Pope Benedict XVI established three new dioceses in Slovenia. They will be based in the cities of Novo mesto, Celje and Murska Sobota, church officials revealed on Friday, 7 April. The decision doubles the number of dioceses in the country, the old ones being Ljubljana, Maribor and Koper.
Meanwhile, Slovenia's only metropolitan archdiocese, Ljubljana, which hitherto encompassed the entire country, will be joined by a new one in Maribor. Maribor's bishop Franc Kramberger therefore becomes an archbishop and metropolitan. The new metropolitan archdiocese will consist of the archdiocese of Maribor and the new dioceses of Celje and Murska Sobota. The new diocese of Novo mesto will sprout out of the Ljubljana archdiocese.
Papal Nuncio to Slovenia Santos Abril y Castello hailed the decision as a historical event for the country's Church. Ljubljana Archbishop Alojz Uran meanwhile stressed that the Church sees smaller dioceses as enabling more direct leadership and communication between the bishop and the believers and priests.
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