Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo

Last updated
Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo
Location
CountryFlag of Syria.svg  Syria
Statistics
Parishes10
Members13,000
Information
Rite Latin Rite
Established27 June 1762
CathedralChild Jesus
Secular priests 36
Current leadership
Bishop Hanna Jallouf
Apostolic Administrator Raimondo Girgis
Bishops emeritus Georges Abou Khazen
Former Latin Cathedral of Aleppo, dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Aleppo.jpg
Former Latin Cathedral of Aleppo, dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi

The Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo (in Latin: Vicariatus Apostolicus Aleppensis) is an apostolic vicariate (Latin pre-diocesan missionary jurisdiction of the Latin Church, entitled to a titular bishop) and is immediately subject to the Holy See and its missionary Dicastery for the Eastern Churches. [1] The vicarite has jurisdiction over Catholics of the Latin Rite throughout Syria.

Contents

The seat of the vicariate is the city of Aleppo (Halab in Arabic), Syria's greatest city before the civil war, where the Cathedral of the Child Jesus was opened by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri on 15 January 2011. [2] Its (former?) episcopal see is the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in Aleppo.

Together with the Eastern Catholic hierarchs of five rite-specific Catholic churches (Melkite, Syriac, Maronite, Chaldean and Armenian) the Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo is part of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries in Syria (A.H.C.S.). The Apostolic Vicar is also a member of the Conference of the Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions.

Statistics

The Apostolic Vicariate extends its jurisdiction over the Catholics of the Latin Rite of all Syria, as per 2014 pastorally serving 13,000 Catholics in 10 parishes and 6 missions with 38 priests (religious) and 243 lay religious (46 brothers, 197 sisters).

History

From the early decades of the seventeenth century some religious orders, particularly the Order of the Friars Minor Capuchin, the Carmelites and the Society of Jesus, settled in Syria and Aleppo. There were several conversions to Catholicism of the Latin rite, and this led Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples to establish a diocese in Aleppo.

A first attempt to build an apostolic vicariate (pre-diocesan mission under a titular bishop) was in 1645. On 31 July 1645 was appointed bishop the Franciscan Giovanni Battista Dovara, which, however, "that he had achieved such a dignity, otherwise do not bother to go to his residence, despite the replicated excitations that he was moved by the Holy Congregation. Nor from that time on he was thought to depute a Latin bishop in that city". [3] : 300  The vicariate so he died in the bud: the jurisdiction of the Latin returned to the Custodian of the Holy Land (traditionally a Franciscan), as it was previously.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo was erected properly (the 'second' time) on 27 June 1762, when Pope Clement XIII appointed the Congregation of the Mission member Frenchman Arnaud Bossu, who had been Apostolic Vicar of Algiers. In a Papal brief, [4] Bossu receives the title of Vicar Apostolic of Aleppo, with jurisdiction over the Eastern Europeans and the Latin Rite of the patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem, including the Maronite and Armenian patriarchates. The vicar, however, did not put his residence in Aleppo, but at Antoura in Lebanon, and never received episcopal consecration. Also on this occasion, the vicariate was short-lived due to the Suppression of the Jesuit Order in 1773 and the French Revolution, which, among other consequences, involved the removal of all French religious orders not only in motherland, but also in mission lands.

After the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815, to settle Europe after the defeat of Naopoleon I Bonaparte), the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples restored the apostolic vicariate in 1817, with the name of the Apostolic vicariate of Syria, Egypt, Arabia and Cyprus. It had jurisdiction over much of Catholic missions of the central and southern regions of the Ottoman Empire, namely : Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Palestine, the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Abyssinia (then empire of Ethiopia including Eritrea) and Nubia (Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and southernmost Egypt). Also included was the south-central part of Anatolia, including the cities of Antioch (Antakya) and Alexandretta (Iskenderun).

On 1824.08.15 it lost Egyptian territory to establish the Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria.

On 18 May 1839 it ceded part of its territory for the creation of the Apostolic Vicariate of Egypt and Arabia (today the Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt) and the Apostolic Prefecture of Abyssinia (today Ethiopian Catholic Archeparchy of Addis Abeba in the Ethiopian rite), and simultaneously took the name of the Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo.

On October 4, 1847, it ceded Palestine, Cyprus and the areas corresponding to (the current / (Trans)Jordan for the restoration of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

With the end of the Ottoman Empire, the birth of modern Turkey (1923) and especially with the passage of Hatay from Syria to Turkey (1938), under the Papal bull of Pope Pius XII Ad maius christifidelium of 5 October 1939 and Quo sacrorum of 9 December 1939, the Vicariate Apostolic of Aleppo lost the Turkish territories that passed to the Apostolic Vicariate of Istanbul.

On June 4, 1953, it gave another portion of territory for the creation of the Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut. From this moment the Vicariate Apostolic of Aleppo geographically corresponding to the Arab republic of Syria's territory. Only from this territorial change, the apostolic vicars have permanent residence in Aleppo, preferring previously reside in Lebanon.

Episcopal ordinaries

Until 2013, Europeans or members of missionary Latin congregations, mostly Franciscans, were ordinaries here. All have belonged to the Roman rite.

Apostolic Vicars of Aleppo
Apostolic Vicars of Syria, Egypt, Arabia and Cyprus
Apostolic Vicars of Aleppo

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syriac Catholic Church</span> Eastern Catholic church of the West Syriac Rite

The Syriac Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Christian jurisdiction originating in the Levant that uses the West Syriac Rite liturgy and has many practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. Being one of the twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches, the Syriac Catholic Church is a self-governed sui iuris particular church, while it is in full communion with the Holy See and with the entirety of the Roman Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem</span> Catholic episcopal see

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, with the Kingdom of Jerusalem encompassing the territories in the Holy Land newly conquered by the First Crusade. From 1374 to 1847 it was a titular see, with the patriarchs of Jerusalem being based at the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome. Pope Pius IX re-established a resident Latin patriarch in 1847.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coptic Catholic Church</span> Eastern Catholic particular church that uses the Coptic Rite

The Coptic Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic particular Church in full communion with the Catholic Church. Along with the Ethiopian Catholic Church and Eritrean Catholic Church, it belongs to the Alexandrian liturgical tradition. Uniquely among the Alexandrian Rite Eastern Catholic liturgies, the Coptic Catholic Church uses the Coptic Rite and the Coptic language in its liturgy; the Ethiopian Catholic Church and Eritrean Catholic Church use the Ge'ez Rite.

A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan", "titular archbishop" or "titular bishop", which normally goes by the status conferred on the titular see.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria</span> Patriarchate of the Catholic Church in Egypt

The Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria is the Patriarchal and only Metropolitan see of the head of the Eastern sui iuris Coptic Catholic Church, a particular Church in the Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See, which follows the Alexandrian Rite in its own Coptic language. He is thus the superior of all Coptic dioceses, mostly in and around Egypt, the word Copt(ic) being a corruption of the Greek word for Egypt(ian).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in Kuwait</span>

The Catholic Church in Kuwait is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian Catholic Archeparchy of Addis Abeba</span> Metropolitan see of the Ethiopian Catholic Church

The Ethiopian Catholic Archeparchy of Addis Abeba, officially the Metropolitan sui iuris Archeparchy of Addis Abeba is the metropolitan see of the Ethiopian Catholic Church, a sui iuris metropolitan Eastern Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum</span> Roman Catholic archdiocese in Sudan

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum is the Latin Metropolitan archbishopric with See in national capital Khartoum whose Ecclesiastical province, including the suffragan Obeid, covers Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of İzmir</span> Catholic archdiocese in Turkey

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of İzmir is a Latin archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Asian Turkey (Anatolia).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt</span> Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction in Egypt

The Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt, or in full - of Alexandria of Egypt-Heliopolis-Port Said is a Roman Catholic Apostolic vicariate in Egypt, named after its cathedral see in Alexandria, a port city and former Catholic patriarchate, which serves the Latin Catholics in Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hankou</span> Roman Catholic archdiocese in Hubei, China

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hankou is a Latin Rite Metropolitan archdiocese, based in Hankou, Wuhan, Hubei, China.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Laohekou/Laohokow is a suffragan Latin diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archbishopric of Hankou in central China, but depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi Piavi</span> Italian priest and diplomat

Luigi Piavi, OFM was a Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giuseppe Nazzaro</span>

Giuseppe Nazzaro, OFM was an Emeritus bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo, Custodian of the Holy Land and a polyglot.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Beirut is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church in Lebanon, where Eastern Catholics are far more numerous. In 2010, there were 15,000 baptized. Its current bishop is Cesar Essayan.

Basil Kfoury was bishop of the Patriarchal Vicariate of Egypt and Sudan named by Patriarch Maximos III Mazloum.

The Eparchy of Latakia or Latakia of the Maronites is a Maronite Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in Syria. As of 2011, there were 35,000 members. The current eparch is Antoine Chbeir.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Heliopolis (of Egypt) (originally of the Nile Delta) was a Catholic missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction of the Latin Church in northern Egypt.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Port-Said was a Latin Catholic missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction in eastern Egypt.

References

  1. ↑ "Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo" GCatholic.org. Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016
  2. ↑ "Siria: il Cardinale Sandri consacra la Cattedrale latina di Aleppo | Patriarcato latino di Gerusalemme". it.lpj.org. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26.
  3. ↑ Leonardus Lemmens, Hierarchia latina Orientis, mediante S. Congregatione de propaganda fide instituita (1622-1922), in Orientalia Christiana, vol. IV, n° 10 (1924), pp. 296-301
  4. ↑ "Iuris pontificii de propaganda fide.: Pars prima, complectens bullas, brevia". Ex Typographia Polyglotta S. C. de Propaganda Fide. 1892.
  5. ↑ "Archbishop Giovanni Battista Aresti de Dovara, O.F.M" Catholic-Hierarchy.org . David M. Cheney. Retrieved July 21, 2016
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.