Archdiocese of Antananarivo
Antananariven(sis)
Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Antananarivo, Madagascar
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Antananarivo is the principal Latin Church see in Madagascar, founded as the Apostolic Prefecture of Madagascar in 1841 and raised to a metropolitan archdiocese in 1955. Its suffragans include Antsirabe, Maintirano, Miarinarivo, and Tsiroanomandidy.
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 28 October 1989
- Latin
- Antananariven(sis)
- Patron
- Immaculate Conception
- Annuario code
- 001000699
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 957,000
- Population
- 3,550,000
- Catholic share
- 27.0%
- Priests
- 422
- Catholics per priest
- 2,268
- Extent
- 6,384 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 150
of the people living within its bounds
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Archbishop
- Jean de Dieu Raoelison
- Born
- 31 July 1963
- Birthplace
- Arivonimamo
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Andohalo stands in Antananarivo, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
The province of Antananarivo
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of AntsirabéAntsirabé
- Diocese of MaintiranoMaintirano
- Diocese of MiarinarivoMiarinarivo
- Diocese of TsiroanomandidyTsiroanomandidy
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Among the five Latin Church metropolitan archdioceses of Madagascar stands Antananarivo, whose episcopal seat is the Cathédrale de l'Immaculée Conception in Andohalo, within the national capital. Dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, the cathedral anchors a see that long served as a base for the spread of Catholicism through Madagascar and the neighboring British and especially French territories of the Indian Ocean, among them Réunion and Comoros, lands that today form an Indian Ocean Episcopal Conference.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].