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Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kalocsa–Kecskemét

Coordinates: 46°32′00″N 18°59′08″E / 46.5333°N 18.9856°E / 46.5333; 18.9856
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Archdiocese of Kalocsa–Kecskemét

Archidioecesis Colocensis–Kecskemetensis

Kalocsa–Kecskeméti főegyházmegye
Cathedral in Kalocsa
Location
Country Hungary
Ecclesiastical provinceKalocsa-Kecskemét
Statistics
Area8,372 km2 (3,232 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2014)
536,409
368,755 (68.7%)
Parishes127
Information
DenominationCatholic
RiteLatin
CathedralCathedral of the Assumption in Kalocsa
Co-cathedralCo-Cathedral of the Ascension of Our Lord in Kecskemét
Patron saintSt Paul
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
Metropolitan ArchbishopBalázs Bábel
SuffragansDiocese of Pécs
Diocese of Szeged–Csanád
Vicar GeneralFinta József
Episcopal VicarsPolyák Imre
Map
Website
Website of the Diocese

The Archdiocese of Kalocsa–Kecskemét (Hungarian: Kalocsa–Kecskeméti Főegyházmegye, Latin: Archidioecesis Colocensis–Kecskemetensis) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Hungary. The diocese is the metropolitan of the Diocese of Pécs and the Diocese of Szeged–Csanád. Its patron saint is Saint Paul. The current archbishop is Balázs Bábel, who was appointed in 1999.

History

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Establishment

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In his monography about the early history of the Archbishopric of Kalocsa, the Hungarian historian László Koszta concludes that the "establishment of the Diocese of Kalocsa is one of the most debated issues of our ecclesiastic history in the Age of the Árpáds".[1] Indeed, several important details of the early history of the episcopal see are uncertain.[2] The date of its establishment is unknown; its early status—a bishopric, a metropolitan archdiocese or an archbishopric without suffragan bishops—is obscure; its first (arch)bishop is uncertain; and its connection with the see of Bács (now Bač, Serbia) is debated.[2]

According to Hartvik, an early-12th-century biographer of the first king of Hungary, Stephen I, the king "divided his territories into ten bishoprics", making the archbishopric of Esztergom "the metropolitan and master of the others", and bestowed "the dignity of the bishop of Kalocsa" on Abbot Astrik.[3] Astrik, continued Hartvik, was appointed to the see of Esztergom to substitute Archbishop Sebastian who had gone blind, but Asterik "returned to Kalocsa with the pallium" (the archbishops' specific vestment) when Sebastian received back his sight three years later.[4] Stephen's earlier hagiography, the longer version of the Life of Saint Stephen, King of Hungary, did not mention this episode and exclusively referred to Astrik as archbishop of Esztergom.[4] The cathedral church at Kalocsa was dedicated to Paul the Apostle who was renowned especially for his missionary activities.[5] The patron saint implies that the see was established as a missionary bishopric, possibly aimed at the conversion of the so-called Black Hungarians (as it is proposed by historian Gábor Thoroczkay).[5]

Most historians developed their views about the establishment of the see on Hartvic's report.[4] They accept that the see of Kalocsa was set up as a bishopric shortly after Stephen I's coronation in the first decade of the 11th century.[4][5] According to a scholarly hypothesis, not only the lands between the rivers Danube and Tisza, but also the southern region of Transdanubia (the future Diocese of Pécs), and the Banat (which later developed into the Diocese of Csanád) were included in the new bishopric.[5]

One George was the first archbishop mentioned in a contemporaneous source: in 1050 or 1051 he was one of the prelates who assisted Pope Leo IX to celebrate a mass in Lotharingia.[4]

The Archdiocese of Kalocsa was probably originally set up as a Bishopric by King Stephen I of Hungary, but it became the second Archbishopric in 1009. Its original suffragans were the bishops of Bihar (Romanian: Biharea) and Transylvania. Around 1028 the bishop of the newly established Diocese of Csanád also became a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Kalocsa.

Secular offices connected to the archbishopric

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The archbishops of Kalocsa were, from the 15th century to 1776, the perpetual counts (Hungarian: Bács vármegye örökös főispánja, Latin: Bacsiensis perpetuus supremus comes).

Ordinaries

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Sources

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  • Baán, István (1997). "The Foundation of the Archbishopric of Kalocsa: The Byzantine Origin of the Second Archdiocese in Hungary". Early Christianity in Central and East Europe. Warszawa: Semper. pp. 67–74. ISBN 9788386951338.
  • Baán, István (1999). "The Metropolitanate of Tourkia: The Organization of the Byzantine Church in Hungary in the Middle Ages". Byzanz und Ostmitteleuropa 950-1453. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 45–53. ISBN 9783447041461.
  • Balogh, Margit - Gergely, Jenő: Egyházak az újkori Magyarországon (1790-1992) - Adattár (MTA Történettudományi Intézete, Budapest, 1996)
  • Koszta, László (2013). A kalocsai érseki tartomány kialakulása [Formation of the Archdiocese of Kalocsa] (in Hungarian). Pécsi Történettudományért Kulturális Egyesület. ISBN 978-963-89482-2-9.
  • Fallenbüchl, Zoltán: Magyarország főispánjai 1526-1848 (Argumentum, Budapest, 1994)
  • Fallenbüchl, Zoltán: Magyarország főméltóságai (Maecenas, 1988)
  • Karácsonyi, János: Magyarország egyháztörténete főbb vonásaiban 970-től 1900-ig (Könyvértékesítő Vállalat, Budapest, 1985)
  • Korai Magyar Történeti Lexikon (9-14. század), főszerkesztő: Kristó, Gyula, szerkesztők: Engel, Pál és Makk, Ferenc (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994)
  • Magyarország Történeti Kronológiája I-III. – A kezdetektől 1526-ig; 1526-1848, 1848-1944, főszerkesztő: Benda, Kálmán (Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1981, 1982, 1993)
  • Magyar Történelmi Fogalomtár I-II. – A-K; L-ZS, főszerkesztő: Bán, Péter (Gondolat, Budapest, 1989)
  • Thoroczkay, Gábor (2009). Írások az Árpád-korról: történeti és historiográfiai tanulmányok [About the Age of the Árpáds: Historical and Historiographical Studies] (in Hungarian). L'Harmattan. ISBN 978-963-236-165-9.

References

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  1. ^ Koszta 2013, p. 7.
  2. ^ a b Thoroczkay 2009, p. 50.
  3. ^ Koszta 2013, pp. 12, 28–29.
  4. ^ a b c d e Koszta 2013, p. 14.
  5. ^ a b c d Thoroczkay 2009, p. 52.
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46°32′00″N 18°59′08″E / 46.5333°N 18.9856°E / 46.5333; 18.9856