bishopric Mainz

What bishopric Mainz does

Bistum Mainz is the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz, headquartered at Bischofsplatz 2, Mainz, with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over a defined territory spanning the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and parts of Hesse. The diocese is structured as one of 27 German dioceses and is organized into four regions — Mainlinie, Oberhessen, Rheinhessen, and Südhessen — subdivided into pastoral spaces (Pastoralräume) anchored by a parish network. It delivers spiritual and pastoral services including the seven sacraments, religious education, youth ministry, and social services through Caritasverband für die Diözese Mainz, alongside affiliated kindergartens, schools (e.g., Willigis-Gymnasium, Martinus-Schulen), and educational institutions.

The diocese is led by Bishop Peter Kohlgraf (since 2017) with auxiliary bishop Joshy Pottackal O.Carm. (ordained 2026), and administered by Generalvikar Dr. Sebastian Lang, Bevollmächtigte Stephanie Rieth, and Ökonom Carsten Erdt through the Bischöfliches Ordinariat, which employs approximately 380 full-time central administrative staff. Its digital ecosystem consists of the bistummainz.de web portal plus modular tools: Pfarreifinder (parish locator), Matricula (digitized church book archive with 100 published volumes), Bistumsatlas (interactive map), the Podcast 'Lebensfragen', Dom webcam, online Gottesdienstübertragungen, Pilgern und Wallfahren portal, and Tagesimpuls daily reflections, built on a standard CMS stack with Matomo analytics, Friendly Captcha, Eye-Able accessibility software, walls.io social aggregation, and YouTube/SoundCloud/OpenStreetMap integrations under § 29 KDG data processing agreements.

Bistum Mainz operates as a Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (corporation under public law) and is funded primarily through Kirchensteuer (church tax), roughly 8–9% of income tax collected by state authorities and remitted to the diocese, supplemented by income from managed holdings and foundations including the Bonifatiusstiftung, Stiftung Hoher Dom, and Stiftung Weltkirche. Services are provided without commercial pricing; the Kirchensteuerrat (Church Tax Council) approves the annual budget. The operating model is community-led, with no enterprise customers in a commercial sense — 'customers' are registered Catholic parishioners — and the diocese participates in collective governance through the Deutsche Bischofskonferenz and networks such as Pax Christi Germany.

Name

bishopric Mainz

Legal name

Bistum Mainz

Website

https://bistummainz.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1801

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Bistum Mainz is the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz, Germany, delivering sacraments, pastoral care, education, and social services to registered Catholic parishioners across Rhineland-Palatinate and parts of Hesse. It is funded primarily by church tax and administered through a central Ordinariat, four regional offices, and a network of parishes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Diocesan Pastoral Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Denominational & Ecclesiastical Governance Bodies (Dioceses, Synods, Conferences) (BPAGAJAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Places of Worship & Religious Facilities Operations (Cemeteries, Retreat Centers, Pilgrimage Sites) (BPAGAJAL)

Keywords

• Pastoral care services
• Religious education
• Diocesan administration
• Social welfare services
• Sacramental services

Headquarters

HQ city

Mainz

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Church Tax (Kirchensteuer): The primary revenue stream is the church tax collected by the German state from registered church members. This amounts to approximately 8-9% of income tax. The tax is collected by the state tax authorities and remitted to the church. The Kirchensteuerrat (Church Tax Council) oversees financial matters and approves the annual budget. Declining church membership numbers are projected to weaken this revenue base sustainably.
2. Diocesan Holdings and Foundations: Bistum Mainz manages various church properties, foundations, and investments including the Bonifatiusstiftung, Stiftung Hoher Dom, Stiftung Weltkirche, and other church institutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Bistum Mainz is the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz, providing pastoral care, sacramental services (baptism, communion, confirmation, marriage, anointing of the sick), religious education, youth ministry, social welfare services through Caritas, and cultural/musical programs at the Mainz Cathedral. The diocese coordinates these services through a network of parishes organized into four regions across parts of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, supported by the central Bischöfliches Ordinariat administration in Mainz.

Product overview

Bistum Mainz operates as a centralized web platform offering a comprehensive range of digital services for the Catholic Diocese of Mainz, Germany. The core offering is the main portal website (bistummainz.de) which serves as the central hub connecting users to various online resources and information. The digital portfolio consists of the main portal integrated with specialized modules including the Pfarreifinder (parish locator tool), Matricula (digitized church records archive), Bistumsatlas (interactive geographic map), and the Social Media Wall (walls.io integration). Additional offerings include the Podcast 'Lebensfragen' featuring Bishop Kohlgraf, the Pilgern und Wallfahren pilgrimage portal, the Institut für Spiritualität for retreats and spiritual guidance, online worship broadcasts, the Dom webcam, and the Tagesimpuls daily spiritual content. The architecture is a unified web platform with multiple thematic sub-portals and tools, rather than distinct standalone software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bistum Mainz Portal Website The main web portal of the Diocese of Mainz, serving as the central online presence for all diocesan information, news, services, and resources for parishioners, clergy, and the public.
• Pfarreifinder Online parish finder tool that helps users determine which parish they belong to based on their location or address within the Diocese of Mainz.
• Bistumsatlas (Diocesan Atlas) Interactive geographic map of the diocese showing parishes, churches, and other ecclesiastical locations throughout the diocese territory.
• Matricula (Online Kirchenbücher) Online publication platform making historical church records (Kirchenbücher) available digitally, offering 100 church books in image reproductions freely accessible without registration for genealogical and historical research.
• OLIMP (Online Literatur und Medienportal) Online literature and media portal providing access to digital library resources and publications for users of the diocesan library system.
• Podcast 'Lebensfragen' Podcast series featuring conversations with Bishop Peter Kohlgraf on life questions, faith, and contemporary issues, with notable guests including Nadja Auermann.
• e-mip (Meldewesen im Pfarramt) Parish office registration and administration system for managing church membership data across the diocese's parishes.
• Pilgern und Wallfahren Portal Dedicated portal for pilgrimage information, including the Martinusweg pilgrimage route, Wallfahrt sites, and the diocesan pilgrimage to Jakobsberg.
• Mainzer Heiligenportal Online portal dedicated to saints associated with Mainz, providing biographical information and spiritual content for religious education and devotion.
• Institut für Spiritualität Institute offering spiritual guidance, retreats (Exerzitien), and formation programs for clergy, lay faithful, and those seeking vocational discernment.

Quantifiable outcome

• 88 men and women received Episcopal commissioning as spiritual companions (Geistliche Begleiter) in June 2026 at Kloster Jakobsberg.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Caritasverband für die Diözese MainzcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Caritas Association for the Diocese of Mainz is the primary social service organization affiliated with the diocese, providing counseling, refugee assistance, family support, hospice services, and other social welfare programs under Catholic social teaching.
• Deutsche Bischofskonferenz (German Bishops' Conference)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBistum Mainz participates in the Deutsche Bischofskonferenz, the collective body of German Catholic bishops. Bishop Kohlgraf serves as chairman of the Pastoral Commission (Pastoralkommission). The conference coordinates nationwide church policy and maintains dialogue with Rome.
• Pax Christi DeutschlandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBishop Kohlgraf serves as President of Pax Christi Germany, the Catholic peace movement combining prayer and action in the tradition of Vatican II's peace doctrine.
• Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung / Haus am MaibergminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademy for Political and Social Education (Haus am Maiberg) located in Heppenheim, providing civic education programs in cooperation with the diocese.
• Katholisches Datenschutzzentrum Frankfurt/M. (KdöR)coreOthersThe Catholic Data Protection Center Frankfurt is the supervisory authority responsible for data protection oversight of church institutions in the diocese. The diocese must comply with its decisions and can file complaints there.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Bistum Trier: Another one of the 27 German Catholic dioceses with a similar Rhineland-Palatinate footprint and historical depth. Directly comparable in mission, funding model (Kirchensteuer), parish network structure, and pastoral service portfolio, but serves a different geographic territory.
• Bistum Münster: A larger Catholic diocese in North Rhine-Westphalia. Comparable in structure and mission but operates at materially greater scale — useful as an upper-bound benchmark for what a diocese at Bistum Mainz's trajectory could evolve into.
• Bistum Rottenburg-Stuttgart: A comparably sized Catholic diocese in Baden-Württemberg with a similar Kirchensteuer-funded structure and parallel digital and pastoral service portfolio. Operates in a different region but is structurally analogous in scale and offerings.
• Bistum Limburg: A neighboring Catholic diocese in Hesse/Rhineland-Palatinate with similar size, comparable digital modernization trajectory, and analogous funding structure. Shares the same Kirchensteuer model and engages with the same Synodaler Weg reform agenda.
• Erzdiözese Freiburg: A neighboring archdiocese in southwest Germany with overlapping service portfolio, the same funding model, and analogous engagement with German Catholic reform processes. Closely comparable in operational scope and structure.
• Bistum Fulda: Mid-sized German Catholic diocese with comparable parish density, similar church-tax-funded operating model, and an overlapping Hessian operating geography. Provides a like-for-like scale and structure benchmark.

Broad incumbents

• Erzbistum München und Freising: A large Bavarian archdiocese comparable in mission and funding model but operating at meaningfully greater scale. Useful as a benchmark for a high-resource diocese with strong Catholic population density.
• Erzbistum Köln: The largest German Catholic archdiocese and a broad incumbent peer with significantly greater scale, more extensive media operations, and a broader institutional footprint. Comparable in structure but materially larger in resources and geographic reach.

Others

• Caritasverband für die Diözese Mainz: The Caritas Association affiliated with Bistum Mainz, providing the social-services arm of the diocese (counseling, refugee assistance, family support, hospice). Not a peer in the strict sense but the principal operational extension of the diocese into social services and a structural counterpart to the diocesan administration.
• Deutsche Bischofskonferenz: The umbrella body of all 27 German Catholic bishops in which Bishop Kohlgraf participates (chairman of the Pastoralkommission). Not a direct peer but an ecosystem-level organization that sets collective policy, coordinating body for nationwide church strategy including Synodaler Weg.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/bistummainz
• Instagraminstagram.com/bistum_mainz
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@bistummainz
• Xx.com/bistummainz
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bistum-mainz

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about bishopric Mainz