The Apostolic Vicariate of Asmara was a

Roman Catholic 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 letter ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

jurisdiction in

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

. Centered in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The c ...

it was at first the

Apostolic Prefect 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 ...

ure of Eritrea and then the Apostolic Vicariate of Eritrea.

Foundation and development

On 13 September 1894, 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 ...

established the

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 i ...

of Eritrea, then an Italian colony, with the decree ''Ut saluti animarum'' of the

Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship * Congregation (Roman Curia), an administ ...

. Its territory was taken from that of the Apostolic Vicariate of Abyssinia, which at that time had its headquarters in

Keren, Eritrea Keren ( Tigrinya and Tigre: ), historically known as Sanhit,Shinn, David & al. "Hewitt Treaty" in the ''Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia''p. 214 is the second-largest city in Eritrea. It is situated around northwest of Asmara at a ...

, a town that became the first seat of the new Apostolic Prefecture of Eritrea. On 7 February 1911, it was promoted to Apostolic Vicariate (with 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 a ...

as ordinary). The Apostolic Vicariate of Abyssinia was entrusted to missionaries of the

Congregation of the Mission , logo = , image = Vincentians.png , abbreviation = CM , nickname = Vincentians, Paules, Lazarites, Lazarists, Lazarians , established = , founder = Vincent de Paul , fou ...

, who followed the lead of Saint

Giustino de Jacobis Giustino Sebastiano Pasquale de Jacobis, CM (9 October 1800 – 31 July 1860) was an Italian Catholic bishop and member of the Congregation of the Mission who became a Vicar Apostolic in Ethiopia and Eritrea and the Titular Bishop of Nilopo ...

, the founder of the mission, by using in the liturgy the local Ethiopic variant of the

Alexandrian Rite Alexandrian rites are liturgical rites employed by three Oriental Orthodox churches, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by their Eastern Catholic coun ...

in the Ge'ez language, not the

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 d ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

. They were mainly French and, after Eritrea was declared an Italian colony in 1890, were expelled by the colonial authorities, who accused them of fomenting armed resistance. The Apostolic Prefecture of Eritrea was created for the Italian

Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...

, who replaced them. These promoted use of the Roman Rite, in view also of the arrival of Italian immigrants. Discontent among the Eritrean Catholics led to the sending in 1927 of the future cardinal

Alexis Lépicier Alexis-Henri-Marie Lépicier O.S.M. (28 February 1863, Vaucouleurs, Meuse – 20 May 1936) was a Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds ...

as an

Apostolic Visitor In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor (or ''Apostolic Visitator''; Italian: Visitatore apostolico) is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration. The visitor is deputed ...

to examine the situation. As a result, Father Kidanè-Maryam Cassà was appointed at first Pro-Vicar Apostolic for the Ethiopic-Rite Catholics and then, on 4 July 1930, bishop in charge of an independent Ordinariate of Eritrea. The

Eritrean Catholic Church The Eritrean Catholic Church ( la, Ecclesia Catholica Erythraea; ti, ኤርትራዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያን, translit=Chiesa Eritrea) is a metropolitan '' sui iuris'' Eastern particular church headquartered in Asmara, Eritrea. It was est ...

is the continuation of this Ordinariate and of the first Eritrean Catholic community. The influx of Italians into Eritrea, especially in the 1930s, led to rapid expansion of the Vicariate, although it had thus in 1930 ceased to have responsibility for Ethiopic-Rite Catholics. On 25 July 1959, when already in steep decline, it was renamed as the Apostolic Vicariate of

, the capital of Eritrea.

Decline and suppression

Although at the beginning of the 1940s nearly 28% of the population of

Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea ( it, Colonia Eritrea, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Rubattino Shipping Company in 1 ...

were Catholics, mostly Italians and of the Latin Church, there was a pronounced fall in the number of Italians present after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when Eritrea was at first under British military administration. The British census of 1949 showed that Asmara, the capital, had only 17,183 Italians out of a total population of 127,579. The departure of Italians accelerated further when Eritrea came under Ethiopian authority at the end of 1950. The Vicariate, which previously had under its jurisdiction the great majority of the Catholics in Eritrea, became less important numerically than the growing Ordinariate, which on 31 October 1951 was raised to the level of an

exarchate An exarchate is any territorial jurisdiction, either secular or ecclesiastical, whose ruler is called an exarch. The term originates from the Greek word ''arkhos'', meaning a leader, ruler, or chief. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I created the first ...

(the Eastern equivalent of a Vicariate) under the name of the Apostolic Exarchate of Asmara, and on 28 February 1961 became an

eparchy Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

, the Eastern equivalent of a

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 associat ...

. When the fourth and last bishop who held the post of Vicar Apostolic of Eritrea or Asmara retired on 2 June 1974, no successor was appointed and the administration of the Vicariate was entrusted to a Capuchin priest. On 21 December 1995, after a quarter of a century of being without a bishop and being administered by a priest, the Vicariate was suppressed at the same time as two new eparchies of the Ethiopian Catholic Church were formed from territory taken from the Eparchy of Asmara: Barentu and Keren (now suffragans of the Archeparchy of Asmara). With the suppression of the Vicariate, Eritrea was left with no

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 Jo ...

ordinary, and all Catholics in Eritrea were entrusted to the care of Eastern Catholic bishops, who since 19 January 2015 are prelates of the

. The former importance of the Latin Vicariate is reflected in the impressive church dedicated to

Our Lady of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General Rom ...

that was completed in 1923 as the principal church of the Apostolic Vicariate. Even after the demise of the Vicariate in 1995, it is still called "the cathedral".

Ordinaries

: All ordinaries of the Vicariate were missionary members of the Latin Catholic

religious order A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious pract ...

of the

Capuchin Franciscans The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

; ''Prefects Apostolic'' of ''Eritrea'' * Friar Michele da Carbonara, O.F.M. Cap. (1894 – 1910) * Friar Camillo Francesco Carrara, O.F.M. Cap. (1910 – ''see below'', later Bishop) ; ''Vicars Apostolic'' of ''Eritrea'' * Camillo Francesco Carrara, O.F.M. Cap. (''see above''), becoming

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 Agathopolis (1911.02.07 – 1924.06.15) * Celestino Annibale Cattaneo, O.F.M. Cap., Titular Bishop of Busiris (1925.03.24 – 1936.03.03) (from his retirement

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In ...

of Sebastopolis in Abasgia) * Giovanni C. Luigi Marinoni, O.F.M. Cap., Titular Bishop of

Pisita Pisita was an ancient city and bishopric in Tunisia. It is now a Latin Catholic titular see. History Pisita was a city in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis. Its ruins are presumably at Bou-Chateur-Sidi-Mansour, in modern Tunisia. ...

(1936.07.21 – 1959.07.25 ''see below'') ; ''Vicars Apostolic'' of ''Asmara'' * Giovanni C. Luigi Marinoni, O.F.M. Cap., Titular Bishop of

(''see e'') 1959.07.25 – 1961.08.12; on his retirement became Titular Archbishop of

Amorium Amorium was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Arab sack of 838. It was situated on the Byzantine military road from Constantinople to Cil ...

) * Zenone Albino Testa, O.F.M. Cap., Titular Bishop of Tinista (1961.08.12 – 1971.06.12; previously Coadjutor Vicar Apostolic of Asmara from 1959.07.10) – he was the last bishop to be Vicar Apostolic of Asmara, which thereafter was entrusted to a priest as

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

; ''Apostolic administrator'' of the Apostolic Vicariate of ''Asmara'' Friar Luca Milesi, O.F.M. Cap. (1971 – 1995.12.21); from 1995.12.21 first Eparch (Bishop) of the

Eritrean Catholic Eparchy of Barentu Eritrean may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Easte ...

References

Sources and external links

GigaCatholic, with biography links from ordinary incumbents lists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eritrea, Apostolic Vicariate Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Africa Apostolic vicariates