Diocese of Anatolia
Anatolien(sis)
Apostolic vicariate · Latin Church · Anatolia, Türkiye
The Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia is a Latin jurisdiction in Turkey immediately subject to the Holy See, originating as the Apostolic Prefecture of Trabzon in 1845. The see is sede vacante, with Antuan Ilgit, S.J., serving as apostolic administrator since November 2024.
The see
- Rank
- Apostolic vicariate
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 1845
- Latin
- Anatolien(sis)
- Annuario code
- 001000380
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 2,800
- Population
- 2,014
- Priests
- 10
- Catholics per priest
- 280
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
- Apostolic Administrator
- Antuan Ilgit
- Born
- 22 June 1972
- Birthplace
- Hersbruck
- Institute
- COMPAGNIA DI GESÙ (GESUITI)
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 Annunciation, Iskenderun stands in Anatolia, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
Its co-cathedral is Co-Cathedral of St. Anthony of Padua, Mersin.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
History
The eastern half of Anatolia (Asian Turkey) is covered by the Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia (Latin: Vicariatus Apostolicus Anatoliensis, Turkish: Anadolu Havarisel Vekilliği), a Roman Catholic Latin apostolic vicariate. This missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction belongs to no ecclesiastical province and, unusually for a Latin see, stands under the direction of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches while depending directly on the Holy See. Its cathedral seat is the Marian Cathedral of the Annunciation in İskenderun (Alexandria), and it also has the Co-Cathedral of St. Anthony of Padua in Mersin.
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 · GCatholic
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].