The Eritrean Catholic Eparchy of Keren ( la, Eparchia Kerensis) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

eparchy Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

centred in the city of Keren in

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopi ...

. It is a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

of the Archeparchy of Asmara, and a constituent eparchy of the

Eritrean Catholic Church The Eritrean Catholic Church ( la, Ecclesia Catholica Erythraea; ti, ኤርትራዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያን, translit=Chiesa Eritrea) is a metropolitan ''sui iuris'' Eastern particular church headquartered in Asmara, Eritrea. It was esta ...

History

The first Catholic church in Keren was built in 1865 but was demolished in 1871 by the authorities of the

Khedivate of Egypt The Khedivate of Egypt ( or , ; ota, خدیویت مصر ') was an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, established and ruled by the Muhammad Ali Dynasty following the defeat and expulsion of Napoleon Bonaparte's forces which br ...

, who in the 1870s held much of Eritrea. The Apostolic Vicariate of Abyssinia, which from 1870 to 1894 had its headquarters in Keren, was allowed to rebuild the church, began the work on 24 May 1873 and completed it and blessed it on 14 February 1875. Keren was thus an early centre for the nascent Catholic community that uses the Ge'ez liturgical rite and that has been recognized as the

in 1925. On 21 December 1995, with territory taken from the Eparchy of Asmara,

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 ...

established the Eparchy of Keren as a

suffragan see A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, ...

of the Archeparchy of Addis Ababa.Apostolic Constitution (papal bull) ''Communitates in orbe''
/ref> With the establishment of the autonomous (''

sui iuris ''Sui iuris'' ( or ) also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both secular law and the Catholic Church's canon law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic '' Code of Ca ...

'') Eritrean Catholic Church 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 19 January 2015, the Eparchy of Keren became a suffragan of the

Eritrean Catholic Archeparchy of Asmara The Eritrean Catholic Archeparchy of Asmara, officially the Archeparchy of Asmara ( la, Archieparchia Asmarensis or la, Metropolitana Ecclesia Asmarensis), more informally Asmara of the Eritreans, is the metropolitan see of the Metropolitan Eri ...

Territory

The eparchy covers what at the time of its creation were the Eritrean provinces of

Senhit The Provinces of Eritrea existed between Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions. Overview In Italian Eritrea, the Italian colonial administration had divided the colony into e ...

and

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid cli ...

, with an area of 25,949 km², and a total population of 448,968, of whom 49,538 (11.0%) are Catholics.

Cathedral

The present cathedral seat of the eparchy is at Saint Michael's Cathedral, located west of the town centre. A much larger cathedral, also dedicated to Saint Michael, is under construction south of the centre.Cathedral of St. Michael, Keren, Eritrea (GCatholic)
/ref>

Successive eparchs

*Tesfamariam Bedho (21 Dec 1995 – 29 Jul 2002) *Kidane Yebio (4 Jan 2003 – present)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keren Eritrean Catholic Church Christian organizations established in 1995 Keren, Eritrea