Archdiocese of Freetown
Liberae Urbis
Metropolitan see · Latin Church · Freetown, Sierra Leone
The Archdiocese of Freetown, established as a vicariate in 1858 and raised to a metropolitan archdiocese in 1970, is the Latin Church metropolitan see for Sierra Leone with suffragans Bo, Kenema and Makeni. Edward Tamba Charles has been archbishop since 2008.
The see
- Rank
- Metropolitan see
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 15 January 2011
- Latin
- Liberae Urbis
- Annuario code
- 001001443
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 87,500
- Population
- 1,872,675
- Catholic share
- 4.7%
- Priests
- 41
- Catholics per priest
- 2,134
- Extent
- 4,678 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 19
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
- Edward Tamba Charles
- Born
- 18 April 1956
- Birthplace
- Kainkordu
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, Freetown stands in Freetown, 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 Freetown
This see is the metropolitan of its province.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of BoBo
- Diocese of KenemaKenema
- Diocese of MakeniMakeni
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Sierra Leone's capital and most populous city supplies both the name and the episcopal see of the Archdiocese of Freetown (Archidioecesis Liberae Urbis), a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory of the Catholic Church in that African country. Freetown ranks as a metropolitan see, with three suffragan dioceses answering to it within its ecclesiastical province.
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].