The Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia (, ) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Latin

apostolic vicariate An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

in the eastern half of

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

(Asian

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

). The missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction is not part of any ecclesiastical province. It is under the direction of the

Congregation for the Oriental Churches The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named the Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches (), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible f ...

, an unusual structure for a Latin see, and directly dependent on the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

seat is the Marian Cathedral of the Annunciation in

İskenderun İskenderun (), historically known as Alexandretta (, ) and Scanderoon, is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is 247 km2, and its population is 251,682 (2022). It is on the Mediterranean coas ...

(Alexandria). It has the

Co-Cathedral A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or ''cathedra'', with another cathedral, often in another city (usually a former see, anchor city of the metropolitan area or the civil capital). Instances o ...

of St. Anthony of Padua in

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

as well.

History

* Established originally on 13 March 1845 as 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 it ...

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

, named for its location on the Black Sea, not for any preceding jurisdiction. * Suppressed on 12 September 1896, with its territory merged into the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of İzmir in western Anatolia. * Restored on 20 June 1931 as the Mission sui iuris of Trabzon, its territory taken from the Apostolic Vicariate of Constantinople. * Promoted on 30 November 1990 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia, led by 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 an ...

. As of 2020, the vicariate, which covers 450k square kilometers, had six parishes and two missions to serve a thousand Turkish Christians as well as Christian refugees from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Ordinaries

;Apostolic Prefects of Trabzon (Independent Mission) * Damiano da Viareggio, OFMCap (1845 – 1852) * Filippo Maria da Bologna, OFMCap (1852 – 1881) * Eugenio da Modica, OFMCap. (1881 – 12 September 1896) ;

Ecclesiastical Superior In the canon law of the Catholic Church, a mission (, pl. ), also known as an independent mission, can be defined as: "an ecclesial structure erected from a previous territory, with explicit boundaries, under the care of a religious communit ...

s of Trabzon * Michele da Capodistria, OFMCap (20 June 1931 – 9 March 1933) * Giovanni Giannetti da Fivizzano, OFMCap (9 March 1933 – 1955) * Prospero Germini da Ospitaletto, OFMCap (1955 – 1961) * Michele Salardi da Novellara, OFMCap (1961 – 1966) * Giuseppe Germano Bernardini, OFMCap (19 December 1966 – 30 November 1990) ** When Bernardini became archbishop of

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

in 1983, he continued here as apostolic administrator. ;Apostolic Vicars of Anatolia ** Bernardini continued as apostolic administrator when the vicariate was erected on 30 November 1990 * Ruggero Franceschini, OFMCap (2 July 1993 – 11 October 2004) *

Luigi Padovese Luigi Padovese (31 March 1947 – 3 June 2010) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who became a bishop and served as the Apostolic Vicar of Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia, Anatolia in Turkey. He was a Franciscan and a sc ...

, OFMCap (11 October 2004 – 3 June 2010) ** Franceschini returned as apostolic administrator (12 June 2010 – 14 August 2015) * Paolo Bizzeti, SJ (14 August 2015 – 25 November 2024) **

Antuan Ilgit Antuan Ilgit, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born 22 June 1972) is a Turkish-Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been an auxiliary bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia, Vicariate of Anatolia since 2023. A member of the Society of Jesus ...

SJ, apostolic administrator (25 November 2024-present)

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org with incumbent bio links

Roman Catholic dioceses in Turkey Religious organizations established in 1845 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Hatay Province İskenderun 1845 establishments in the Ottoman Empire {{Asia-RC-diocese-stub

History

Ordinaries

See also

References

Sources and external links