Kongregacja Nadzwyczajnych Spraw Kościelnych wobec kontrowersyjnych elekcji biskupów przez kapituły w państwach niemieckich (1821-1871)
Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs and Controversial Episcopal Elections by the Chapters in German States (1821-1871)

Summary/Abstract: The present paper discusses the conflicts between the Holy See and the Protestant German states (Prussia, Hanover, Baden, Württemberg, Electoral Hesse, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau) related to the government’s interference in episcopal elections and the choice of controversial candidates. The study covers the period from the publication of the bull De salute animarum which defined the relations between the papacy and Prussia (1821) to the unification of Germany (1871). Primary sources are the archival records of the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, the papal consultative body. In the surveyed period the Congregation held 11 sittings devoted to the questionable elections. They concerned the affairs of Breslau (1836 and 1842), Trier (1837-1840), Limburg (1841), Hildesheim (1841), Rottenburg (1846-1847) and Freiburg im Breisgau (1869). The study sheds new light on the long-standing dispute about the interpretation of agreements concluded between the Holy See and the respective governments in the 1820s and on Rome’s policy towards state authorities and local Churches.

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