Diocese of Asmara
Asmaren(sis)
Metropolitan Church sui iuris · Alexandrian tradition · Asmara, Eritrea
Asmara is the metropolitan archeparchy of the Eritrean Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic sui iuris church using the Ge'ez (Alexandrian) Rite, not the Coptic Rite. It traces to a 1930 ordinariate and was raised to a metropolitan archeparchy in 2015, with suffragan eparchies of Barentu, Keren, and Segheneyti.
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan Church sui iuris
- Tradition
- Alexandrian tradition
- Erected
- 4 July 1930
- Latin
- Asmaren(sis)
- Annuario code
- 001000574
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 67,314
- Population
- 3,934,000
- Catholic share
- 1.7%
- Priests
- 346
- Catholics per priest
- 195
- Extent
- 53,183 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 1.3
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
- Archeparch
- Menghesteab Tesfamariam, M.C.C.I.
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
Kidane Mehret Cathedral, Asmara stands in Asmara, 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 Asmara
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of BarentuBarentu
- Diocese of KerenKeren
- Diocese of SegheneitySegheneity
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
The Eritrean Catholic Church, a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church whose boundaries match those of the State of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa, has its metropolitan see at Asmara. Known formally as the Archeparchy of Asmara (Latin: Archieparchia Asmarensis or Metropolitana Ecclesia Asmarensis), and informally as Asmara of the Eritreans, the see depends on the Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
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].