Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ljubljana


The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ljubljana is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Slovenia.

The Archdiocese

The archdiocese's motherchurch and thus seat of its archbishop is the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Ljubljana; it also contains minor basilicas in Brezje and Stična. The See of Ljubljana had been vacant, its former archbishop was, until his 2013 resignation, Anton Stres, who was appointed Archbishop of Ljubljana, and thus Primate of Slovenia, by Pope Benedict XVI on 28 November 2009.

History

From 811, the territory of the Ljubljana Archdiocese was part of the ecclesiastical territory of the Patriarch of Aquileia. Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, erected on 6 December 1461 the Diocese of Laibach, which was confirmed six months later, on 6 September 1462, by Pope Pius II. Several days later, it was taken from the jurisprudence of the Aquileia and directly subjected to the Holy See. On 3 March 1787, it became an archdiocese and a metropolis, which it remained until 1807, when it was for political reasons degraded to a common diocese.
The Nazi persecution of the Church in annexed Slovenia was akin to that which occurred in Poland. Within six weeks of the Nazi occupation, only 100 of the 831 priests in the Diocese of Maribor and part of the Diocese of Ljubljana remained free. Clergy were persecuted and sent to concentration camps, religious Orders had their properties seized.
The diocese was again elevated to an archdiocese by Pope John XXIII on 22 December 1961, and to a metropolis by Pope Paul VI on 22 November 1968. Today the archdiocese has two suffragan sees, Koper and Novo Mesto. It is the principal see of Slovenia; one living former archbishop, Franc Rode, CM, was promoted to a Curial office and made a Cardinal.

List of bishops of Ljubljana