The diocese covers an area of 17,460 sq. km with a population of 6,042,219, of whom 592,531 are Catholic. It has 93 parishes served by 293 diocesan and 38 regular priests; it has a seminary, 7 male and 65 female religious communities (Ann. Pont., 1951, p. 272).
Emperor Henry I founded the castle of Misni on the upper Elbe in 930 to consolidate his rule over the region and to establish a base for the spread of Christianity. Otto I organized the foundation of the diocese, which was confirmed by Pope John XII at the Synod of Ravenna in 967. The first bishop of Meissen was Buccard, consecrated at Christmas 968. The diocese originally included the Slavic territories of Dalaminza, Nisane, Diedesa, Milzane, and Lusiza. Despite the zealous efforts of Bishops Eido (992–1015) and St. Benno (1066–1106), Christianity did not take root easily among the Slavic populations. Only during the colonization of eastern Germany in the 13th century did the Gospel also reach the eastern parts of the diocese. The bishops of Meissen, though their territory was not extensive, were princes of the empire and, from the 13th century, had the right to mint coins. In 1365, Urban V appointed the Archbishop of Prague as perpetual legate and placed the Diocese of Meissen under his jurisdiction, removing its status as a suffragan of Magdeburg. After initial disputes, the diocese became closely linked with Prague, and Bishop Thimo of Colditz (1398–1410), a Bohemian, filled the principal offices with men of his own nationality. He himself resided in Prague and neglected his diocese. Therefore, Margrave William I of Saxony obtained from Boniface IX in 1399 a bull declaring the diocese exempt and immediately subject to Rome. Under Bishops Caspar Schöberg (1451–63) and his brother Dietrich (1463–76), the diocese recovered from the wounds suffered during the Hussite wars. John VII of Schleinitz (1518–36) submitted to the territorial authority of Duke George of Saxony and found in him strong support against the Protestant Reformation. He restored discipline among the clergy and laity and promoted the canonization of Bishop Benno. The last bishop, John IX of Haugwitz (1555–81), resigned his authority into the hands of the Cathedral Chapter and became Protestant. The jurisdiction over Lusiza was transformed into an archdeaconry of Stolpen, and the Apostolic Nuncio incorporated it into the Chapter of that city, placing it directly under the Pope. Thus, the diocese passed under the administration of the Electorate of Saxony. The Cathedral Chapter became Protestant, and the monasteries of the city of Meissen were secularized.
With the apostolic constitution *Sollecitudo omnium ecclesiarum* of May 24, 1921, Pope Benedict XV reconstituted the Diocese of Meissen with its see at Bautzen. The Chapter consists of a dean and four canons. The new diocese comprises the vicariate of Dresden and the Apostolic Prefecture of Bautzen for Lusatia. Since 1927, there has been an ecclesiastical seminary at Schmochtitz.