The Apostolic Prefecture of Azerbaijan is a Roman Catholic

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 ...

(missionary jurisdiction) in Baku, the capital of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

. It is exempt, i.e. directly subject to 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 ...

, not part of any ecclesiastical province. It has one church and four chapels situated in Baku, including its

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...

the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Its legal status is ensured by the local law of the Azerbaijan Republic and is having a special status thanks to the

Concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Edi ...

signed by

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 ...

and former president

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( az, Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев, italic=no, Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as the third president of Az ...

Baku Azerbaijan Church of the Immaculate Conception

History

It was established on 11 October 2000 as

Mission sui iuris A mission ''sui iuris'', or in Latin ''missio sui iuris'' (plural ''missions sui iuris''); also spelled mission(s) sui juris), also known as an independent mission, is a rare type of Roman Catholic (term), Roman Catholic Church, Catholic mission ...

of Baku, on territory split from the

Apostolic Administration of the Caucasus The Apostolic Administration of the Caucasus ( la, Administratio Apostolica Caucasi Latinorum) is an apostolic administration (pre-diocesan jurisdiction) of the Latin Church in the Catholic Church, established in 1993, with headquarters in Tbilisi, ...

. In May 2002 it enjoyed a papal visit by

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 ...

and in October 2016 by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

. On 4 August 2011, it was promoted as Apostolic Prefecture of Azerbaijan. As of 2015, the estimated total population in the prefecture is 9,867,250 and 560 are members of the Catholic Church.

Coat of arms

The proposal of coat of arms created by

Marek Sobola Marek Sobola (born 3 July 1981) is an authorised landscape architect, professional gardener and heraldic artist from Slovakia. Biography Sobola was born in Žilina, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) into a family from Lalinok and Divina. He spe ...

, a heraldic artist from

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

in November 2017.

Incumbents

So far, there are three Monastic Orders:

Salesians , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turi ...

of Don Bosco (S.D.B.), Missionaries of Charity (C.M) (also known as Sisters of Mother Teresa) and Salesian Sisters (F.M.A.). There is no diocesan priest and only seven of the Salesian community are Catholic priests. * Friar Jozef Daniel Pravda, S.D.B. (11. 10. 2000 – 18. 7. 2003) * Friar Ján Čapla, S.D.B. (18. 7. 2003 – 11. 05. 2009) * Friar Vladimir Fekete, S.D.B. (11. 05. 2009 – 04. 08. ''2011'') ; ''Apostolic Prefects'' of Azerbaijan * Bishop Vladimir Fekete, S.D.B. (04. 08. 2011 – present; named a bishop, by

, while remaining Apostolic Prefect of Azerbaijan, on 12. 08. 2017; consecrated on 11 February 2018)

Source and External links

GigaCatholic, with incumbent biography links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baku, Apostolic Prefecture Christian organizations established in 2000 Apostolic prefectures Catholic Church in Azerbaijan

History

Coat of arms

Incumbents

See also

Source and External links

References