ROSNAVIA (Slovak Rožňava, Hungarian Rozsnyó, German Rosenau), Diocese of. — In Czechoslovakia; in 1927 the entire diocese, including the Slovak and Hungarian parts, had 102 parishes and 220,727 Catholics. In 1949 the diocese in Slovakia had an area of 6,168 sq. km. with a population of 313,695 inhabitants, of whom 167,338 were Catholics, distributed in 192 churches and 88 parishes served by 115 diocesan priests; 5 male and 12 female religious houses. The apostolic administration in Hungary comprises 19 parishes and 63,618 Catholics.
The diocese was erected on 13 March 1776, by separating the counties of Turha, Gemer, and Novohrad from the archdiocese of Strigonia. The great distance of these counties from Strigonia was precisely the reason why, during the time of the Protestant Reformation, Catholicism greatly diminished (at the beginning of the 17th century there were no more than three Catholic priests). Therefore, Pázmány (v.) already thought of erecting a new diocese, but the project was only realized under Empress Maria Theresa. The majority of the population was reconciled with the Church, but the diocese has always had a high percentage of Protestants; in some districts, the majority.
After the First World War, the Czechoslovak frontier divided the diocese; the majority of the parishes, including the episcopal city, passed into Czechoslovakia, while the smaller part remained in Hungary. In 1937 the diocese situated in Slovakia was separated from the ecclesiastical province of Strigonia, and for the Hungarian part the Holy See erected an apostolic administration. In 1938, with the change of frontier, the episcopal see passed into Hungary, and for the Slovak part an apostolic administration was constituted, united with that of Cassovia. After the Second World War (1945), the pre-war situation was restored.