The Apostolic Vicariate of Tripoli ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Tripolitanus) is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

missionary territory or apostolic vicariate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Tripolitania Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

. It is immediately exempt to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

, depending on the Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and not part of any

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 seve ...

Although still named after its episcopal see, it has no

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 denominatio ...

since

Tripoli Cathedral Algeria Square Mosque or Jamal Abdul Nasser Mosque, formerly Tripoli Cathedral ( it, La Cattedrale di Tripoli; ar, كاتدرائية طرابلس), is a mosque and former Roman Catholic church located in Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It is s ...

was converted into a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

. Currently the temporary cathedral is the

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...

of St. Francis located in the city of Tripoli that simultaneously serves as a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

History

* Established in 1630 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 ...

of Tripoli, on territory canonically split off from the (Spanish colonial) Diocese of Islas Canarias. * Promoted and renamed in 1894 as Apostolic Vicariate of Libya, hence entitled to a

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 ...

. * Renamed on February 3, 1927 as Apostolic Vicariate of

Tripolitana Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...

, having lost territory to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Cyrenaica (later renamed Benghazi, after its see). * June 22, 1939: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Tripoli , having lost more Libyan territory to establish the

Apostolic Prefecture of Misurata The Apostolic Prefecture of Misurata is a Latin Church missionary territory or apostolic prefecture of the Catholic Church in Misurata, Libya. It is exempt to the Holy See and not part of any ecclesiastical province. The apostolic prefecture h ...

Statistics

, it pastorally served 50,000 Catholics (0.8% of 6,204,000 total) on 1,000,000 km² in one

parish and 15 missions with 5 priests (1

diocesan 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 associat ...

, 4 religious), and 18 lay religious (6 brothers, 12 sisters).

Ordinaries

All members of the

Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (also called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis of Assisi. The order adheres to the teachi ...

, O.F.M.

Apostolic Prefects of Tripoli

* Friar Pascal Canto, OFM (1643–?) * Pietro Tognoletto da Palermo, OFM (?–?) * Girolamo da Castelvetrano, OFM (1675–?) * Maurizio da Lucca, OFM (1691–1698) * Giovanni Francesco da Varese, OFM (1698 – 7 July 1700) * Nicolò da Chio, OFM (17 August 1700 – February 1707) * Francesco Maria da Sarzana, OFM (1707 – 9 April 1713) * Pietro da Castelfranco, OFM (21 August 1713 – 1719?) * Gian Andrea da Vignolo, OFM (1719?–?) * Bernardino da Lucca, OFM (1746–1748) * Benvenuto da Rose, OFM (?–1783) * Clemente da Montalboldo, OFM (1783–1788?) * Candido di Genova, OFM (?–?) * Gaudenzio da Trento, OFM (1790?–1795) * Pacifico da Monte Cassiano, OFM (1800?–?) * Benedetto da San Donato, OFM (?–1824) * Filippo da Coltibuono, OFM (?–1832) * Venanzio da San Venanzio, OFM (1843–?) * Ludovico da Modena, OFM (?–1843) * Angelo Maria da Sant'Agata, OFM (?–1869)

Apostolic Vicars of Libya

* Carlo da Borgo Giovi, O.F.M (?–1899) * Giuseppe Bevilacqua da Barrafranca, O.F.M (?–1904) * Bonaventura Rossetti, O.F.M (August 1907 – ?) * Ludovico Antomelli, O.F.M (23 February 1913 – 10 March 1919), appointed Bishop of Bagnoregio (Bagnorea), Italy * Giacinto Tonizza, O.F.M (7 August 1919 – 3 February 1927 ''see below'')

Apostolic Vicar of Tripolitania

* Giacinto Tonizza, O.F.M (''see above'' 3 February 1927 – 16 April 1935)

Apostolic Vicars of Tripoli

* Camillo Vittorino Facchinetti, O.F.M (9 March 1936 – 25 December 1950) * Vitale Bonifacio Bertoli, O.F.M (5 April 1951 – 10 March 1967) * Guido Attilio Previtali, O.F.M (26 June 1969 – 3 May 1985) *

Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli OFM (5 February 1942, in El Khadra, Libya – 30 December 2019, in Saccolongo, Italy) was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate, who was a Vicar Apostolic of Tripoli and the Titular Bishop of Tabuda. Life Martinelli ...

, O.F.M (3 May 1985 – 5 February 2017) * George Bugeja, O.F.M (5 February 2017 – )

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org, with incumbent biographical links, Google map and - satellite photo

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tripoli, Apostolic Vicariate Roman Catholic dioceses in Libya Religious organizations established in the 1630s Apostolic vicariates Apostolic Vicariate Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 17th century