The Apostolic Administration of Estonia is a Latin, territorial Catholic ''circonscription'' (ecclesiastical jurisdiction) that covers the entire country of

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

. It is an

apostolic administration 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 ...

(quasi-diocesan jurisdiction) of the Latin Roman Catholic church in

, hence is exempt (i.e. directly subject to the Holy See, not part of any ecclesiastical province) and has its

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

episcopal see, the St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral, in the national capital

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. The post of apostolic administrator has often been held by

titular archbishop 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 ...

s, combining it with papal diplomatic posts in Estonia,

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

History

In 1918, when

gained independence, its citizens had complete freedom of religion. 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 ...

recognized Estonia on 10 October 1921. The Apostolic Administration of Estonia was established on November 1, 1924,"Apostolic Administration of Estonia"
''Catholic Hierarchy''. Retrieved on 18 May 2014 on territory split off from the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Riga The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Riga is an archdiocese administered from the capital city of Riga in Latvia.Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

country

). The see remained vacant during most of the period when Estonia was

occupied ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...

and

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

into the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

after the death of Bishop

Eduard Profittlich Eduard Gottlieb Profittlich, SJ (11 September 1890, in Birresdorf, village near Koblenz, German Empire – 22 February 1942, in Kirov, Soviet Union) was a Jesuit German Catholic archbishop, apostolic administrator of Estonia, victim of Soviet ...

in 1942 because of the suppression of the Church by Soviet

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

authorities. Since 1992, after Estonia's post-communist independence, apostolic administrators are once again appointed. It enjoyed a papal visit in September 1993 from

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 ...

Apostolic Administrators of Estonia

* Antonino Zecchini,

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

(S.J.),

Titular Archbishop 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 ...

Myra Myra ( grc, Μύρα, ''Mýra'') was a Lycian, then ancient Greek, then Greco-Roman, then Byzantine Greek, then Ottoman town in Lycia, which became the small Turkish town of Kale, renamed Demre in 2005, in the present-day Antalya Province of ...

(1924.11.01 – 1931.05.11),

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international ...

(1922.10.25 – 1927),

Apostolic Internuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

to Latvia (1926.04.14 – 1935.03.07), Apostolic Delegate to Estonia (1927 – 1932) *

, S.J. (1931.05.11 – 1942.02.22) * ''vacancy in Soviet era'' *

Justo Mullor García Justo Mullor García (8 May 1932 – 30 December 2016) was a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and then headed the Vatican's academy for training diplomats. Biography Born in lo ...

(1992.04.15 – 1997.04.02), Titular Archbishop of

Emerita Augusta Emerita may refer to: * ''Emerita'' (crustacean), a genus of crustaceans * Emerita Augusta, an ancient city of Spain * Saint Emerita, 3rd-century martyr; see Digna and Emerita * Emerita, the feminine form of the adjective "emeritus ''Emeritus ...

(1979.03.21 – 1994.07.28), Titular Archbishop of Bolsena (1994.07.28 – ...),

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international ...

to Estonia (1991.11.30 – 1997.04.02), to

(1991.11.30 – 1997.04.02) and to Lithuania (1991.11.30 – 1997.04.02) *

Erwin Josef Ender Erwin Josef Ender (7 September 1937 – 19 December 2022) was a German prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He was an archbishop and had the rank of nuncio since 1990. Biography Erwi ...

(1997.08.09 – 2001.05.19), Titular Archbishop of Germania in Numidia (1990.03.15 – ...), Apostolic Nuncio to Estonia (1997.07.09 – 2001.05.19), to Latvia (1997.07.09 – 2001.05.19) and to Lithuania (1997.07.09 – 2001.05.19) *

Peter Stephan Zurbriggen Peter Stephan Zurbriggen (27 August 1943 – 28 August 2022) was a Swiss archbishop of the Catholic Church, who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1993 until his retirement in 2018. He was Apostolic Nunzio to Austria fr ...

(2001.11.15 – 2005.03.23), Titular Archbishop of

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

(1993.11.13 – ...), Apostolic Nuncio to Estonia (2001.10.25 – 2009.01.14), to Latvia (2001.10.25 – 2009.01.14) and to Lithuania (2001.10.25 – 2009.01.14) * Philippe Jean-Charles Jourdan (2005.04.01 – ...),

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 Pertusa (2005.04.01 – ...)

References

Source and external links

GigaCatholic, with incumbent biography links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estonia, Apostolic Administration Apostolic administrations Roman Catholic dioceses in Europe Catholic Church in Estonia Christian organizations established in 1924

History

Apostolic Administrators of Estonia

See also

References

Source and external links