Opieka biskupów chełmińskich nad katolikami Diecezji Pomezańskiej w Prusach Królewskich: synody i wizytacje
Care of Chełmno Bishops for catholics of Pomesanien Diocese in Royal Prussia: synods and visitations

Summary/Abstract: The secularisation and top-down Protestantisation of the Teutonic state in the sixteenth century meant that only a part of the historic Pomesanien diocese remained with the faith of the Catholic Church, cared for by the Polish rulers within the boundaries of Royal Prussia. From 1601, the Apostolic See entrusted the pastoral care of this surviving „remnant” to the bishops of Chełmno (ger. Kulm), who were also bishops of Pomezanian. The rulers undertook a variety of measures to ensure that the faithful received appropriate pastoral care and a sense of security among their fellow inhabitants of other denominations, particularly thosefrom the Evangelical-Augsburg community. To this end, they convened synods for both dioceses, in order to order the life of the local church, using the guidelines appropriate for thewhole church province in Poland. As far as possible, canonical visitations of all parishes were carried out in order to ascertain the quality of life and the religious level of the diocesans.To ensure proper pastoral care, the diocesan ruler appointed an official for that area, who was given wide powers to oversee, on behalf of the bishop, the pastoral care and administration of that part of the diocese, which in time was called the „Offizialat Pomesanien” or the „Offizialat Marienburg”.In the period under discussion, the bishops were concerned with the development of the pastoral ministry in the diocese, the sacramental life, as well as educational and caring activities. They stressed the need for personal discipline and a high level of moral life of priests and church workers to set an example to the faithful. They emphasised that the clergy should celebrate the sacred liturgy and the sacraments with dignity, and that they should proclaim the living faith and pass it on to future generations.They took care of the material condition of the diocese, which suffered most severely during the wars of the 17th century, when churches were destroyed and desecrated, and furnishings became easy prey. They required that pastors strive to rebuild churches, for maintenance and necessary repairs and upkeep, so that temples and parsonage buildings were not wantonly led to destruction. In calmer years, when Pomesania was no longer a war zone,priests were encouraged to take proper care of the day-to-day upkeep of churches. They recommended keeping an eye on the temporal goods of the Church, thanks to which all church activities could be safely developed. They watched over the decent salary of priests and church workers, and at the same time did not allow lay people to be materially exploited.In 1772 Royal Prussia was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia as part of the Prussian partition, and the ability of the Catholic Church to operate and minister freely was severely restricted by the Prussian authorities. As a last resort, to regulate the ecclesiastical order in the new geopolitical reality in the Kingdom of Prussia, Pope Pius VII in 1821 issued the bull De salute animarum. By virtue of that bull, the Catholic part of the diocese, i.e. the Pomezanian Officiate (decanates: Marienburg, Neuteich, Christburg, Stuhm, und Werder) was incorporated into the neighbouring Diocese of Ermland. In this way, the Pomesanien Diocese definitively ceased to exist on the map of the universal Church, although formally and legally it was never abolished.

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