The
Roman Catholic bishopric of Odense was established some time before 988. During the
Reformation in 1536, the Catholic diocese dissolved and was replaced by the current Lutheran Diocese of Funen. The newly established diocese's first bishop was
Jørgen Sadolin, a Protestant reformer who had preached in Odense before the Reformation. In 1803, the region of
Lolland-Falster split off from the diocese to form the
Diocese of Lolland-Falster. The islands of
Als and
Ærø similarly split off in 1819 to form their own diocese, though this diocese was eventually dissolved. Æro came back under Funen's jurisdiction in 1864, while Als is now part of the
Diocese of Haderslev. Today, the Diocese of Funen consists of the islands of
Funen,
Langeland, and
Ærø. As of 2020, the diocese consists of 11 subordinate deaneries (): Assens, Bogense, Fåborg, Hjallese, Kerteminde, Langeland-Ærø, Middlefart, Nyborg, Odense Sankt Knuds, Midtfyn, and Svendborg. These deaneries are further divided into 234
parishes with a total of 251 individual churches. == List of bishops ==