Diocese of Bethlehem
Bethlehemen(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Bethlehem, South Africa
The Diocese of Bethlehem is a Latin Catholic diocese in the Free State, South Africa, established as an apostolic vicariate in 1948 and raised to a diocese in 1951. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Bloemfontein.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 11 January 1951
- Latin
- Bethlehemen(sis)
- Patron
- Immaculate Heart of Mary
- Annuario code
- 001000894
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 74,343
- Population
- 946,000
- Catholic share
- 7.9%
- Priests
- 18
- Catholics per priest
- 4,130
- Extent
- 34,965 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 2.1
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
- Bishop
- Motlatsi Meshack Phomane (bishop-elect; succeeds de Groef)
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 Heart of Mary stands in Bethlehem, 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 Bloemfontein
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Bloemfontein.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of BloemfonteinBloemfontein
- Diocese of Keimoes–UpingtonKeimoes–Upington
- Diocese of KimberleyKimberley
- Diocese of KroonstadKroonstad
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
The South African city of Bethlehem, in the ecclesiastical province of Bloemfontein, is the seat of a Latin Catholic diocese (Latin: Bethlehemen(sis)).
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].