The Roman Catholic Diocese of Karaganda is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of the Metropolitan of Mary Most Holy in Astana, yet remains subject to the missionary

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Catholic missions, missionary work and related activities. It is also kn ...

. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

episcopal see is the Marian Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatima, in the city of

Karaganda Karaganda (, ; ), also known as Karagandy (, ; ; ) (also sometimes romanized as Qaraghandy), is a major city in central Kazakhstan and the capital of the Karaganda Region. It is the fifth most populous city in the country, with a population o ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

.Catholic World Report: "In the land of the Gulag, a statement of faith in the future - A new cathedral in Kazakhstan has been dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima" by Joanna Bogle
September 14, 2012 The city also had the former Cathedral of St. Joseph.

History

Established on 1991.04.13 as

Apostolic Administration 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 admi ...

of Kazakhstan, on vast territory (most of ex-Soviet

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

) split off from the Diocese of Vladivostok. Lost territories repeatedly : * on 1997.09.29 to establish Mission sui juris of Uzbekistan, Mission sui juris of Tajikistan and Mission sui juris of Turkmenistan * on 1997.12.22 to establish Mission sui juris of Kyrgyzstan. Promoted on 1999.07.07 as Diocese of Karaganda, losing territory to establish Apostolic Administration of Astana,

Apostolic Administration of Almaty The Catholic Diocese of Most Holy Trinity in Almaty () is a diocese located within the city of Almaty in the ecclesiastical province of Catholic Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana, Mary Most Holy in Astana in Kazakhstan. History * July 7, 1 ...

and

Apostolic Administration of Atyrau The Apostolic Administration of Atyrau is a pastoral area ''sui iuris'', not yet fully a diocese, in western Kazakhstan which forms part of the Roman Catholic Church in this country, namely of the metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ma ...

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 8,340 Catholics (0.2% of 3,640,000 total) on 711,208 km² in 19 parishes and 2 missions with 19 priests (15 diocesan, 4 religious) and 38 lay religious (4 brothers, 34 sisters).

Episcopal ordinaries

(all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

) ;''Apostolic Administrator of Kazakhstan'' * Jan Pawel Lenga, M.I.C. (1991.04.13 – 1999.07.07 ''see below''), Ukrainian;

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 ...

of Arba (1991.04.13 – 1999.07.07) ;''Suffragan Bishops of Karaganda'' * Jan Pawel Lenga, M.I.C. (''see above'' 1999.07.07 – 2003.05.17), personally promoted

Archbishop-Bishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

of Karaganda (2003.05.17 – emeritate 2011.02.05) * Janusz Wiesław Kaleta (2011.02.05 – emeritate 2014.07.15), Polish; previously

of Phelbes (2006.09.15 – 2011.02.05) as

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 admi ...

Atyrau Atyrau (, ; , ; ), known until 1991 as Guryev (), is a city in Kazakhstan and the capital of Atyrau Region. Atyrau is a transcontinental city, at the mouth of the Ural River on the Caspian Sea, between Europe and Asia, west of Almaty and east o ...

(Kazakhstan) (1999.07.07 – 2011.02.05) and later Apostolic Administrator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of above Atyrau (2011.02.05 – 2012.12.07); lay state since 2016.05.30 * Adelio Dell’Oro (2015.01.31 – ... ), Italian; previously Titular Bishop of

Castulo Castulo (Latin: ''Castulo''; Iberian: ''Kastilo'') was an Iberian town and bishopric (now Latin titular see located in the Andalusian province of Jaén, in south-central Spain, near modern Linares. History Evidence of human presence sin ...

(2012.12.07 – 2015.01.31) as

of Atyrau (2012.12.07 – 2015.05.16)

Auxiliary Bishops

Athanasius Schneider Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C. (born Anton Schneider on 7 April 1961) is a Catholic prelate, serving as the Auxiliary Bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan. He is a member of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra. He is known for championi ...

, O.R.C., titular bishop of

Celerina Celerina/Schlarigna (German language, German/Italian language, Italian ''Celerina''; Romansh language, Romansh ) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Maloja Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Grau ...

(8 April 2006 – 11 February 2011) * Yevgeniy Zinkovskiy, titular bishop of Maiuca (since 29 June 2021)

Notes

Sources and external links