The Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia (; ) is an

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 the

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 ...

with territorial jurisdiction over

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. The current

vicar apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

is Paolo Martinelli. It was first established in 1888 (as the Apostolic Vicariate of Aden) and took its current name in 2011. The see of the vicar apostolic is in Saint Joseph's Cathedral in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

. Since 1916, it has been in the care of the Capuchins of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

History

The territory was originally part of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Gallas, but it was separated into an

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 ...

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

on 21 January 1875. On 25 April 1888,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

made the Apostolic Vicariate of Aden, located in Yemen. On the 28 June 1889, the name was changed to the Vicariate Apostolic of Arabia, responsible for the countries of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

and surrounding region:

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

and

. On 29 June 1953, the then Apostolic Prefecture of Kuwait (which has become the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia) was separated from the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia. In 1973, the see of the jurisdiction was transferred from Aden to St. Joseph's Cathedral in

. A subsequent redrawing of boundaries in 2011 reduced its jurisdiction to the countries of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The vicariate has been governed by the Capuchin friars since 1916.

Apostolic Vicars of Arabia

# Louis-Callixte Lasserre (1888 – April 1900) #

Bernard Thomas Edward Clark Bernard Thomas Edward Clark (12 November 1856 - 26 September 1915) was an English people, English Bishops in the Catholic Church, Catholic Bishop and Missionary. Life Bernard Thomas Edward Clark was born in London on 12 November 1856. He jo ...

(21 March 1902 – 18 June 1910) # Raffaele Presutti (13 September 1910 – 1915) # Evangelista Latino Enrico Vanni (15 April 1916 – 1925) # Pacifico Tiziano Micheloni (25 April 1933 – 6 July 1936) # Giovanni Tirinnanzi (2 July 1937 – 27 January 1949) # Irzio Luigi Magliacani (25 December 1949 – 1969) #

Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli (30 June 1926 – 6 July 2017) was a Roman Catholic bishop. Born in Italy, Gremoli was ordained to the priesthood in 1951. Gremoli served as titular bishop of Masuccaba and was Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia, Vicar ...

(2 October 1975 – 21 March 2005) # Paul Hinder (21 March 2005 – 31 May 2011)

Apostolic Vicars of Southern Arabia

# Paul Hinder (31 May 2011 – 1 May 2022) # Paolo Martinelli (1 May 2022 – present)

Statistics

Area

* 929,969 km²

Population

*Total population: 42,948,063 *Total Catholic Population: 998,500 *Parishes: 16 *Diocesan priests: 17 *Priests belonging to Religious Institutes: 51 *Total Priests: 68 *Permanent deacons living in the diocese: 1 *Professed non-priest Men Religious belonging to Religious Institutes: 1 *Professed Women Religious belonging to Religious Institutes: 53

List of churches under the jurisdiction of the vicar

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

- St. Joseph's Cathedral and St. Francis Church, Abu Dhabi Mussafah - St. Paul's Church

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

- St. Mary's Church Ruwais - St. John the Baptist Church

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

- St. Mary's Catholic Church

Jebel Ali Jebel Ali () is a port town south-west of Dubai. The Jebel Ali Port is located there. Al Maktoum International Airport has been constructed just outside the port area. Jebel Ali is connected to Dubai via the UAE Exchange (formerly Jebel Al ...

- St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

- St. Michael's Catholic Church

Ras Al Khaimah Ras Al Khaimah (; ), often referred to its initials RAK, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu ...

- St. Anthony of Padua Church

Fujairah Fujairah City () is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Em ...

- Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

- Holy Spirit Church, Sts. Peter and Paul Church

Salalah Salalah () is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani Governorates of Oman, governorate of Dhofar Governorate, Dhofar. It has a population close to 331,949. Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest ...

- St. Francis Xavier Church

Sohar Sohar () is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman. An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town on the Gulf of Oman, Sohar has also been credited as the mythical birthp ...

- St. Anthony's Church

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

- Proto-Cathedral St. Francis of Assisi Hodeidah - Sacred Heart Church

Sana'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

- St. Mary Help of Christians Church Taiz - St. Therese of the Child Jesus Church

References

External links

Apostolic Vicariate of Southern ArabiaVideo explaining the history of The OFM Cap. in Arabia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern Arabia Apostolic vicariates Catholic Church in Oman Catholic Church in the United Arab Emirates Catholic Church in Yemen Catholic Church in Somaliland Roman Catholic dioceses in the Middle East Christian organizations established in 1888 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia Roman Catholic dioceses in Arabia Roman Catholic bishops in the Middle East Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia Catholic Church in the Arabian Peninsula 1888 establishments in Asia

History

Apostolic Vicars of Arabia

Apostolic Vicars of Southern Arabia

Statistics

Area

Population

List of churches under the jurisdiction of the vicar

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

See also

References

External links