Diocese of Essen

The Diocese of Essen (Latin: Dioecesis Essendiensis) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany, founded on 1 January 1958. The Bishop of Essen is seated in Essen Cathedral (Essener Dom or Essener Münster), once the church of Essen Abbey, and over one thousand years old.

Diocese of Essen Dioecesis Essendiensis Bistum Essen
Essen Cathedral
Coat of arms
Location
Country	Germany
Ecclesiastical province	Cologne
Metropolitan	Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Statistics
Area	1,877 km2 (725 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2013) 2,525,313 844,188 (33.4%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	1 January 1958
Cathedral	Essen Cathedral
Patron saint	Our Lady of Good Counsel
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	Franz-Josef Overbeck Bishop of Essen
Metropolitan Archbishop	Rainer Maria Woelki
Auxiliary Bishops	Ludger Schepers, Wilhelm Zimmermann
Map
Website
bistum-essen.de

The diocese contains about one million Catholics in the heavily urbanized and industrial Ruhr Area.^[1]

Bishops

• Franz Hengsbach (1957–1991)
• Hubert Luthe (1991–2002)
• Felix Genn (2003–2008)
• Franz-Josef Overbeck (since 20 December 2009); he was appointed Bishop of the Military Ordinariate of Germany, while remaining Bishop of Essen, by Pope Benedict XVI on 24 February 2011.

Auxiliary bishops

• Ludger Schepers
• Wilhelm Zimmerman [de]

See also

• Essen