The Roman Catholic Diocese of Antsirabe ( la, Antsiraben(sis)) is a Latin suffragan

diocese 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 associa ...

in 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 seve ...

Antananarivo Antananarivo (French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("An ...

(one of five 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 Africa ...

; in the national capital), yet 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 ...

episcopal see is the (Marian) Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, in the city of Antsirabe,

Antananarivo Province Antananarivo Province is a former province of Madagascar with an area of . It had a population of 5,370,900 in 2004. Its capital was Antananarivo, which is also the capital of the country. Established in 1965, it was the most important province of ...

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 892,713 Catholics (45.4% of 1,967,703 total) on 16,000 km² in 29 parishes and 2 missions with 125 priests (64 diocesan, 61 religious), 519 lay religious (198 brothers, 321 sisters) and 74 seminarians.

History

* Established on May 15, 1913 as

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 ...

Betafo file:Lac Tatamarina.jpg, Tatamarina Lake in Betafo Betafo ("many roofs") is a town and urban municipality in Vakinankaratra Region in the Central Highlands (Madagascar), Central Highlands of Madagascar. It is surrounded by volcanic peaks and is si ...

, on Malagassy territory split off from the then

Apostolic Vicariate of Central Madagascar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

. * Promoted on August 24, 1918 as Apostolic Vicariate of Betafo, hence entitled to a titular bishop. * Renamed on January 10, 1921 as Apostolic Vicariate of Antsirabe after its new see. * Promoted on September 14, 1955 as Diocese of Antsirabe.

Bishops

Ordinaries

( Roman Rite, mostly members of missionary Latin congregations) ;''Apostolic Prefect of Betafó'' * Father François-Joseph Dantin,

Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette The Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette (M.S. - Missionarium Saletiniensis) are a religious congregation of priests and brothers in the Latin Church. They are named after the apparition of Our Lady of La Salette in France. There is also a par ...

(M.S.) (born France) (1913.06.24 – 1918.08.24 ''see below'') ;''Apostolic Vicars of Betafo'' * François-Joseph Dantin, M.S. (''see above'' 1918.08.24 – 1921.01.10 ''see below''),

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 ...

of Satala in Armenia (1918.08.24 – death 1941.07.05) ;''Apostolic Vicars of Antsirabe'' * François-Joseph Dantin, M.S. (''see above'' 1921.01.10 – death 1941.07.05) *

Édouard Rostaing Édouard is both a French given name and a surname, equivalent to Edward in English. Notable people with the name include: * Édouard Balladur (born 1929), French politician * Édouard Boubat (1923–1999), French photographer * Édouard Colonne (1 ...

, M.S. (born France) (1942.02.24 – death 1946.05.18), Titular Bishop of Curium (1942.02.24 – 1946.05.18) * Joseph-Paul Futy, M.S. (born France) (1947.02.13 – death 1955.03), Titular Bishop of

Aspendus Aspendos or Aspendus (Pamphylian Greek, Pamphylian: ΕΣΤϜΕΔΥΣ; Ancient Greek, Attic: Ἄσπενδος) was an ancient Greco-Roman city in Antalya province of Turkey. The site is located 40 km east of the modern city of Antalya. It ...

(1947.02.13 – 1956.08.12); previously Apostolic Prefect of

Morondava Morondava (, from mg, morona lava "long coast") is a city located in Menabe Region, of which it is the capital, in Madagascar. It is located in the delta of the Morandava River at . Its population as of the 2018 census, was 53,510. Population ...

(Madagascar) (1938 – 1947.02.13) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Antsirabe'' *

Claude Rolland Claude may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

(born France) (1955.12.19 – death 1973.10.15) * Jean-Maria Rakotondrasoa, M.S. (first native incumbent) (1974.02.28 – retired 1989.06.19), died 2002 *

Philibert Randriambololona Philibert Randriambololona (1 May 1927 – 17 April 2018) was a Catholic archbishop. Randriambololona was born in Madagascar and was ordained to the priesthood in 1961 for the Society of Jesus. Randriambololona served as coadjutor bishop of th ...

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

(S.J.) (1989.06.19 – 1992.12.17), succeeding as previous Coadjutor Bishop of Antsirabé (1988.09.01 – 1989.06.19); later Metropolitan Archbishop of Fianarantsoa (Madagascar) (1992.12.17 – retired 2002.10.01), died 2018 * Félix Ramananarivo, M.S. (1994.11.11 – retired 2009.11.13), died 2013 * Philippe Ranaivomanana (2009.11.13 – death 2022.09.06), previously Bishop of

Ihosy Ihosy is a city (commune urbaine) with 283,047 inhabitants (2015) in Ihorombe Region in central south Madagascar. Ihosy is the capital of Ihorombe Region, as well as of the district of Ihosy. Geography Ihosy is an important crosspoint for ...

(Madagascar) (1999.01.02 – 2009.11.14)

Coadjutor Bishop

, S.J. (1988-1989)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

Désiré Tsarahazana Désiré Tsarahazana (born 13 June 1954) is a Malagasy prelate of the Catholic Church. He has been Archbishop of Toamasina since 2010 but served in that see prior to its elevation since 2008. Pope Francis appointed him a cardinal in 2018. Bi ...

, appointed Bishop of Fenoarivo Atsinanana in 2000; future Cardinal

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org

Roman Catholic dioceses in Madagascar Christian organizations established in 1913 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1913 establishments in Madagascar Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Antananarivo {{Africa-RC-diocese-stub