The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fianaranintsoa is one of the five

Catholic 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 ...

Metropolitan Latin

Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

s in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

, yet depends on the missionary

Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples 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 lette ...

. 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 ...

archiepiscopal see is Cathédrale du Saint-Nom de Jésus, dedicated to the

Name of Jesus Two names and a variety of titles are used to refer to Jesus in the New Testament. In Christianity, the two names Jesus and Emmanuel that refer to Jesus in the New Testament have salvific attributes.''Bible explorer's guide'' by John Phillips 20 ...

, in

Fianarantsoa Fianarantsoa is a city (commune urbaine) in south central Madagascar, and is the capital of Haute Matsiatra Region. History It was built in the early 19th century by the Merina as the administrative capital for the newly conquered Betsileo kin ...

Fianarantsoa province Fianarantsoa Province is a former province of Madagascar. It has an area of 103,272 km2 and population of 3,366,291 (July 2001 estimate). Its capital was Fianarantsoa. The province along with the 5 other was abolished in 2007 in favour of cre ...

. The present Archbishop is Fulgence Rabemahafaly.

Ecclesiastical province

Its

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 ...

sees are : * Diocese of Ambositra, a daughter see *

Diocese of Farafangana The Diocese of Farafangana is a Roman Catholic Diocese under the Archdiocese of Fianarantsoa in Madagascar. It is based in the town of Farafangana and was erected on 8 April 1957. It performs the Latin Rite. The Diocese covers approximately . As ...

* Diocese of Ihosy *

Diocese of Mananjary The Diocese of Mananjary is a Roman Catholic Diocese under the Archdiocese of Fianarantsoa The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fianaranintsoa is one of the five Catholic Metropolitan Latin Archdioceses in Madagascar, yet depends on the missionary ...

, a daughter

History

* Established on 1913.05.10 as Apostolic Vicariate of Fianarantsoa, on vast territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Central Madagascar. * Lost territories on 1935.06.18 to establish Apostolic Prefecture of Vatomandry (now Metropolitan Archdiocese of Toamasina) and on 1938.01.08 to establish

Apostolic Prefecture of Morondava The Roman Catholic Diocese of Morondava ( la, Morondaven(sis)) is a suffragan Latin diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Toliara (one of five in Madagascar), yet depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. ...

(now a diocese) * Promoted on 1955.09.14 as Diocese of Fianarantsoa * Elevated to Metropolitan Archdiocese of Fianarantsoa on 11 December 1958 during Madagascar's transition from French colony to independence. * Lost territories again to establish

s : on 1968.04.09

and on 1999.06.03 Diocese of Ambositra * 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 ...

in May 1989.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 831,106 Catholics (56.5% of 1,471,000 total) on 29,400 km² in 42 parishes and 5 missions with 126 priests (60 diocesan, 66 religious), 525 lay religious (210 brothers, 315 sisters) and 78 seminarians.http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/fian0.htm GCatholic It had a total population of about 1,153,750 in 2004. About 40.5% of the residents were Catholic. 121 Priests operate in the Archdiocese, making for a ratio of 3,863 Catholics per Priest.

Bishops

Ordinaries

(all

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language onc ...

; initially European missionary members of Latin orders) ;''Apostolic Vicars of Fianarantsoa'' * Charles Givelet,

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

(S.J.) (born France) (1913.05.16 – death 1935.12.09),

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 ...

Gindarus Jindires ( ar, جنديرس, also spelled, Jandairis, Jandires, Jendires, Jendeires, or Jandarus; Kurdish: Cindirês or Cindirêsê) is a town in northern Syria in the Afrin District of the Aleppo Governorate. It is located on the Afrin River, no ...

(1913.05.16 – 1935.12.09) * Xavier Ferdinand J. Thoyer, S.J. (born France) (1936.12.23 – 1955.09.14 ''see below''), Titular Bishop of

Thuburbo minus Tebourba ( aeb, طبربة ') is a town in Tunisia, located about 20 miles (30 km) from the capital Tunis, former ancient city ( Thuburbo Minus) and bishopric, now a Latin Catholic titular see. Thuburbo Minus Historically Thuburbo Minu ...

(1936.12.23 – 1955.09.14) ;''Suffragan Bishop of Fianarantsoa'' * Xavier Ferdinand J. Thoyer, S.J. (''see above'' 1955.09.14 – 1958.12.11 ''see below'') ;''Metropolitan Archbishops of Fianarantsoa'' * Xavier Ferdinand J. Thoyer, S.J. (''see above'' 1958.12.11 – retired 1962.04.02), emeritate as

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 ...

of Odessus (1962.04.02 – death 1970.10.07) * Gilbert Ramanantoanina, S.J. (first native incumbent) (1962.04.02 – death 1991.01.26), also President of Episcopal Conference of Madagascar (1966 – 1971); succeeded as former Titular Bishop of

Acmonia Acmonia or Akmonia ( grc, Ἀκμονία) is an ancient city of Phrygia Pacatiana, in Asia Minor, now known as Ahat Köyü. It is mentioned by Cicero (Pro Flacco, 15) and was a point on the road between Dorylaeum and Philadelphia. Under the R ...

(1960.01.12 – 1962.04.02) and Auxiliary Bishop of Fianarantsoa (1960.01.12 – 1962.04.02) * Philibert Randriambololona, S.J. (1992.12.17 – retired 2002.10.01); previously

Coadjutor Bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co- ...

Antsirabe Antsirabe () is the third largest city in Madagascar and the capital of the Vakinankaratra region, with a population of 265,018 in 2014. In Madagascar, Antsirabe is known for its relatively cool climate (like the rest of the central region), it ...

(Madagascar) (1988.09.01 – 1989.06.19), succeeded as Bishop of Antsirabe (1989.06.19 – 1992.12.17) * Fulgence Rabemahafaly (2002.10.01 – ...), also

Apostolic Administrator 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 adm ...

of suffragan

Ambositra Ambositra is a city (commune urbaine) in central Madagascar. Ambositra is the capital of the Amoron'i Mania region, and of Ambositra District. It is the centre of Madagascar's' wood-carving industry due to the presence of the Zafimaniry tr ...

(Madagascar) (2002.12.01 – 2005.06.24), President of Episcopal Conference of Madagascar (2006 – 2012.11); previously Bishop of Ambositra (1999.06.03 – 2002.10.01).

Auxiliary Bishop

* Gilbert Ramanantoanina, S.J. (1960-1962), appointed Bishop here

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

* Fulgence Rabemahafaly, appointed Bishop of Ambositra in 1999; later returned here as Archbishop * Vincent Rakotozafy, appointed Bishop of Tôlagnaro in 2001 * Odon Marie Arsène Razanakolona, appointed Bishop of Ambanja in 1998

Sources and external links

GCatholic with Google satellite photo - data for all sections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fianarantsoa, Roman Catholic Archdiocese Fianarantsoa Roman Catholic dioceses in Madagascar 1913 establishments in Madagascar A