czech Prince Boleslav I, an agreement between Pope John XIII and Emperor Otto I gave birth to the bull that declared creation of the Diocese of Prague in 972. Czech lands were then a part of the Diocese of Regensburg, whose bishop, St. Wolfgang, agreed. In 973, first Prague Bishop Dětmar (Dietmar) was installed. His successor was Vojtěch (St. Adalbert), today the main patron saint of the Archdiocese of Prague.
Dioceses of Krakow and Olomouc were detached from the Diocese of Prague in 1000 and 1063, respectively.
Thanks to the initiative of Charles IV, the Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor, the Diocese of Prague was raised to the rank of archdiocese by Pope Clement VI with his bull Ex supernae providentia maiestatis, issued in Avignon on 30th April 1344. The Pope withdrew the Dioceses of Prague and Olomouc from the Archdiocese of Mainz, created a new Diocese of Litomyšl (it ceased to exist during the Hussite wars in the 15th century), and raised the Diocese of Prague into the rank of Archdiocese, creating thus a new independent ecclesiastical province of Bohemia and Moravia. The Diocese of Prague existed for 371 years and was ruled by 28 subsequent bishops; the Archdiocese of Prague now exists for 665 years and till now it has been led by 35 archbishops; 9 of them were appointed cardinals.
The archbishop of Prague obtained a right to crown Czech kings and queens (by the bull Romanus Pontifex from 5th May 1344) and became a metropolitan and a Czech primate. Since 7th April 1348, when the Charles University was established, he is the Great Chancellor of the University as well. The first archbishop of Prague was its last bishop, Arnošt of Pardubice (Ernest of Pardubice); he initiated building of the St. Vitus cathedral.
During the Hussite wars, Archbishop Konrád z Vechty (Conrad of Vechta) joined the Hussites and was excommunicated in 1421. Since that year till 1561 there was no archbishop in Prague and the archdiocese was administered by a metropolitan canonry.
In 1561, Antonín Brus of Mohelnice, the grand master of the Knights of the Red Cross, was appointed the archbishop of Prague and the archdiocese was renewed (in contrast to the Diocese of Litomyšl, which was finally dissolved). The archbishop also got a new seat at the Hradčanské Square, the contemporary Archbishop's Palace.
As the archdiocese's area was too large to be administrated, new dioceses were subsequently created: Diocese of Litoměřice on 3rd July 1655, Diocese of Hradec Králové on 10th November 1664, Diocese of České Budějovice on 20th September 1785 and Diocese of Plzeň on 31st May 1993. The Diocese of Olomouc was raised to the rank of Archdiocese on 5th December 1777, making thus a new ecclesiastical province of Moravia.
At the moment, the Archdiocese of Prague consists of 247 parishes with total of 889 churches. It is situated in the centre of Bohemia, covering the area of 8,990 sq. km. In this area, there are some two million people living, 18 per cent of them declared themselves to be Roman Catholics in the 2001 census.
Contact:
Archdiocese of Prague
Hradčanské nám. 16
CZ-11902 Praha 1 - Hradčany
Phone: +420 220 392 111
E-mail: apha@apha.cz
www.apha.cz