Jurisdiction: | Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese |
Utrecht | |
Latin: | Archidioecesis Metropolitae Ultraiectensis Latinorum |
Local: | Aartsbisdom Utrecht |
Coat: | Wapen Bisdom Utrecht.svg |
Coat Size: | 200px |
Country: | Netherlands |
Territory: | Parts of the provinces Utrecht, Overijssel, Gelderland, and Flevoland[1] |
Coordinates: | 52.0875°N 5.1242°W |
Area Km2: | 10,000 |
Area Footnotes: | [2] |
Population: | 4,115,800 |
Population As Of: | 2020 |
Catholics: | 762,100 |
Catholics Percent: | 18.5 |
Denomination: | Catholic |
Sui Iuris Church: | Latin Church |
Rite: | Roman Rite |
Established: | 695, Archbishopric from 12 May 1559 |
Cathedral: | Saint Catherine's Cathedral[3] |
Patron: | Saint Willibrord |
Bishop: | Wim Eijk[4] |
Bishop Title: | Archbishop |
Auxiliary Bishops: | Theodorus Cornelis Maria Hoogenboom Herman Willebrordus Woorts |
Emeritus Bishops: | Johannes Antonius de Kok Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus (1982–2005) |
Map: | BisdomUtrechtLocatie.png |
The Archdiocese of Utrecht (Latin: Archidioecesis Ultraiectensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Church (or Western Church) of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands. The Archbishop of Utrecht is the metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Utrecht. There are six suffragan dioceses of the province: Roman Catholic Dioceses of Breda, of Groningen-Leeuwarden, of Haarlem-Amsterdam, of Roermond, of Rotterdam, and of 's-Hertogenbosch. The cathedral church of the archdiocese is Saint Catherine's Cathedral, which replaced the prior cathedral, Saint Martin's Cathedral after it was taken by Protestants in the Reformation.
See main article: Diocese of Utrecht (695–1580). The diocese was founded in 695.
In the Middle Ages, the bishops of Utrecht were also prince-bishops of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht within the Holy Roman Empire. The Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht must not be confused with the Diocese of Utrecht, which was larger than the Prince-Bishopric. Over the larger area outside the Prince-Bishopric, the bishop exercised only spiritual, not temporal, authority.
In 1580, the diocese was suppressed because of the rise of Protestantism. The Dutch Mission in various forms took care of the spiritual needs of Catholics in the former diocese of Utrecht until the modern archdiocese was established in 1853.