Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising

Archdiocese of Munich and Freising

Archidioecesis Monacensis et Frisingensis

Erzbistum München und Freising
Frauenkirche, Munich
Coat of arms
Location
Country Germany
Ecclesiastical province Munich and Freising
Statistics
Area 11,998 km2 (4,632 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics
(as of 2022)
3,855,000
1,499,000 (38.9%)
Parishes 747
Information
Denomination Catholic
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established 739
Cathedral Frauenkirche
Co-cathedral Freising Cathedral
Patron saint St. Corbinian
Current leadership
Pope Francis
Archbishop Reinhard Marx
Archbishop of Munich and Freising
Auxiliary Bishops Wolfgang Bischof, Rupert zu Stolberg-Stolberg
Bishops emeritus Friedrich Wetter, Franz Dietl, Bernhard Haßlberger
Map
Website
erzbistum-muenchen-und-freising.de
Freising Cathedral
The Freising Cathedral's pipe organ
Palais Holnstein, the Archbishop's residence

The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (German: Erzbistum München und Freising, Latin: Archidioecesis Monacensis et Frisingensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Bavaria, Germany. It is governed by the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, who administers the see from the co-cathedral in Munich, the Frauenkirche. The other, much older co-cathedral is Freising Cathedral.

The see was canonically erected in about 739 by Saint Boniface as the Diocese of Freising, and later became a prince-bishopric. The diocese was dissolved in 1803 following the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, although a titular bishop ruled until April 1, 1818, when Pope Pius VII elevated the diocese to an archdiocese with its new seat in Munich, rather than Freising.

The archdiocese is divided into forty deaneries with 758 parishes. Its suffragan bishops are the Bishop of Augsburg, the Bishop of Passau, and the Bishop of Regensburg.

The most famous archbishop was Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected as Pope Benedict XVI.

The residence of the Archbishops of Munich and Freising is the Palais Holnstein in Munich.

See also