Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2.djvu/844

 BRESLAU

764

BRESLAU

position of the Holy See. Bishop Sinzendorf had neither the acuteness to perceive the inimical intent of the king's scheme, nor sufficient decision of char- acter to withstand it. The king desired to secure a successor to Sinzendorf who would be under royal influence. In utter disregard of the principles of the Church, and heedless of the protests of the cathedral chapter, he presented Count Philip Gotthard von Schaffgotsch as coadjutor-bishop. After the death of Cardinal Sinzendorf the king succeeded in over- coming the scruples of the Holy Father, and Schaff- gotsch became Bishop of Brcslau (174S-95). Al- though th? method of his elevation caused the new bisliop to be regarded with suspicion by many strict Catholics, yet he was zealous in the fulfilment of his duties. During the Seven Years War he fell into dis- credit with Frederick on account of his firm main- tenance of the rights of the Church, and the return of peace did not fully restore him to favour. In 1766 he fled to the Austrian part of his diocese in order to avoid the confinement in Oppeln which the king had decreed against him. After this Frederick made it impossible for him to rule the Prussian part of his diocese, and until the death of the bishop this terri- tory was ruled by vicars Apostolic.

The former coadjutor of von Schaffgotsch, Joseph Christian, Prince von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Bar- tenstein (1795-1S17), succeeded him as bishop. During this episcopate the temporal power of the Bishops of Breslau came to an end through the secularization, in ISIO, of the church estates in Silesia. Only the estates in Austria remained to the see. The cathedral foundation, eight collegiate foundations, and over eighty monasteries were sup- pressed, and their property confiscated. Only those monastic institutions which were occupied with teaching or nursing were allowed to exist. Bishop Joseph Cliristian was succeeded by his coadjutor, Emmanuel von Schimonsky. The affairs of the Church in Prussia had been brought into order by the Bull ''De salute animarum", issued in 1821. Under its provisions the cathedral chapter elected Schimonsky, who had been administrator of the diocese, as the first Exempt Bishop of Breslau (1824- 32). The bishop received for himself and his suc- cessors the title of prince as partial compensation for the loss of the secularized principality of Neisse. He combated the rationalistic tendencies which were rife among his clergy in regard to celibacy and the use of Latin in the church services and ceremonies. During the episcopate of his predecessor the Govern- ment had promulgated a law which was a source of much trouble to Schimonsky and his immediate successors; this was that in those places where Catho- lics were few in number, the parish should be de- clared extinct, and the church buildings given to the Protestants. In spite of the protests of the episcopal authorities, over one hundred church buildings were lost in this way. King Frederick William put an end to this injustice, and sought to make good the injuries inflicted. For several years after Schimon- sky's death the see remained vacant. It was eventu- ally filled by the election, through Government in- fluence, of Count Leopold von Sedlnitzki (1836-40). Bishop von Sedlnitzki was neither clear nor firm in his maintenance of the doctrines of the Church; on the question of mixed marriages, which had become one of great importance, he took an undecided posi- tion. At last, upon the demand of Pope Gregory XVI, he resigned his see. He went afterwards to Berlin, where he was made a pri%'}'-councillor, and where he later became a Protestant. The dean of the cathedral. Dr. Ritter, administered the diocese for several years until the election of the Grand Dean of the countship of Glatz, Joseph Knauer (1843-44). The new bishop, who was seventy-nine years old, lived only a year after his appointment.

His successor was Melchior, Freiherr von Diepen- brock (1845-53). This episcopate was the be- ginning of a new religious and ecclesiastical life in the diocese. During the revolutionary period the bishop not only maintained order in his see, which was in a state of ferment, but was also a supporter of the Government. He received unusual honours from the king and was made a cardinal by the pope. He died 20 Januarj', 1853, at the costle of Johannis- berg and was buried in the cathedral. His suc- cessor, Heinrich Forster (1853-81) carried on his work and completed it. Bishop Forster gave gen- erous aid to the founding of churches, monastic in- stitutions, and schools. The strife that arose be- 1 tween the Church and the State brought his labours in the Prussian part of his diocese to an end. He was deposed by the State and was obliged to leave Breslau and retire to the castle of Johannisberg. Here he died, 20 October, 1881. He was buried in the cathedral at Breslau. Leo XIII appointed as his successor in the disordered diocese Robert Herzog (1882-86), who had been delegate of the prince- bishop and provost of St. Hedwig's at Berlin. Bishop Herzog made every endeavour to bring order out of the confusion into which the quarrel with the State during the immediately preceding years had thro\\-n the affairs of the diocese. Unfortunately, his episco- pate was of but short duration; he died after a Ions illness, 26 December, 1886. The Holy See appointed as his successor a man who had done much to allay the .strife between Church and State, the Bishop of Fulda, Georg Kopp. Bishop Kopp was born. 25 July, 1837, at Duderstadt in the Diocese of Hildes- heim; he was ordained to the priestliood, 29 August, 1862: con.secratcd and installed Bishop of Fulda, 27 December, 1881; transferred to Breslau, 9 August, 1887, installed 20 October, 1887; created a cardinal 16 January, 1893.

Extent .\xd Statistics of the Diocese. — The Diocese of Breslau includes the whole Prussian Province of Silesia with the exception of a part ol the districts of Ratibor and Leobschiitz, which be- long to the Archdiocese of Olmiitz, and the Count- ship (Grafschaft) of Glatz, also in Prussian Silesia. which is subject to the Archbishop of Prague. In Austrian Silesia the Diocese of Breslau includes the Principality of Teschen and the Austrian part of the Principality of Neisse. In the Province of Branden- burg the diocese still includes the districts of Schwie- bus-Ziillichau and Krossen, as well as the part formerly called Nieder-Lausitz. With the exception of the districts of Biitow and Lauenburg, the rest ol Brandenbm-g and the Province of Pomerania have since 1821, been super\'ised by delegation from the Prince-Bishop of Breslau. (See Berlin, Branden- burg.)

Including the district governed by delegation the diocese contains, according to the last census (1 De- cember, 1905), 3,342,221 Catholics; 8,737,746 Protes- tants; and 204,749 Jews. There are actively em- ployed in the diocese 1,632 secular, and 121 regular priests. The cathedral chapter includes the twc offices of provost and dean, and has 10 regular, and 6 honorary, canons. The prince-bishopric is di- vided into 11 commi.s.sariates and 99 archpresby- terates, in which there are 992 cures of various kindf (parishes, curacies, and stations), with 935 parisl churches and 633 dependent and mother-churches. Besides the theological faculty of the University ol Breslau, the diocese possesses, as episcopal institu- tions for the training of the clergy, 5 preparatorj seminaries for boys, 1 home (recently much en- larged) for theological students attending the uni- versity, and 1 seminary for priests. The statistic! of the houses of the religious orders in the diocese; are as follows: Benedictines, 1 house; Dominicans, 1 Franciscans, 8; Jesuits, 3; Piarists, 1; Brothers ol