Archdiocese of Bloemfontein
Bloemfonteinen(sis)
Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Bloemfontein, South Africa
Metropolitan archdiocese in the Free State, South Africa, erected as an archdiocese in 1951 from earlier apostolic vicariates. Archbishop Zolile Peter Mpambani has led the see since 2020, with suffragans Bethlehem, Keimoes-Upington, Kimberley, and Kroonstad.
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 11 January 1951
- Latin
- Bloemfonteinen(sis)
- Patron
- Sagrado Coração de Jesus
- Annuario code
- 001000911
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 116,700
- Population
- 1,425,000
- Catholic share
- 8.2%
- Priests
- 26
- Catholics per priest
- 4,488
- Extent
- 64,393 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 1.8
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
- Zolile Peter Mpambani, S.C.I.
- Born
- 20 February 1957
- Birthplace
- Umlamli
- Institute
- SACERDOTI DEL SACRO CUORE DI GESÙ (DEHONIANI) (S.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
Sacred Heart Cathedral stands in Bloemfontein, 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
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of BethlehemBethlehem
- Diocese of Keimoes–UpingtonKeimoes–Upington
- Diocese of KimberleyKimberley
- Diocese of KroonstadKroonstad
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
South Africa's ecclesiastical province of Bloemfontein has as its metropolitan see the Archdiocese of Bloemfontein (Latin: Bloemfonteinen(sis)).
How to reach it
- Chancery
- Archbishop’s House, 7/a White's Road, Waverley, Bloemfontein 9301
- [email protected]
This see keeps no website of its own, so its chancery is published here: withholding it would protect nothing and leave a reader with nowhere to go. Where a see publishes its own site, the register sends you there instead.
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 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
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].