The Diocese of Funen (Danish: Fyens Stift) is a diocese within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark. St. Canute's Cathedral in Odense serves as the seat of its bishop. Tine Lindhardt has been the bishop of the diocese since 2012.[1]

Diocese of Funen

Fyens Stift
The Cathedral of the diocese.
Location
CountryDenmark
Statistics
Population
- Total
(as of 2016)
494,049
Members396,637 (80.1%)
Information
DenominationChurch of Denmark
CathedralSt. Canute's Cathedral
Current leadership
BishopMads Davidsens
Bishops emeritusKresten Drejegaard Bishop Emeritus (1995-2012)

History

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Danish dioceses in the middle ages

The Roman Catholic bishopric of Odense was established some time before 988.[2] During the Reformation in 1536, the Catholic diocese dissolved and was replaced by the current Lutheran Diocese of Funen. The newly established diocese's first bishop was Jørgen Sadolin, a Protestant reformer who had preached in Odense before the Reformation.[3]

In 1803, the region of Lolland-Falster split off from the diocese to form the Diocese of Lolland-Falster. The islands of Als and Ærø similarly split off in 1819 to form their own diocese, though this diocese was eventually dissolved. Æro came back under Funen's jurisdiction in 1864, while Als is now part of the Diocese of Haderslev. Today, the Diocese of Funen consists of the islands of Funen, Langeland, and Ærø.

As of 2020, the diocese consists of 11 subordinate deaneries (Danish: Provstier): Assens, Bogense, Fåborg, Hjallese, Kerteminde, Langeland-Ærø, Middlefart, Nyborg, Odense Sankt Knuds, Midtfyn, and Svendborg. These deaneries are further divided into 234 parishes with a total of 251 individual churches.[4]

List of bishops

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References

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  1. ^ "Tine Lindhardt". Den Store Danske (in Danish). 7 May 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  2. ^ Bang, Vilhelm (1908). Fyens Stifts Biskopper efter Reformationen [Diocese of Funen's Bishops after the Reformation] (PDF) (in Danish). Odense: Fyens Stiftstidende. pp. 1–5 – via Slægtsforskernes bibliotek.
  3. ^ Bang, Vilhelm (1908). Fyens Stifts Biskopper efter Reformationen [Diocese of Funen's Bishops after the Reformation] (PDF) (in Danish). Odense: Fyens Stiftstidende. p. 6 – via Slægtsforskernes bibliotek.
  4. ^ "Om Fyens Stift". Fyens Stift (in Danish). Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2021-02-11.