POSNANIA-POZNAŃ, ARCHDIOCESE of. — City and archdiocese in Poland, founded in 968. Suffragan of Gnesna until 1821. In that year, by the bull De salute animarum, Pope Pius VII elevated it to a metropolitan see and united it with Gnesna, from which it was separated pro hac vice on 1 May 1946. Its first bishop was Jordan.
The diocese has an area of 18,700 sq. km., with 1,250,000 Catholics distributed among 376 parishes and 705 churches (of which 376 are parish churches and 105 filial churches), served by 401 diocesan priests and 102 religious priests. It has a higher seminary, 16 houses of male religious institutes, and 24 of female religious institutes. During the last war, 44 churches (of which 9 were of historical value) were destroyed, 36 were damaged, and 411 were permanently closed; 212 diocesan priests perished.
The diocese of P. was divided into two archdeaconries until the 13th century: P. and Czersk; from the 15th century, into four: P., Srem, Pszczew, and Warsaw. From this archdeaconry the diocese of Warsaw was founded in 1798. Pilgrimage centres are: Borek, Górka Duchowa, Mikorzyn, Tulce. Among the notable churches are: the cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, dating from 968, rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries and in 1826; it contains the Royal Chapel in Byzantine style, with the tombs of the first rulers of Poland: Mieszko I and Bolesław Chrobry, the first king of Poland; the church of St. John of Jerusalem, belonging to the Knights of Malta, who were brought there in 1176; that of St. Adalbert, from the 13th century, rebuilt in the 16th century; that of St. Martin, from 1246, rebuilt in the 16th century; and that of St. Mary Magdalene, from 1470. The Seminary was founded in 1572. The city of P. is one of the oldest in Poland. There is the Palace of the archbishops, from the 15th century, rebuilt in 1732. Among the eminent bishops are remembered: Wawrzyniec, d. in 1127; A. Laskary z Gosławic, who participated in the Council of Constance, d. in 1426; Uryel Górka, d. in 1498; Jan VII Lubrański, founder of the «Lubranschianum Athaeneum» in 1520, d. in 1520; P. Tomicki (1464-1536), later bishop of Cracow, statesman; A. Szoldrski (1583-1650), first bishop of Kiev, subsequently of Przemyśl; A. Konarski, d. in 1574; W. Goślicki, writer and orator, d. in 1607; A. Opaliński (1575-1623); S. Hozjusz (1673-1738), first bishop of Livonia, then of Kamieniec; T. Gorzeński (1741-1825), first archbishop of P. and Gnesna; L. Przyłuski (1789-1865); Cardinal M. Halka Ledóchowski (v.). Father Raffaele Chylinski (1694-1741), whose canonization process is under way, was born at Wysoczko.
413; XI, p. 99; XII, p. 395; XIV, pp. 283, 525; J. Lins, Gnesen-Posen, in Cath. Enc. VI, pp. 390-92; J. Belkmann, Gnesen u. Posen, in LThK, IV, coll. 552-54. Adam Macielinski