| Jurisdiction: | Diocese |
| Augsburg | |
| Latin: | Dioecesis Augustanus Vindelicorum |
| Local: | Bistum Augsburg |
| Coat: | Wappen Bistum Augsburg.png |
| Country: |  Germany |
| Province: | Munich and Freising |
| Metropolitan: | Archdiocese of Munich and Freising |
| Area Km2: | 13,250 |
| Population: | 2,316,270 |
| Population As Of: | 2015 |
| Catholics: | 1,325,316 |
| Catholics Percent: | 57.2 |
| Parishes: | 998 |
| Denomination: | Catholic |
| Sui Iuris Church: | Latin Church |
| Rite: | Roman Rite |
| Established: | 6th Century |
| Cathedral: | Augsburg Cathedral |
| Cocathedral: | Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, Dillingen |
| Patron: | St. Ulric of Augsburg St. Simbert of Augsburg St. Afra |
| Bishop: | Bertram Meier |
| Metro Archbishop: | Reinhard Marx |
| Auxiliary Bishops: | Anton Losinger Florian Wörner |
| Vicar General: | Harald Heinrich |
| Map: | Karte Bistum Augsburg.png |
Diocese of Augsburg (Latin: Dioecesis Augustanus Vindelicorum) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich.[1] [2]
The present city of Augsburg appears in Strabo as Damasia, a stronghold of the Licatii; in 14 BC, it became a Roman colony known as Augusta Vindelicorum, received the rights of a city from Hadrian and soon became of great importance as an arsenal and the point of junction of several important trade routes.[3]
Though the beginnings of Christianity within the limits of the present diocese are shrouded in obscurity, its teachings were probably brought there by soldiers or merchants. According to the acts of the martyrdom of St. Afra, who with her handmaids suffered at the stake for Christ, there existed in Augsburg early in the fourth century a Christian community under Bishop Narcissus. Dionysius, uncle of St. Afra, is mentioned as his Successor.[3]
Nothing authentic is known about the history of the Augsburg Church during the centuries immediately succeeding, but it survived the collapse of Roman power in Germany and the turbulence of the great migrations. It is true that two catalogues of the Bishops of Augsburg, dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, mention several bishops of this primitive period, but the first whose record has received indubitable historical corroboration is Wikterp (or Wicbpert), who was bishop about 739 or 768. He took part in several synods convened by Saint Boniface in Germany; in company with Magnus of Füssen, founded the monastery of Füssen; and with Saint Boniface, dedicated the monastery at Benediktbeuern.[3]
Under either Saint Wikterp or his successor, Tazzo (or Tozzo), about whom little is known, many monasteries were established, e.g. the abbeys of Wessobrunn, Ellwangen, Polling and Ottobeuren. At this time, also, the see, hitherto suffragan to the Patriarchate of Aquileia, was placed among the suffragan sees of the newly founded Archdiocese of Mainz (746). Saint Simpert (c. 810), hitherto abbot of Murbach, and a relative of Charlemagne, renovated many churches and monasteries laid waste in the wars of the Franks and Bavarians, and during the incursions of the Avari; he built the first cathedral of Augsburg in honour of the Virgin Mary; and obtained from the Emperor Charlemagne an exact definition of his diocesan limits. His jurisdiction extended at that time from the Iller eastward over the Lech, north of the Danube to the Alb, and south to the spurs of the Alps. Moreover, various estates and villages in the valley of the Danube, and in Tyrol, belonged to the diocese.
See main article: Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg.
After the Congress of Vienna, where the diocese was restored, Franz Karl von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (d. 1819) was appointed bishop and Joseph Maria von Fraunberg was soon called to the archdiocese of Bamberg. There, they devolved upon their successors the important task of rearranging the external conditions and reanimating religious life, which had suffered sorely. Ignatius Albert von Riegg (1824–36) was successful in his endeavors to raise the standard of popular education through the medium of numerous ordinances and frequent visitations. He assigned the administration and direction of studies in the Lyceum to the monks of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Stephen in Augsburg, founded by King Ludwig I of Bavaria (1834).
Petrus von Richarz (1837–55) displayed energy and persistent zeal in promoting the interests of his diocese and the Catholic Church in general, and encouraged the giving of missions to the people, the establishment of many religious institutions for the care of the sick and for educational purposes, and carefully superintended the training of the clergy. The same spirit characterized the labours of the succeeding bishops: Michael von Deinlein (1856–58), who after a short episcopate was raised to the Archbishopric of Bamberg; Pankratius von Dinkel (1858–94), under whom both seminaries and the deaf and dumb asylum were established in Dillingen, and many monastic institutions were founded; Petrus von Hotzl (1895-1902) whose episcopate was marked by the attention paid to social and intellectual pursuits, and the number of missions given among the people as well as by the solemn celebration of the beatification of the pious Franciscan sister, Crescentia Hoss. He was succeeded by Maximilian von Lingg.