Editing South Tyrol (section)

=== Religion ===
The majority of the population is Christian, mostly in the Catholic tradition. The [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen]] corresponds to the territory of the province of South Tyrol. Since 27 July 2011 the bishop of Bolzano-Brixen is Ivo Muser.

==== Catholic Church ====
[[File:Duomo di bolzano, 01.JPG|thumb|Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary in Bolzano]]
The vast majority of the population of South Tyrol is baptized Catholic. There is [[archaeological]] evidence of early Christian sites in the area as early as Late Antiquity;<ref>Leo Andergassen: ''Südtirol – Kunst vor Ort''. Athesia, Bozen 2002, {{ISBN|88-8266-111-3}}, S. 7.</ref> Säben in the Eisack Valley became an important ecclesiastical center during this period, which was only replaced by Brixen as an episcopal see in the late [[Middle Ages]]. The territory of present-day South Tyrol was divided for [[centuries]] between the dioceses of Brixen, Chur (until 1808/1816) and Trent (until 1964).<ref>Heinrich Kofler: ''Geschichte des Dekanats Schlanders von seiner Errichtung im Jahr 1811 bis zur freiwilligen Demission von Dekan Josef Schönauer 1989.'' In: Marktgemeinde Schlanders (Hrsg.): ''Schlanders und seine Geschichte. Band 2: Von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart''. Tappeiner, Lana 2010, {{ISBN|978-88-7073-531-4}}, S. 11–186, insbesondere S. 11–15 (PDF-Datei)</ref> 

The most famous bishop of Brixen was the polymath Nicholas of Cusa. Important figures of the regional [[ecclesiastical]] life in the 19th century were the beatified bishop of Trent Johann Nepomuk von Tschiderer and the mystic Maria von Mörl. 

In 1964, with reference to modern political boundaries, the Bishopric of Brixen, which had lost its extensive territories of North and East Tyrol after [[World War I]], was enlarged to form the Diocese of Bolzano-Brixen, whose extension is now identical to that of the province of South Tyrol. Since then, the faithful have been led by Bishops Joseph Gargitter (1964-1986), Wilhelm Egger (1986-2008), Karl Golser (2008-2011) and Ivo Muser (since 2011). The diocese comprises 28 deaneries and 281 parishes (in 2014), 23 its episcopal churches are the [[Cathedral of Brixen]] and the [[Cathedral of Bolzano]]. Cassian and Vigilius are venerated as diocesan patrons.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Diözesanpatrone Hl. Kassian und Hl. Vigilius|url=http://www.bz-bx.net/home_deu/di_ouml_zese/00022508_Patrone.html|url-status=dead|access-date=6 June 2021|archive-date=10 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610184515/http://www.bz-bx.net/home_deu/di_ouml_zese/00022508_Patrone.html}}</ref> Important references in the current discourses of the local Catholic Church are St. Joseph Freinademetz and Blessed Joseph Mayr-Nusser.

==== Other communities ====
There is a [[Lutheran Evangelical Church in Italy|Lutheran]] community in [[Merano]] (founded 1861) and another one in [[Bolzano]] (founded 1889). Since the Middle Ages the [[Jewish]] presence has been documented in South Tyrol. In 1901 the [[Synagogue]] of Merano was built. As of 2015, South Tyrol was home to about 14,000 [[Islam|Muslims]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Parteli |first=Elisabeth |date=15 January 2015 |title=Verdächtig religiös (German) |url=https://www.ff-bz.com/ |newspaper= ff – Südtiroler Wochenmagazin, Nr. 4 |pages=36–47 |access-date=11 December 2016}}</ref>