Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège

Located in Belgium of Liège (Latin: Dioecesis Leodiensis, French: Diocèse de Liège) covers 3869 km ² and about 1.0139 million inhabitants. Since 1967, the boundaries of the Province of Liège coincide with those of the diocese. The diocese includes 26 deaneries and 529 parishes. 70,02 % of the inhabitants of the province of Liege are Catholic. About half of the population lives in the metropolitan area of Liege.

History

The diocese of Liège was founded in the 4th century in the town of Tongeren at the site of present-day Basilica of Our Lady of Maternus and laid in the 6th century to Maastricht. Only Bishop Hubert took his seat 720 in Liege. With the award of the county Huy to Bishop Notger (972-1008) the basis for the rise of the bishops was set to imperial princes. The diocese was suffragan of Cologne until 1559.

In the 14th century, the Prince-Bishopric of Liège territory formed from a secular sovereignty. The diocese was as Imperial Principality always in the tension between the Dukes of Burgundy, the Kingdom of France and the territories of the Holy Roman Empire. The prince-bishopric ( Bishopric ) Liege belonged from 1500 in the Lower Rhenish - Westphalian Circle.

In 1559 the diocese of Liege due to a reorganization of the dioceses was in the then " Habsburg Netherlands " ( comprising the present-day Netherlands, Belgium without the prince-bishopric, Luxembourg and smaller parts of northern France ) at the instigation of Philip II to the newly founded Archdiocese of Mechelen assumed. At the same time his diocesan territory was reduced in favor of the newly established Diocese of Namur, the diocese but not transferred to the surrounding Burgundian kingdom circle.

In 1794 the diocese of France was occupied and formally ceded to France in the Peace of Luneville and added to the Territory Ourthe. The decision of the Vienna Congress, however, and by a special contract of 23 March 1815, was left to the King of the Netherlands and has since formed a province of the United Netherlands, but with altered boundaries by some parts of the old diocese to the provinces of Hainaut, Limburg, others were beaten, however, of Limburg, Luxembourg and Namur to Liege and Namur drawn. In the Revolution of 1830 took the residents of the city and province of Liège vividly the Party of Belgian and Liege since the formation of the Kingdom of Belgium belongs to the latter. The diocese borders were 1840 newly circumscribed.

1925, the Diocese of Eupen - Malmedy was only founded in 1920, the diocese of Liege incorporated. In 1967 it came to the re-establishment of the Diocese of Hasselt spin-off from the diocese of Liege.

The diocese of Liege belonging to German-speaking areas of the East Cantons celebrate Holy Mass in German liturgical language. Therefore, the Diocese of Liège is also co-editor of the German Catholic prayer and hymnal praise of God.