Cracow

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(PolishKrakow;LatinCracoviensis).

The Prince-Bishopric that comprises the western portion of Galacia inAustria, and borders on thediocese ofKielce in RussianPoland,Breslau inPrussia,Tarnow in Galacia, andZips inHungary.

It has long been disputed at what time the Diocese of Cracow was created. It was already in existence in the year 1000; for at that time, Poppo, itsbishop, was made a suffragan to Radzym (the LatinSt. Gaudentius) the firstArchbishop ofGnesen (Thietmar, Chronicon, IV, in P.L. CXXXIX, 1226). Fr. Augustine Arndt, S.J. (Zeitschrift für kath. Theologie, XIV, 45-47, Innsbruck, 1890) adduces some reasons in support of the opinion that the Diocese of Cracow was founded by the Polish King Mieceslaw I as early as 984, and that Poppo, who had been tutor to Duke Henry ofBavaria until 983, became its firstbishop, but most authorities agree that it was not created until 1000 or shortly before. There are extant five lists of thebishops of Cracow. The oldest was complied about 1266 (Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script, XIX, 608), the second before 1347 (Mon. hist. Polon, III, 801); the others are of a later date. During the invasion of theBohemians in 1039, and the succeeding period ofanarchy, allecclesiastical documents were lost, and the names and the dates of thebishops of Cracow, up to Bishop Aaron (1046-1059) are very unreliable. Prochorus and Proculpus, who are mentioned in the lists as predecessors of Poppo, are entirely legendary. Three of thebishops of Cracow are publiclyvenerated: St. Stanislaus Szczepanowski (1072-1079), who sufferedmartyrdom at the hands of King Boleslaw,canonized in 1253, patron ofPoland, and of the Dioceses of Cracow and Posen;Blessed Vincent Kadlubeck, (108-1214), the earliest Polish historian ofPoland, resigned hissee and entered theCistercianmonastery of Jedrzejow in 1218, died 8 March, 1223,beatified 1764; John Prandotha (1242-1266), who drove thehereticalFlagellants from hisdiocese, and wasvenerated until the seventeenth century, when his veneration ceased, owing to a misinterpretation of theBull "De cultu servorum Dei", issued byUrban VII, 5 July, 1634. Other renownbishops were: Matthæus (1143-1165) a historian;Zbigniew Olesnicki (1423-1455), a great statesman and fearless opponent of theHussites, createdcardinal in 1439; and George Radziwill (1591-1600), founder ofseminaries andhospitals.

Originally thediocese of Cracow seems to have comprised the towns ofSandomir, Cracow, and Lublin, and the castellanies of Sieradz, Spicimir, Rozpoza, Lenczyc, and Wolborg; but its area underwent various changes. From the year 1443 to 1795 thebishops of Cracow were at the same time sovereign dukes of Severia, a territory situated between Silesia and Cracow. Before the first partition ofPoland in 1772 the Diocese of Cracow composed the whole of LittlePoland, Sieradz, a large portion ofSilesia, and part of the presentDiocese of Zips (Scepusium). In 1772 it lost its territory south of the Vistula (Dioecesis Cisvistulana), which in 1783 constituted the newDiocese of Tarnow. In 1790 the newDiocese of Lublin and in 1805 the newDiocese of Kielce were severed from its remaining territory.Pope Pius VII made Cracow an exempt diocese in 1815 and restored to it a portion of theDiocese of Kielce in 1817, which portion, however, was returned to Kielce in 1846, so that then the Diocese of Cracow was confined to the city Cracow and two deaneries south of the Vistula. From 1871 to 1879 thediocese was ruled by administrators. Under Albin Dunajewski, who becamebishop in 1879, it was somewhat enlarged toward the south, in 1880, and again in 1886. In 1889 it was made a prince-bishopric, and a year later, Prince-Bishop Dunajewski was raised to thecardinalate. John Puzyna de Koziel was made Prince-Bishop of Cracow in 1895, and Anatole Nowakauxiliary bishop in 1900. The diocese numbers 197parishes, 181 vicariates, 457diocesan and 223regularpriests, 850,000Catholics 4000Protestants, and 60,000Jews. The Emperor ofAustria has the privilege of appointing the prince-bishop after consulting with thebishops of Galacia. Thecathedral chapter includes 3prelates (dean, scholasticus, and custos) and 6 canons. The most importanteducational institution in thediocese is Cracow University (Uniwersitet Jagiellonski), founded by Casmir the Great in 1364 and approved byPope Urban V the same year. The diocese also has anecclesiastical seminary, various colleges, and minor institutions of learning. Thecathedral of Cracow is one of the most venerable structures inEurope. Here lie buried most of the Polish kings, the two national heroes,Kosciuszko, and Poniakowski, the greatest Polish poet,Mickiewicz, and many other noble sons ofPoland; here also are preserved therelics of St. Stanislaus (see above). It is ofGothic architecture, originally built probably by Mieceslaw I about 966, where now stands thechurch of St. Michael and where St. Stanislaus sufferedmartyrdom; rebuilt on its present site by Ladislaus Herman, King ofPoland (1083-1102); restored by Nanker Oksza,Bishop of Cracow (1320-1326); rebuilt in the eighteenth century in barocco style; and renovated from 1886-1901. It contains the beautifulchapel of Sigmund, the best specimen ofRenaissance style in EasternEurope, built by Bartolommeo da Firenze in the sixteenth century and renovated in 1894. The Church of St. Mary, a Gothic structure built 1226-1397 and restored in the fourteenth century, has on itshigh altar a large Gothic wood carving representing the death of the Virgin Mary, the masterpiece ofVeit Stoss.

The chief charitable institution is the Archconfraternity of Mercy, founded byJesuit Peter Skargo (d. 1618), which distributes alms to thepoor, and is the owner of amonte-de-piété. There are also: anothermonte-de-piété, an asylum for old men andwomen, threeorphan asylums, and insane asylum, varioushospitals and workhouses. All these establishments are subject to thediocesan authorities. TheCatholic press is represented by two dailies, two weeklies edited bypriests, three monthlies published by religious, and two monthly magazines of high literary standard. They are all in Polish.

The followingreligious orders and congregations of men are engaged inparish,educational, or charitable work: Augustinians, Brothers of Mercy,Camaldolese,Canons Regular of the Lateran,Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre,Carmelites, Discalced Carmeli tes (2 houses), Capuchans,Cistercians (Abbey of Mogila),Conventual Franciscans, ObservantFranciscans (here called Bernadines; 3 houses), ReformedFranciscans (3 houses),Dominicans,Hermits of St. Paul,Jesuits (2 houses),Lazarists (3 houses).Piarists, Resurrectionists,Salesians,Servite Tertiaries,Ursulines, Sisters ofSt. Albert,Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo, Sisters of St. Felix, Sisters of the Holy Family, Sisters of the Mother of Mercy, Sisters of Nazareth, Sisters of the Presentation,Vincentian Sisters, Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

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