The Catholic Church in Antigua and Barbuda is part of the worldwide
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
in communion with the Bishop of Rome, the
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
.
Territorial organization
The only ecclesiastical jurisdiction in this island state is the
Diocese of Saint John's - Basseterre, suffragan of
Archdiocese of Castries
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Castries ( la, Archidioecesis Castriensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Roman Catholic Church in the Caribbean. The archdiocese consists of the entirety of the former British dependency of Saint Lu ...
. The Catholic population is about 6,930 people out of a total of 100,000 inhabitants. The bishops of Antigua and Barbuda are part of the
Antilles Episcopal Conference The Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) is a Roman Catholic episcopal conference. Its members are bishops and archbishops from current and former British, Dutch, and French colonies and dependencies in the Caribbean (excluding Haiti), Central Americ ...
.
Apostolic Nunciature
The Apostolic Nuncio of Antigua and Barbuda was established on December 15, 1986 with the
Papal brief
A papal brief or breve is a formal document emanating from the Pope, in a somewhat simpler and more modern form than a papal bull.
History
The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugene IV (3 Ma ...
Ut publica et Ecclesiae of
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
.
Nuncios
*
Manuel Monteiro de Castro
Manuel Monteiro de Castro (born 29 March 1938) is a Portuguese prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1967 to 2009, with the rank of archbishop and the title of nuncio from 1985. His assignments a ...
(25 April 1987 - 21 August 1991 appointed apostolic nuncio in El Salvador)
* Eugenio Sbarbaro (7 February 1991 - 26 April 2000 appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Serbia and Montenegro)
*
Emil Paul Tscherrig
Emil Paul Tscherrig (born 3 February 1947) is a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church who has spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He became an archbishop in 1996 and has since held assignments as Apostolic Nuncio to sever ...
(20 January 2001 - 22 May 2004 appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Korea)
*
Thomas Edward Gullickson
Thomas Edward Gullickson (born August 14, 1950) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has served as an apostolic nuncio in the Holy See diplomatic corps since 2004. Gullickson was posted to Switzerland and Liechtenstein from ...
(20 December 2004 - 21 May 2011 appointed Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine)
*
Nicola Girasoli
Nicola Girasoli (21 July 1957) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who is Apostolic Nuncio to Slovakia since July 2022. He served as nuncio to Zambia and Malawi from 2006 until 2011 and nuncio to the Antilles and several other Caribbean ...
, from 29 October 2011
See also
*
Catholic Church by country
The Catholic Church is "the Catholic Communion of Churches, both Roman and Eastern, or Oriental, that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome (the pope)." The church is also known by members as the People of God, the Body of Christ, the ...
References
External links
AAS 79 (1987), p. 248 Vatican website
{{North America in topic, Catholic Church in, groupstyle=background-color:gold, titlestyle=background-color:gold