Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki

Last updated
Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki

Apostolicus Vicariatus Thessalonicensis

Αποστολικό Βικαριάτο Θεσσαλονίκης
Catholic church of the Immaculate Conception, Thessaloniki.JPG
Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Thessaloniki
Coat of arms of Georgios Altouvas.svg
Coat of arms of Bishop Georgios Altouvas
Location
Country Greece
Ecclesiastical province Immediately exempt to the Holy See
Statistics
Area57,550 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
Established18 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.

Contents

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]

History

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).

Presence

St Joseph's Church, Alexandroupoli St Joseph's Church, Alexandroupoli.JPG
St Joseph's Church, Alexandroupoli

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:

Episcopal ordinaries

Apostolic Vicars of Salonica
  1. Alessandro Guidati † (30 April 1927 – 15 July 1929), Titular Bishop of Adada (1927.04.30 – 1929.07.15); later Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos (insular Greece) (1929.07.15 – retired 1947.02.22), Apostolic Administrator of Chios (insular Greece) (1939 – 1947.02.22), emeritate as Titular Archbishop of Nicopolis in Epiro (1947.02.22 – death 1952.06.25)
"Temporary" Apostolic administrators during the long see vacancy since 1929
  1. Giovanni Battista Filippucci (1929 – 1947), while Archbishop of Athens (peninsular Greece) (1927.02.24 – 1947.05.29); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Naxos–Andros–Tinos–Mykonos (insular Greece) (1947.05.29 – death 1959.11.06) and Apostolic Administrator of Chios (insular Greece) (1947.05.29 – 1959.11.06)
  2. Marco Sigala (1947 – 1950), while Archbishop of Athens (peninsular Greece) (1947.05.29 – death 1950.03.10); previously Apostolic Administrator of Santorini (insular Greece) (1946 – 1947)
  3. Georges Xenopulos, Jesuits (S.J.) (1950 – 1953), also Apostolic Administrator of Crete (insular Greece) (1952 – 1974.06.27); previously Bishop of Santorini (insular Greece) (1947.02.22 – 1974.06.27) and Bishop of Syros (insular Greece) (1947.02.22 – 1974.06.27)
  4. Marius Macrionitis, S.J. (1952 – death 1959.04.08), also Archbishop of Athens (peninsular Greece) (1953.03.11 – death 1959.04.08)
  5. Venedictos Printesis (1959.05.15 – 1962), while Archbishop of Athens (peninsular Greece) (1959.05.15 – retired 1972.11.17), died 2008
  6. Father Dimítrios Roussos, S.J. 1969 – 1992), no other prelature
  7. Antónios Varthalítis, Assumptionists (A.A.) (1992 – 2003.03.22), while Metropolitan Archbishop of Corfu–Zakynthos–Kefalonia (insular Greece) (1962.05.30 – retired 2003.03.22), died 2007
  8. Yannis Spiteris, Capuchin Franciscans (O.F.M. Cap.) (2003.03.22 – 2020.09.14), while Metropolitan Archbishop of Corfu–Zakynthos–Kefalonia (insular Greece) (2003.03.22 – 2020.09.14). [4]
  9. Giorgios Altouvas (2020.09.14 – ...), while Metropolitan Archbishop of Corfu–Zakynthos–Kefalonia (insular Greece) (2020.09.14 – ...)

Related Research Articles

Aprus or Apros, also Apri or Aproi (Ἄπροι), was a town of ancient Thrace and, later, a Roman city established in the Roman province of Europa.

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

The Catholic Church in Greece is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Indigenous Roman Catholic Greeks numbered about 50,000-70,000 in 2022 and were a religious and not an ethnic minority. Most of them are a remnant of Venetian and Genoese rule in southern Greece and many Greek islands from the early 13th until the late 18th century, Greeks who converted to Catholicism or descendants of the thousands of Bavarians that came to Greece in the 1830s as soldiers and civil administrators, accompanying King Otto. One very old but still common term to reference to them is Φράγκοι, or "Franks", dating to the times of the Byzantine Empire, when medieval Greeks would use that term to describe all Catholics.

<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).

The Archdiocese of Naxos, Tinos, Andros, and Mykonos is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic church in insular Greece.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Andros was a Latin Catholic bishopric in insular Greece. In 1919, it was absorbed by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Crete</span> Roman Catholic diocese in Greece

The Diocese of Crete is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church located on the island of Crete in the ecclesiastical province of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos in Greece.

The Diocese of Chios is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church located on the island of Chios in the ecclesiastical province of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos in Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos, and Cephalonia</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Greece

The Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos, and Cefalonia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church comprising the Ionian islands of Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia in western Greece.

Nikolaos Foskolos was the Archbishop of Athens and Apostolic Administrator of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rhodes.

Nikolaos Printezis or Printesis is the former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos and former Apostolic Administrator of Chios.

Yannis Spiteris, OFMCap was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Corfu, Zante and Cefalonia and apostolic administrator of Apostolic Vicariate of Thessaloniki from 2003 to 2020. In 1968 he was ordained Catholic priest and on March 22, 2003 was appointed archbishop, being ordained Catholic bishop on May 18, 2003.

The Holy Synod of Catholic Bishops of Greece is the Episcopal Conference in Greece. It is a member of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences and sends a representative to the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE).

Antonios Varthalitis, AA was from 1962 to 2003 Catholic Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Corfu, Zakynthos and Cephalonia.

The Diocese of Cephalonia and Zakynthos was Roman Catholic diocese located on the Ionian Island of Cephalonia. It was suppressed in 1919.

Georgios Xenopoulos, SJ was a Greek Jesuit and prelate of the Catholic Church. From 1947 until his retirement in 1974, he was the Bishop of Santorini and the Bishop of Syros. In addition, he was at various times the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Athens, the Diocese of Crete, and the Apostolic Vicariate of Salonica. He died in 1980, aged 81.

Antonio Giustiniani" was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Naxos (1701–1730), Bishop of Syros and Milos (1694–1701), and Vicar Apostolic of Izmir (1690–1694).

Ioannis Perris was a Catholic Archbishop of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos from October 24, 1960, to April 29, 1993.

References

  1. "Apostolic Vicariate of Thessalonica: Churches and Chapels". Archived from the original on 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  2. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 18 (1926)
  3. Apostolic Vicariate of Thessalonica from catholic-hierarchy.org, retrieved 19 January 2021
  4. Apostolic Vicariate of Thessalonica: Apostolic Administrator

40°38′15″N22°56′18″E / 40.6374°N 22.9384°E / 40.6374; 22.9384