The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Semarang ( la, Semarangen(sis)) is a Metropolitan Latin archdiocese on

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

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

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 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 General Rom ...

, in the city of Semarang, 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,

Temanggung Temanggung Regency ( id, Kabupaten Temanggung) is a regency in the Central Java Province of Indonesia. It covers a land area of 870.65 km2 and had a population of 708,546 at the 2010 Census and 790,174 at the 2020 Census. Its capital is the town ...

, Magelang to the east- as well as the

Special Region of Yogyakarta The Special Region of Yogyakarta (; id, Daerah Istimewa (D.I.) Yogyakarta) is a provincial-level autonomous region of Indonesia in southern Java. It has also been known as the Special Territory of Yogyakarta. It is bordered by the Indian Oce ...

province.

History

* Established on June 25, 1940 as the Apostolic Vicariate 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 ( 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 ...

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 of Mataram to minister Portuguese Catholic merchants in

Jepara Jepara is a town in the province of Central Java, Indonesia. Jepara is on the north coast of Java, north-east of Semarang, not far from Mount Muria, with a population of 92,967 in mid 2019. It is also the main town of Jepara Regency, which has a ...

. The earliest mission dispersed as persecution of Catholics by Netherlands' colonial government. In 1807, Lambertus Prinsen set up and administered a parish at Semarang as Semarang was still part of

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 ...

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 Ambarawa is a town (and administratively, a district of the Semarang Regency) located between the city of Semarang and Salatiga in Central Java, Indonesia. Administratively, it is bordered by the districts of Banyubiru to the south, Jambu to the ...

became a new outstation by the coming of Jesuit priests. In 1865, a new outstation in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of 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 a monarchy, ...

was created, followed by Magelang outstation. At 1904, Fransiskus Georgius Josephus van Lith, S.J., established a school for teachers in

Muntilan The Muntilan area is a district ( ''kecamatan'') in the Magelang Regency, Central Java. Muntilan is about 15 km south of Magelang, 10 km from Mungkid, 25 km north of Yogyakarta, and 90 km from the main town of Semarang located on the northern coast ...

and the spread of new teachers made

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

developed across Central Java and even for the whole

Java Island Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's most ...

. 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 Catholic priests. They are generally Catholic institutions, and de ...

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

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

was established in

Ecclesiastical province

Its suffragan sees are : * Roman Catholic Diocese of Malang * Roman Catholic Diocese of Purwokerto *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Surabaya The Roman Catholic Diocese of Surabaya ( la, Dioecesis Surabayana) is a suffragan Latin diocese, in located on Java island, in Indonesia and administers parishes in the northern and western parts of East Java province. Its cathedral episcopal se ...

Ordinaries

Apostolic Vicar of Semarang

Albertus Soegijapranata Albertus Soegijapranata, SJ (Indonesian: ; Perfected Spelling: Albertus Sugiyapranata; 25 November 1896 – 22 July 1963), better known by his birth name Soegija, was a Jesuit priest who became the Apostolic Vicar of Semarang and later ...

, S.J. (1940-1961)

Archbishops of Semarang

* Albertus Soegijapranata, S.J. (1961-1963) * Cardinal Justinus Darmojuwono (1963-1981) * Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja, S.J. (1983-1997), appointed Archbishop of Jakarta * Cardinal

Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo Ignatius Cardinal Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo (born 9 July 1950) is an Indonesian prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been Archbishop of Jakarta since 2010, after serving as Archbishop of Semarang from 1997 to 2009. He is commonly known as Archbisho ...

(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 Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tra ...

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century