OLOMOUC (OLMÜTZ), ARCHDIOCESE of. – Archdiocese and city of Moravia (Czechoslovakia). The city was founded in the 11th century and was the capital of Moravia until 1641.
It has an area of 15,591 sq. km., comprises 1,726,538 inhabitants, of whom 1,504,156 are Catholics; it has 701 parishes with 1,856 churches, served by 1,073 secular priests, and has 32 religious houses for men with 335 members and 133 religious houses for women with 2,303 members (1948).
The diocese of O. was erected in 1063 by Alexander II and raised to an archdiocese by Pius VI in 1777, with the suffragan diocese of Brno.
The bishops of O. enjoyed special rights and privileges from ancient times: they had their own tribunals (Premysl Otokar II, 1274), enjoyed the title of “princes of the Kingdom of Bohemia” (Charles IV, 1365), and minted coins (Rudolf II, 1599). In 1207 Innocent III conferred upon the
Chapter of O. the exceptional right to elect the bishop. Among the most distinguished bishops were: E. Zdik (1126–50), promoter of ecclesiastical reform; G. Zelezny (“of iron,” 1416–30), the first cardinal of the diocese and principal accuser of Giovanni Hus at the Council of Constance; Guglielmo Prusinovsky (1565–72), founder of the University; Cardinal Francesco Dietrichstejn (1599–1636), friend of St. Filippo Neri and Cardinal Baronio, who brought Moravia back to Catholicism; A. C. Stojan (1921–23), founder of the Apostolate of SS. Cirillo and Metodio, ardent promoter of the union of the Slav dissidents with the Catholic Church, called by the people, because of his charity, “Papa Stojan,” and who died in a reputation for holiness. During the religious wars caused by the movement of Giovanni Hus, the diocese remained faithful to Catholicism. In 1566 the University, directed by the Jesuits and with all faculties, was established there. In the 19th century this University was suppressed, except for the theological faculty, subsequently called the “Faculty of SS. Cirillo and Metodio”; by decree of 14 July 1950, this faculty too was abolished by the Communist government.
Among the city’s artistic monuments, worthy of note are the metropolitan church of S. Venceslao, founded in the 12th century and rebuilt in the 14th and 19th centuries; the Gothic church of S. Maurizio, from the 15th century; the Archbishop’s Palace, the work of the Italian architect Carlo Fontana (1670); and a chapel built on the site where the b. Giovanni Srkander, martyr of the sacramental secret, was martyred by the Protestants in 1620.
In 1950 all the religious houses were confiscated by the Communist government, and the religious men and women were deported to concentration convents. The centers of the diocese of O.’s religious life are the pilgrimage sites: Velehrad (SS. Cirillo and Metodio), Svaty Hostyn (133,000 Communions were received there in 1948), and Svaty Kopecek, with their monumental churches and respective houses for spiritual retreats.