Diocese of Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoornen(sis)
Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Oudtshoorn, South Africa
The Diocese of Oudtshoorn is a Latin Church diocese in the Western Cape, South Africa, erected as a diocese in 1951. It is a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cape Town and led by Bishop Noel Andrew Rucastle.
The see
- Rank
- Suffragan diocese
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 11 January 1951
- Latin
- Oudtshoornen(sis)
- Patron
- Santísima Virgen María del Inmaculado Corazón
- Annuario code
- 001002493
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 36,000
- Population
- 997,920
- Catholic share
- 3.6%
- Priests
- 23
- Catholics per priest
- 1,565
- Extent
- 113,343 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 0.3
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
- Bishop
- Noel Andrew Rucastle
- Born
- 22 April 1968
- Birthplace
- Kimberley
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
St. Saviour Cathedral, Oudtshoorn stands in Oudtshoorn, 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 Cape Town
A suffragan of Archdiocese of Cape Town.
The sees of this province:
- Archdiocese of Cape TownCape Town
- Diocese of AliwalAliwal
- Diocese of De AarDe Aar
- Diocese of Port ElizabethPort Elizabeth
- Diocese of QueenstownQueenstown
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
Centered on the South African city of Oudtshoorn, this Latin Catholic diocese (Latin: Oudtshoornen(sis)) belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Cape Town. Its current bishop, Noel Andrew Rucastle, came from the priesthood of the Archdiocese of Cape Town and received his appointment on 4 May 2020.
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].