The Roman Catholic Diocese of Antsirabe ( la, Antsiraben(sis)) is a Latin

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

in the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "A ...

(one of five in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

; in the national capital), yet depends on the missionary

Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

episcopal see is the (Marian) Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, in the city of

Antsirabe Antsirabe () is the third largest city in Madagascar and the capital of the Vakinankaratra region, with a population of 265,018 in 2014. In Madagascar, Antsirabe is known for its relatively cool climate (like the rest of the central region), it ...

Antananarivo Province Antananarivo Province is a former province of Madagascar with an area of . It had a population of 5,370,900 in 2004. Its capital was Antananarivo, which is also the capital of the country. Established in 1965, it was the most important province of ...

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 892,713 Catholics (45.4% of 1,967,703 total) on 16,000 km² in 29 parishes and 2 missions with 125 priests (64 diocesan, 61 religious), 519 lay religious (198 brothers, 321 sisters) and 74 seminarians.

History

* Established on May 15, 1913 as

Apostolic Prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

Betafo file:Lac Tatamarina.jpg, Tatamarina Lake in Betafo Betafo ("many roofs") is a town and urban municipality in Vakinankaratra Region in the Central Highlands (Madagascar), Central Highlands of Madagascar. It is surrounded by volcanic peaks and is si ...

, on Malagassy territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Central Madagascar. * Promoted on August 24, 1918 as Apostolic Vicariate of Betafo, hence entitled to a titular bishop. * Renamed on January 10, 1921 as Apostolic Vicariate of Antsirabe after its new see. * Promoted on September 14, 1955 as Diocese of Antsirabe.

Bishops

Ordinaries

(

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while di ...

, mostly members of missionary Latin congregations) ;''Apostolic Prefect of Betafó'' * Father François-Joseph Dantin,

Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette The Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette (M.S. - Missionarium Saletiniensis) are a religious congregation of priests and brothers in the Latin Church. They are named after the apparition of Our Lady of La Salette in France. There is also a pa ...

(M.S.) (born France) (1913.06.24 – 1918.08.24 ''see below'') ;''Apostolic Vicars of Betafo'' * François-Joseph Dantin, M.S. (''see above'' 1918.08.24 – 1921.01.10 ''see below''),

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

of Satala in Armenia (1918.08.24 – death 1941.07.05) ;''Apostolic Vicars of Antsirabe'' * François-Joseph Dantin, M.S. (''see above'' 1921.01.10 – death 1941.07.05) *

Édouard Rostaing Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include: * Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician * Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer * Édouard Colonne (1 ...

, M.S. (born France) (1942.02.24 – death 1946.05.18), Titular Bishop of

Curium Curium is a transuranic, radioactive chemical element with the symbol Cm and atomic number 96. This actinide element was named after eminent scientists Marie and Pierre Curie, both known for their research on radioactivity. Curium was first in ...

(1942.02.24 – 1946.05.18) * Joseph-Paul Futy, M.S. (born France) (1947.02.13 – death 1955.03), Titular Bishop of

Aspendus Aspendos or Aspendus (Pamphylian Greek, Pamphylian: ΕΣΤϜΕΔΥΣ; Ancient Greek, Attic: Ἄσπενδος) was an ancient Greco-Roman city in Antalya province of Turkey. The site is located 40 km east of the modern city of Antalya. It ...

(1947.02.13 – 1956.08.12); previously Apostolic Prefect of

Morondava Morondava (, from mg, morona lava "long coast") is a city located in Menabe Region, of which it is the capital, in Madagascar. It is located in the delta of the Morandava River at . Its population as of the 2018 census, was 53,510. Population ...

(Madagascar) (1938 – 1947.02.13) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Antsirabe'' *

Claude Rolland Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

(born France) (1955.12.19 – death 1973.10.15) * Jean-Maria Rakotondrasoa, M.S. (first native incumbent) (1974.02.28 – retired 1989.06.19), died 2002 *

Philibert Randriambololona Philibert Randriambololona (1 May 1927 – 17 April 2018) was a Catholic archbishop. Randriambololona was born in Madagascar and was ordained to the priesthood in 1961 for the Society of Jesus. Randriambololona served as coadjutor bishop of th ...

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

(S.J.) (1989.06.19 – 1992.12.17), succeeding as previous

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co- ...

of Antsirabé (1988.09.01 – 1989.06.19); later Metropolitan Archbishop of

Fianarantsoa Fianarantsoa is a city (commune urbaine) in south central Madagascar, and is the capital of Haute Matsiatra Region. History It was built in the early 19th century by the Merina as the administrative capital for the newly conquered Betsileo kin ...

(Madagascar) (1992.12.17 – retired 2002.10.01), died 2018 * Félix Ramananarivo, M.S. (1994.11.11 – retired 2009.11.13), died 2013 * Philippe Ranaivomanana (2009.11.13 – death 2022.09.06), previously Bishop of

Ihosy Ihosy is a city (commune urbaine) with 283,047 inhabitants (2015) in Ihorombe Region in central south Madagascar. Ihosy is the capital of Ihorombe Region, as well as of the district of Ihosy. Geography Ihosy is an important crosspoint for ...

(Madagascar) (1999.01.02 – 2009.11.14)

Coadjutor Bishop

, S.J. (1988-1989)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Désiré Tsarahazana, appointed Bishop of Fenoarivo Atsinanana in 2000; future Cardinal

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org

Roman Catholic dioceses in Madagascar Christian organizations established in 1913 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1913 establishments in Madagascar Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Antananarivo {{Africa-RC-diocese-stub