Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki Apostolicus Vicariatus Thessalonicensis Αποστολικό Βικαριάτο Θεσσαλονίκης | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | Greece |
Ecclesiastical province | Immediately exempt to the Holy See |
Statistics | |
Area | 57,550 km2 (22,220 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics | (as of 2010) 3,574,000 8,100 (0.2%) |
Information | |
Denomination | Catholic Church |
Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
Rite | Roman Rite |
Established | 18 March 1926 |
Cathedral | Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Thessaloniki |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Bishop | Sede Vacante |
The Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki (Latin : Vicariatus Apostolicus Thessalonicensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church in northern continental Greece.
It is exempt to the Holy See and is not part of any ecclesiastical province, and remains vacant under apostolic administrators since its only proper apostolic vicar, Alessandro Guidati, was promoted Archbishop of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos in 1929.
Its cathedra is within the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, in Thessaloniki. [1]
The vicariate was established in 1926 as Apostolic Vicariate of Thessalonica, by Pope Pius XI in the apostolic brief "In sublimi Principis", [2] from canonical territory split off from the Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Constantinople, comprising the Greek prefectures of Thessaloniki, Kavala, Xanthi, Volos, Larisa and Giannitsa. Since then, the Vicariate covers the entire territory of northern Greece, including regions of Greek Macedonia, Greek Thrace and Thessaly.
Upon the renaming of the episcopal see of Thessaloniki, the territory was renamed in 1992 as Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki (Greek : Θεσσαλονίκη).
In 2014, it served 7,376 Catholics (0.2% of the local population) on 57,550 km2 in 4 parishes and 4 missions with 10 priests (3 diocesan, 7 religious) and 16 lay religious (9 brothers, 7 sisters). [3]
Those churches include:
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