Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of San Giuseppe a Irkutsk

Ircutscan(us) Sancti Iosephi

Latin-rite Diocese of Saint Joseph at Irkutsk in eastern Siberia, established as the Apostolic Administration of Eastern Siberia in 1999 and promoted to diocese on 11 February 2002, suffragan of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God at Moscow. Covering some 9.96 million square kilometers, it is the geographically largest Catholic bishopric in the world, with its seat at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Irkutsk.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
1999
Latin
Ircutscan(us) Sancti Iosephi
Annuario code
001002899

The see in figures

Catholics
52,000
Population
15,500,000
Catholic share
0.3%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
39
Catholics per priest
1,333
Extent
9,960,000 km²
Catholics per km²
0.0

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
Cyryl Klimowicz
Born
5 November 1952
Birthplace
Amangeldi

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, Irkutsk stands in Irkutsk, 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 Mother of God at Moscow

A suffragan of Mother of God at Moscow.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Centered on the city of Irkutsk and belonging to the ecclesiastical province of the Mother of God at Moscow in Russia, the Diocese of Saint Joseph at Irkutsk (Latin: Ircutscana Sancti Iosephi) is the largest geographical Catholic bishopric on earth, spanning 9,960,000 km2. An estimated 53,000 Catholics live within its bounds, gathered in 42 parishes served by about 42 priests. Its bishop is Cyryl Klimowicz, a Pole, and the diocese is organized into five deaneries: Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Yakutsk, Vladivostok and Magadan.

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.

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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].