Diocese of Chełmno

The Diocese of Chełmno was a Catholic diocese in Chełmno Land, founded in 1243 and disbanded in 1992.

History

It was founded in 1243 by the papal legate William of Modena in the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights, along with the three other bishoprics Ermland (Warmia), Samland and Pomesania. Initially Culm was a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Riga and had its seat in Chełmża (Culmsee), where the cathedral chapter was domiciled till 1824.
From 1257 to 1782 the bishops resided primarily at the castle in Lubawa, then from 1782 to 1824 their seat became Chełmża.
In 1454, the region was reincorporated by King Casimir IV Jagiellon to the Kingdom of Poland.
In 1466, the region was confirmed as part of Poland, and the diocese was agreed to pass to the [Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno|Archdiocese of Gniezno].
After 1525 Chełmno incorporated southern parts of the Pomesanian diocesan area, which happened to be in the Chełmno Voivodeship. Whereas western Pomesanian diocesan area in the Malbork Voivodeship was administered by Chełmno, but officially maintaining its naming.
After Riga's dissolution in 1566 the bishops of Chełmno attended the councils of the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan of Gniezno. This practice was recognised by the Holy See by the Bull De salute animarum in 1821, when Chełmno became de jure a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Gniezno. Chełmno diocese was enlarged on that occasion.
Annexation of the diocesan area in the First Partition of Poland in 1772 and Second Partition of Poland in 1793 by the Kingdom of Prussia.
In 1824, episcopal seat moved to Pelplin.
In 1871, the diocesan area became part of Germany.
Restoration of independent Poland after World War I; reintegration of Chełmno with Poland in 1920.
Pope Pius XI decided to separate 18 parishes in the territory the Free City of Danzig west of the Vistula from the diocese and to establish an Apostolic Administrator of the Free City of Danzig on 24 April 1922, which was directly subordinated to the Pope.
On 1 May 1923 the Holy See disentangled from the Diocese of Chełmno the deaneries in Bütow (Bytów), Lauenburg in Pomerania (Lębork) as well as those included in the Posen-West Prussia Border March, and transferred them to the new Apostolic Administration of Tütz, later transformed into the Prelature of Schneidemühl.
In 1925 a concordat between Poland and the Holy See was signed and the Apostolic Administrator was now supposed to be subordinated to the Nuncio of Warsaw, which caused protests among the local populace. Thus, the Pope established the sui iuris Diocese of Danzig on 30 December 1925 and appointed Edward O'Rourke as the first Bishop on 2 January 1926. The deanery of Pomesania in that eastern part of West Prussia which remained with Germany after the 1920 East and West Prussian plebiscites was transferred to the Diocese of Warmia in 1925.
As part of the reorganisation of the Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of Poland in 1972, also accounting for changes of political border in 1945, the diocese of Gdansk was enlarged on the expenses of Chelmno diocese, whereas the latter gained parishes previously part of the Berlin diocese and the Prelature of Schneidemühl
As part of the reorganisation of the Catholic Church in the Third Polish Republic, the extant Diocese of Chełmno was split in 1992 by Pope John Paul II into the Diocese of Pelplin and the Diocese of Toruń

List of Bishops of Kulm/Chełmno

1245–1263: Heidenreich Ordo fratrum Praedicatorum, Dominican Order
1264–1274: Friedrich von Hausen Ordo Teutonicus, Teutonic Order
1275–1291: Werner OT
1291/92–1301: Heinrich Schenk OT
1303–1311: Herman OT
1311–1316/19: Eberhard OT
1319–1323: Mikołaj Afri OP
1323–1349: Otto OT
1349–1359: Jacob OT
1359–1363: Johann Schadland OP
1363–1381/85: Wikbold Dobilstein OT
1385–1390: Reinhard von Sayn
1390: Martin von Lynow OT
1390–1398: Nikolaus Schippenbeil OT
1398–1402: Jan Kropidło
1402–1416: Arnold Stapil OT
1416–1457: Johann Marienau
1457–1479: Wincenty Kiełbasa
1480–1495: Stefan of Nibork
1496–1507: Mikołaj Chrapicki
1508–1530: Jan Konopacki
1530–1538: Johannes Dantiscus
1538–1549: Tiedemann Giese
1549–1551: Stanislaus Hosius
1551–1562: Jan Lubodzieski
1562–1571: Stanisław Żelisławski SOC
1574–1595: Piotr Kostka
1595–1600: Piotr Tylicki
1600–1610: Wawrzyniec Gembicki
1611–1613: Maciej Konopacki
1614–1624: Jan Kuczborski
1624–1635: Jakub Zadzik
1635–1639: Jan Lipski
1639–1646: Kasper Działyński
1646–1652: Andrzej Leszczyński
1653–1655: Jan Gembicki
1658–1661: Adam Koss
1662–1674: Andrzej Olszowski
1676–1681: Jan Małachowski
1681–1693:
1693–1694:
1699–1712: Teodor Andrzej Potocki
1719–1721:
1723–1730:
1731–1733: SOC
1736–1739: Adam Stanisław Grabowski
1739–1746: Andrzej Stanisław Załuski
1747–1758: SOC
1759–1785:
1785–1795: Karl von Hohenzollern-Hechingen
1795–1814:
1824–1832: Ignacy Stanisław Matthy
1834–1856: Anastazy Sedlag
1857–1886: Johannes von der Marwitz
1886–1898: Leon Redner
1899–1926: Augustin Rosentreter
1926–1944: Stanisław Wojciech Okoniewski
1946–1972: Kazimierz Józef Kowalski
1973–1980: Bernard Czapliński
1981–1992: Marian Przykucki