The text gives a chronological description of the creation and development of the ecclesial administrative structures in the foreign (namely Austrian and since 1918 Czechoslovakian) part of the archdiocese of Wrocław.
The division of the diocese of Wrocław was mainly an effect of the so called Silesian Wars (1740–1763). Most dioceses, including the episcopal city of Wrocław, were included in Prussia then. A smaller part, with the entire Cieszyn Silesia and a portion of Nysa Silesia, remained under the jurisdiction of Austria and later Austria-Hungary.
The end of the First World War led to the emergence of new states and consequently to changes in the structure of church administration. Cieszyn Silesia was divided between Czechoslovakia and Poland. The church administration on the Polish lands was incorporated into the new diocese of Katowice, established in 1925. In the territories owned by Czechoslovakia, a legally independent Commissariat for Eastern Silesia was established. A similar legally independent Commissariat was formed in Nysa Silesia, a part of Czechoslovakia at that time. The commissioners for both these commissariats were appointed by the Archbishop of Wrocław.
This structure was then profoundly changed after the Second World War. Immediately after the war ended and because of the then situation of the Polish part of the diocese of Wrocław, the Apostolic Administration of Český Těšín was formed. Although plans had been announced to create a separate diocese, they had to be abandoned because of the political situation at that time. It was not until 1996 that the diocese of Ostrava-Opava was established and thus the ecclesial administration structure got its final shape there.
English
Język Polski