LAVANT, DIocese of. – A diocese in Yugoslavia with its see in Maribor in northern Slovenia. Over an area of 7,398 sq. km., it comprises 638,786 Catholics and 34,309 of other religions, 259 parishes divided into 28 deaneries, served by 256 secular priests and 97 religious (1949).
The episcopal see was founded at the church of Sankt Andrä in the Lavant Valley (eastern Carinthia) in 1228 by Eberhard II, Archbishop of Salzburg, acting on the authority of Pope Honorius III, and originally included seven parishes in the Lavant Valley and the neighboring territory of Styria. According to the founding bull, the appointment and confirmation of the bishops of Lavant were reserved to the Archbishop of Salzburg, a right which he exercised until 1932.
In 1381, for the first time, the title of Prince appeared alongside that of Bishop of Lavant, a title which remained constant from 1446 onward. Normally, the ordinaries of Lavant served as vicars general in the neighboring regions of the Archdiocese of Salzburg.
The diocese assumed real importance following the territorial delimitation carried out by Joseph II; at that time (1769) the districts of Völkermarkt in Carinthia and Celje in Styria were annexed to II. However, this delimitation was unnatural and did not correspond to the administrative and pastoral needs of the diocese, so in 1857 a new revision of the boundaries was made, whereby the diocese of Lavant had to cede the Carinthian territories to that of Gurk, receiving in compensation from the Diocese of Seckau the district of Maribor, where the see was transferred, though the ancient name of Lavant was retained. With this division, the Diocese of Maribor embraced almost the entire Slovene part of Styria. In 1918, Lavant took under its apostolic administration the parts of the Dioceses of Gurk and Szombathely that had passed from Austria and Hungary to Yugoslavia. On 1 May 1924, Lavant came directly under the Holy See.
The most celebrated bishops are: Georg Stobaeus von Palmberg (1584–1618), to whom is owed the design of the counter-seal in Inner Austria; the Servant of God A. M. Slomšek (1846–62), who played a leading role in the national awakening of the Slovenes and in the organization of Austrian schools; and Michele Napotnik (1889–1922), an outstanding preacher and biblical scholar.