The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Semarang () is a Metropolitan Latin

archdiocese 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 associated ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, yet it depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. 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 ...

archiepiscopal see is Katedral Santa Perawan Maria Ratu Rosario Suci, dedicated to

Our Lady of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary (), also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Titles of Mary, 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 city of

Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...

, Jawa Tengah.

Statistics and extent

As per 2012, it pastorally administered 499,200 Catholics (2.4% of 20,812,000 total) on 21,196 km² in 98 parishes and 10 missions with 383 priests (174 diocesan, 209 religious), 1,914 lay religious (737 brothers, 1,177 sisters) and 60 seminarians. It comprises parishes on the central and eastern part of Central Java - stretching from

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

, Temanggung, Magelang to the east- as well as the Special Region of Yogyakarta province.

History

* Established on June 25, 1940 as the

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 ...

of Semarang, on territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Batavia * January 3, 1961: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Semarang * It enjoyed a Papal visit from

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

October 1989. The first Roman Catholic mission in this Archdiocese was established in 1640 when two Dominican priests, Manuel de St Maria, O.P. and Pedro de St Joseph, O.P., acquired land from

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

of Mataram to minister Portuguese Catholic merchants in Jepara. The earliest mission dispersed as persecution of Catholics by Netherlands' colonial government. In 1807, Lambertus Prinsen set up and administered a parish at

as Semarang was still part of Apostolic Prefecture of Batavia. In 1818, Prinsen appointed to become Apostolic Prefect of Batavia. The Semarang parish then administered by two parish priest successors. At 1859, Ambarawa became a new outstation by the coming of

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priests. In 1865, a new outstation in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

was created, followed by Magelang outstation. At 1904, Fransiskus Georgius Josephus van Lith, S.J., established a school for teachers in Muntilan and the spread of new teachers made

Roman 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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

developed across Central Java and even for the whole Java Island. A

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

was founded in Muntilan in 1911 then moved to Mertoyudan. In 1936, a major

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

was established in

Ecclesiastical province

Its

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

sees are : * Roman Catholic Diocese of Malang * Roman Catholic Diocese of Purwokerto * Roman Catholic Diocese of Surabaya

Ordinaries

Apostolic Vicar of Semarang

* Albertus Soegijapranata, S.J. (1940-1961)

Archbishops of Semarang

* Albertus Soegijapranata, S.J. (1961-1963) * Cardinal

Justinus Darmojuwono Justinus Darmojuwono (2 November 1914 – 3 February 1994) was an Indonesian Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Semarang, Archbishop of Semarang from 1963 to 1981 and was el ...

(1963-1981) * Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, S.J. (1983-1997), appointed Archbishop of Jakarta * Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo (1997-2009), appointed Archbishop of Jakarta * Johannes Pujasumarta (2010-2015) * Robertus Rubiyatmoko (2017–present)

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org - data for all sections

Archdiocesan website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semarang, Roman Catholic Archdiocese Semarang Roman Catholic dioceses in Indonesia Religious organizations established in 1940 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century