Archdiocese of Malta

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Archdiocese of Malta
Basic data
Country Malta
Diocesan bishop Charles Scicluna
Auxiliary bishop Joseph Galea-Curmi
Emeritus diocesan bishop Paul Cremona OP
surface 246 km²
Parishes 70 (December 31, 2016 / AP2017 )
Residents 426,000 (December 31, 2016 / AP2017 )
Catholics 380,000 (December 31, 2016 / AP2017 )
proportion of 89.2%
Diocesan priest 270 (December 31, 2016 / AP2017 )
Religious priest 348 (December 31, 2016 / AP2017 )
Catholics per priest 615
Friars 424 (December 31, 2016 / AP2017 )
Religious sisters 772 (December 31, 2016 / AP2017 )
rite Roman rite
Liturgical language Maltese
English
cathedral St. Paul
Co-cathedral St. John
Website www.maltadiocese.org
Suffragan dioceses Diocese of Gozo

The Archdiocese of Malta ( Latin : Archidioecesis Melitensis o Melevitana ) is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Malta .

history

The diocese was probably founded after Belisarius recaptured the island in 533. The first bishop Julianus known by name signed the decree of Pope Vigilius on the three chapters as a witness in Constantinople in 553 . We know some successors from the register of Gregory the Great . There they are counted among the bishops of Sicily . The Greek Notitiae episcopatuum assign Malta (ό Μελίτης, Μελέτη) also to the province of Sicily. The occupation of the islands by the Saracens led to the extensive decline of Christianity. The conquest by Roger I of Sicily was initially not followed by a re-establishment of the diocese, especially since the majority of the population was Muslim until the 13th century. In 1156 the diocese of Malta was subordinated to the Archdiocese of Palermo as a suffragan by Hadrian IV . Bishop Johannes is known by name under King Wilhelm II .

The cathedral in Mdina

In 1530 the administration of the diocese was transferred to the Johannitern , who also carried on the tradition of the Archbishop of Rhodes . 1797 united Pius VI. the diocese of Malta with the archbishopric of Rhodes , but it remained a suffragan of Palermo. In 1831 it was directly subordinated to the Holy See and on January 1, 1944, it was raised to the rank of archbishopric . The Archbishop of Malta has his residence in Valletta . The cathedral in Mdina is dedicated to the Blessed Mother and the Apostle Paul, the legendary founder of the diocese.

The Archdiocese of Malta is the metropolitan bishopric of the Diocese of Gozo .

literature

  • Italia Pontificia sive Repertorium privilegiorum et litterarum a Romanis pontificibus ante annum MCLXXXXVIII Italiae ecclesiis, monasteriis, civitatibus singulisque personis concessorum, t. X: Calabria - Insulae , ed. Dieter Girgensohn , Zurich 1975, pp. 268-271.

See also

Web links