Roman Catholic Church in Madagascar

Outline map Madagascar

The Roman Catholic Church in Madagascar is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church .

history

The first missionaries were carried out by the Dominican order towards the end of the 16th century, later also by Lazarists , then by Jesuits . In 1643, Pope Urban VIII established the Apostolic Prefecture of Madagascar. Again and again the religious were murdered or involved in armed conflicts. This changed little after Ranavalona II recognized Christianity in 1868 and joined the Protestant Church. In 1939, Ignatius Ramarosandratana became the first Malagasy priest of Pope Pius XII. consecrated bishop in Rome. 1955 a church hierarchy with three church provinces was introduced in Madagascar. An Apostolic Nunciature was established on September 23, 1960 by Pope John XXIII. set up.

In 1980 the Council of Churches (FFKM) was founded, which in 1991, through a nationwide protest movement, forced the state to make a new democratic beginning; the main initiator was Armand Gaétan Cardinal Razafindratandra . This was preceded by a four-day visit by Pope John Paul II in 1989. In 1997 a seminary was founded in Antananarivo.

The Catholic Church plays a particularly important role in the health and school system in Madagascar. As can be seen from the Church's Statistical Yearbook (2003), there are 749 kindergartens with 44,167 children, 2,479 elementary schools with 332,811 pupils and 372 middle schools with 88,959 pupils in Madagascar.

On the island of Île Sainte-Marie off the east coast of Madagascar, about 150 km north of Toamasina, you will find the oldest Catholic church in Madagascar.

church

In Madagascar around 27% of the total population are members of the Catholic Church, i.e. 4.7 million Catholics. There are 21 dioceses and archdioceses that are united in the Bishops' Conference of Madagascar (Conference Episcopal de Madagascar (CEM)).

The representative of the Holy See in Madagascar - the Apostolic Nuncio - has been Archbishop Paolo Rocco Gualtieri since April 13, 2015 .

Dioceses

• Archdiocese of Antananarivo
  • Bishopric of Antsirabe
  • Diocese of Maintirano
  • Diocese of Miarinarivo
  • Diocese of Tsiroanomandidy
• Archdiocese of Antsiranana
  • Diocese of Ambanja
  • Diocese of Mahajanga
  • Diocese of Port-Bergé
• Archdiocese of Fianarantsoa
  • Diocese of Ambositra
  • Farafangana diocese
  • Diocese of Ihosy
  • Bishopric of Mananjary
• Archdiocese of Toamasina
  • Diocese of Ambatondrazaka
  • Diocese of Fenoarivo Atsinanana
  • Diocese of Moramanga
• Archdiocese of Toliara
  • Diocese of Morombe
  • Diocese of Morondava
  • Diocese of Tôlagnaro

See also

• Christianity in Africa

Web links

• Entry about the Catholic Church in Madagascar on catholic-hierarchy.org (English)
• Entry on netzwerkafrika.de
• Churches in Madagascar (PDF; 12.4 MB)
• missio: facts Madagascar

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Christophe Vuillaume: Aperçu de la vie monastique à Madagascar . In: Alliance Inter-Monastères: Bulletin de l'AIM , ISSN  1779-4811 , Vol. 2019, No. 116, pp. 43–53, here p. 43.
2. ↑ "The role of the Catholic Church in education in Madagascar: numerous institutions guarantee a high standard of education"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Fides, accessed 11 January 2009  
3. ^ Nomina del Nunzio Apostolico in Madagascar. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , April 13, 2015, accessed May 30, 2015 (Italian).