Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ljubljana

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Ljubljana archbishopric with Saint Nicholas Cathedral

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ljubljana (Slovene: Nadškofija Ljubljana, Latin: Archidioecesis Labacensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Slovenia. The archdiocese's motherchurch and thus seat of its archbishop is the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Ljubljana; it also contains minor basilicas in Brezje and Stična. Anton Stres was appointed Archbishop of Ljubljana, and thus Primate of Slovenia, by Pope Benedict XVI on 28 November 2009.

From 811, the territory of the Ljubljana Archdiocese was part of the ecclesiastical territory of the Patriarch of Aquileia. Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, erected on 6 December 1461 the Diocese of Laibach, which was confirmed six months later, on 6 September 1462, by Pope Pius II. Several days later, it was taken from the jurisprudence of the Aquileia and directly subjected to the Holy See. On 3 March 1787, it became an archdiocese and a metropolis, which it remained until 1807, when it was for political reasons degraded to a common diocese.^[1]

The diocese was again elevated to a metropolis on 22 December 1961. Today it has two suffragan sees, Koper (since 1977) and Novo Mesto (since 2006). It is the primatial see of Slovenia; one living former archbishop, Franc Rode, CM, was promoted to a Curial office (Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life) and made a Cardinal, demonstrating the importance of this archdiocese and its archbishops.^{[citation needed]}