The Maribor Metropolitan Archdiocese was officially inaugurated at a mass at the Maribor Cathedral on Sunday. At the ceremony Franc Kramberger was officially installed the first archbishop and metropolitan of Maribor.
In his address at the ceremony, the Apostolic Nuncio in Slovenia Santos Abryl y Castello said that the main purpose of the overhaul of the Church in Slovenia was to bring the Church closer to the people and inject a fresh wind into its activities.
The Holy See's ambassador to Slovenia handed a charter that inaugurates the new archdiocese to Krambererger. He also called for close cooperation between the new archdiocese and the new diocese in Celje and Murska Sobota that were established by the Vatican in April of this year.
In his address Kramberger said that ceremony was the peak of events surrounding the creation of new diocese in Slovenia.
What follows is what the reform was supposed to bring - pastoral, religious, spiritual and cultural activities in line with the principles of the Holy See and the Catholic Church in Slovenia, said Kramberger.
"We are beginning intensive work in a bid to answer present challenges for the good of the future of this archdiocese and the Church in Slovenia," Kramberger said.
He explained that the new structure of the Slovenia church did not mean an attempt to "clericalise society" but an effort to ensure that the Church in Slovenia and its followers live an even more authentic Evangelical life.
Apart from Church dignitaries from Slovenia and abroad, ceremony was also attended by local and national politicians and dignitaries of other religious communities in Slovenia.
Maribor became an archdiocese in line with a decision by Pope Benedict XVI at the beginning of April to establish three new diocese in Slovenia: Novo mesto, Celje and Murska Sobota. The latter two come under the wing of the new archdiocese.
Th pope's decision doubled the number of dioceses in the country, the old ones being Ljubljana (established in 1461), Maribor (1228) and Koper (tracing its origin to the 6th century).
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