The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toliara ( la, Toliarana) is one of five Metropolitan

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 associate ...

s with an

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

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 Africa ...

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

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 denomination ...

archiepiscopal see is in

Toliara Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name was adopted ...

(formerly Tuléar).

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 jurisdictiona ...

sees are : *

Roman Catholic Diocese of Morombe The Roman Catholic Diocese of Morombe (''Latin: Moromben(sis)'') is a diocese located in the Ecclesiastical province of Toliara in Madagascar. The episcopal see is in the city of Morombe. History On April 25, 1960, Pope John XXIII established th ...

Roman Catholic Diocese 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 ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of Tôlagnaro The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tolagnaro ( la, Tolagnaren(sis)) is a Latin suffragan diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Fort-Dauphin in Madagascar, yet still depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. It ...

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 119,638 Catholics (11.8% of 1,014,000 total) on 43,570 km² in 23 parishes and 1 mission with 63 priests (26 diocesan, 37 religious), 373 lay religious (68 brothers, 305 sisters) and 18 seminarians.

History

* Established on 1957.04.08 as Diocese of

Tuléar Toliara (also known as ''Toliary'', ; formerly ''Tuléar'') is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of the Atsimo-Andrefana region, located 936 km southwest of national capital Antananarivo. The current spelling of the name was adopted ...

, on territty split off from the Diocese of Fort-Dauphin * Renamed on 1989.10.28 like its see as Diocese of Toliara * Promoted on 2003.12.03 as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Toliara

Bishops

Ordinaries

(all

Roman rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Tuléar'' * Michel-Henri Canonne, Assumptionists (A.A.) (born France) (1959.04.25 – retired 1974.02.28), died 1991 * René Joseph Rakotondrabé (1974.02.28 – 1989.05.15), previously

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 an ...

Umbriatico Umbriatico is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Crotone, in Calabria, southern Italy. As of 2007 Umbriatico had an estimated population of 930. History Umbriatico was founded by the Oenotrians before the arrival of the Greek colonists who ...

(1972.03.25 – 1974.02.28) as Auxiliary Bishop of Tuléar (1972.03.25 – 1974.02.28); later Bishop of

Tamatave Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

(Madagascar) (1989.05.15 – 1990.01.31), Bishop of

Toamasina Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

(Madagascar) (1990.01.31 – retired 2008.11.24), died 2012 ;''Suffragan Bishops of Toliara'' * Fulgence Rabeony,

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

(S.J.) (1990.04.02 – 2003.11.14 ''see below'') ;''Metropolitan Archbishops of Toliara'' *

Fulgence Rabeony Fulgence is a Francophone given name, and refers to several saints named Fulgence: Saint Fulgence de Ruspe (533), Saint Fulgence (633), Saint Fulgence (Ethiopian Bishop, 4th century). nominis.cef.fr Some modern bearers of that name: * Fulgence B ...

, S.J. (''see above'' 2003.12.03 - ...), also President of Episcopal Conference of Madagascar (2002 – 2006)

Auxiliary Bishop

* René Joseph Rakotondrabé (1972-1974), appointed Bishop here

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org, with Google satellite photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toliara, Roman Catholic Archdiocese Roman Catholic dioceses in Madagascar Christian organizations established in 1957 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century A