The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brazzaville ( la, Archidioecesis Brazzapolitana) is the

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

See for the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CL ...

in the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

History

On 4 June 1886,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...

established the Apostolic Vicariate of French Congo from the Diocese of São Paulo de Loanda in

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

and the

Apostolic Vicariate of Two Guineas The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Libreville ( French: ''Archidiocèse catholique romain de Libreville'') is the Metropolitan See of the Latin Ecclesiastical province covering all Gabon. Its cathedral episcopal see is the Cathédrale Notre Dam ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...

. It was renamed as the Apostolic Vicariate of Upper French Congo on 14 October 1890, and again on 14 June 1922 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Brazzaville. It lost territory in 1950 when the Apostolic Vicariate of Fort-Rousset was established.

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

promoted the vicariate to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Brazzaville on 14 September 1955. It lost territory again in 1987 when the Diocese of Kinkala was established. On May 30, 2020, the dioceses of Owando and Pointe-Noire were raised to metropolitan archdioceses, and consequently the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

of Brazzaville was split into 3 provinces.

Special churches

The seat of the archbishop is the Cathédrale Sacré-Coeur in Brazzaville, founded in 1887 by Monseigneur Augouard.

Bishops

Ordinaries

* Vicar Apostolic of French Congo ** Antoine-Marie-Hippolyte Carrie,

C.S.Sp. , image = Holy Ghost Fathers seal.png , size = 175px , caption = The seal of the Congregation depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Trinity. , abbreviation ...

1886.06.08 – 1890.10.14, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Lower French Congo * Vicar Apostolic of Upper French Congo (Roman rite) **

Prosper Philippe Augouard Philippe Augouard in 1871, as a Papal Zouave Prosper Philippe Augouard , C.S.Sp. (17 September 1852 – 3 October 1921) was a French Catholic priest, missionary, and explorer of Africa. Early life Augouard was born 17 September 1852 in Poi ...

, C.S.Sp. 1890.10.14 – 1921.10.03 * Vicars Apostolic of Brazzaville ** Firmin-Jules Guichard, C.S.Sp. 1922.06.12 – 1936.04.27 **

Paul Joseph Biéchy Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, C.S.Sp. 1936.01.27 – 1954 ** Michel-Jules-Joseph-Marie Bernard, C.S.Sp. 1954.07.18 – 1955.09.14; ''see below'' * Metropolitan Archbishops of Brazzaville ** Michel-Jules-Joseph-Marie Bernard, C.S.Sp. 1955.09.14 – 1964.05.02; ''see above'' **

Théophile Mbemba Theophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός (God) and φιλία (love or affection) can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God", i.e., it is a theoph ...

1964.05.23 – 1971.06.14 **

Emile Biayenda Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

1971.06.14 – 1977.03.23 (Cardinal in 1973) ** Barthélémy Batantu 1978.11.15 – 2001.01.23 ** Anatole Milandou since 2001.01.23

Coadjutor archbishops

(1961-1964) *

Émile Biayenda Émile Biayenda (1927 – 23 March 1977) was the Archbishop of Brazzaville in Congo from 1971 to 1977 and was also a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was born in 1927 in Mpangala, Vindza. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1958 and ...

(1970-1971); later cardinal * Bienvenu Manamika Bafouakouahou (18 April 2020 – present)

Auxiliary bishop

* Anatole Milandou (1983-1987), appointed Bishop of Kinkala (later returned here as Archbishop)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

Urbain Ngassongo Urbain is a name of French origin which may refer to: ;Family name * Achille Urbain (1884–1957), French biologist * Georges Urbain (1872–1938), French chemist * Ismael Urbain (1812–1884), French journalist and interpreter * Jacques Urbain ...

, appointed Bishop of Gamboma in 2013

Suffragan Dioceses

* Gamboma * Kinkala

Sources

Bibliography

* Maria Petringa, ''Brazza, A Life for Africa'', Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006, {{DEFAULTSORT:Brazzaville Organisations based in Brazzaville Roman Catholic dioceses in the Republic of the Congo Religious organizations established in 1886 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century A