The Diocese of Laghouat ( la, Dioecesis Laghuatensis) is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

ecclesiastical jurisdiction or

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 ...

of the

Catholic Church 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 ...

covering the sparsely populated Saharan inland of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. It is immediately exempt to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

and not part of any

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 ...

, and depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

s cathedra is found in the

Pro-Cathedral of Ghardaïa The Pro-Cathedral of Ghardaïa (french: Pro-cathédrale de Ghardaïa), or simply Cathedral of Ghardaia, is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Ghardaïa, Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. It succeeded an old Catholic cathedral dedicated to ...

in the episcopal see of Ghardaïa. The former

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 ...

is the now-deconsecrated church of Saint Hilarion, in the city of Laghouat.

History

* Established on 19 July 1901 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 ...

of Ghardaïa ( la, Ghardaiensis) on territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Sahara and Sudan (now the Archdiocese of Bamako in present

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

), also a pre-diocesan missionary jurisdiction. * Renamed on 10 January 1921 as Apostolic Prefecture of Ghardaïa in the Sahara ( it, Ghardaïa nel Sahara, la, Ghardaiensis in Sahara) * On 28 April 1942, it lost western territory to establish the then Apostolic Prefecture of Niamey (now an archdiocese) * Promoted on 10 June 1948 as a apostolic vicariate, entitled to a

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 ...

* On 5 July 1954, it lost western territory to establish the then Apostolic Prefecture of Spanish Sahara and Ifni (now of Western Sahara) * Promoted on 14 September 1955 as Diocese of Laghouat.

Statistics

, it pastorally served 2,080 Catholics (0.0% of 4,902,760 total) on 2,107,708 km² in 10 parishes with 14 priests (3 diocesan, 11 religious) and 46 lay religious (20 brothers, 26 sisters) .

Ordinaries

Apostolic Prefects of Ghardaïa

*Cardinal

Charles Lavigerie Charles Martial Allemand Lavigerie (31 October 1825 – 26 November 1892) was a French cardinal, archbishop of Carthage and Algiers and primate of Africa. He also founded the White Fathers. A Catholic priest who became a bishop in France, Laviger ...

(''apostolic administrator'' 13 March 1891 – 25 November 1892) * Charles Guérin (1901–1910) * Henry Bardou (1911–1916) * Louis David (1916–1919) * Gustave-Jean-Marie Nouet, MAfr (28 April 1919 – 10 January 1921); ''see below''

Apostolic Prefects of Ghardaïa nel Sahara

* Gustave-Jean-Marie Nouet, MAfr (10 January 1921 – 1941); ''see above'' * Georges-Louis Mercier, MAfr (1941 – 10 June 1948); ''see below''

Apostolic Vicar of Ghardaïa nel Sahara

* Georges-Louis Mercier, MAfr (10 June 1948 – 14 September 1955); ''see above & below''

Bishops of Laghouat

# Georges-Louis Mercier, MAfr (14 September 1955 – 11 January 1968); ''see above'' # Jean-Marie Michel Arthur Alix Zacharie Raimbaud, MAfr (11 January 1968 – 25 June 1989) # Michel-Joseph-Gérard Gagnon, MAfr (4 February 199 – 11 June 2004) #* Michel Larbubu, MAfr (''apostolic administrator'' 29 April 2004 – 26 October 2004) # Claude Jean Narcisse Rault, MAfr (26 October 2004 – 16 March 2017) # John MacWilliam, MAfr (16 March 2017 – )

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org, with incumbent biography links - data for all sections

Diocese of Laghouat Website (''French'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laghouat, Roman Catholic Diocese Roman Catholic dioceses in Algeria Christian organizations established in 1901 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century