Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brazzaville

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brazzaville (Latin: Archidioecesis Brazzapolitana) is the Metropolitan See for the ecclesiastical province of Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo.

Archdiocese of Brazzaville Archidioecesis Brazzapolitana
Location
Country	Republic of the Congo
Ecclesiastical province	Brazzaville
Statistics
Area	14,450 km^2 (5,580 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2006) 758,000 431,225 (56.9%)
Parishes	40
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	4 June 1886 (137 years ago)
Cathedral	Cathédrale Sacré-Coeur
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Anatole Milandou
Coadjutor	Bienvenu Manamika Bafouakouahou, elect

History

On 4 June 1886, Pope Leo XIII established the Apostolic Vicariate of French Congo from the Diocese of São Paulo de Loanda in Angola and the Apostolic Vicariate of Two Guineas in Gabon. It was renamed as the Apostolic Vicariate of Upper French Congo on 14 October 1890, and again on 14 June 1922 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Brazzaville. It lost territory in 1950 when the Apostolic Vicariate of Fort-Rousset was established. Pope Pius XII promoted the vicariate to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Brazzaville on 14 September 1955. It lost territory again in 1987 when the Diocese of Kinkala was established.^[1][2]

On 30 May 2020, the dioceses of Owando and Pointe-Noire were raised to metropolitan archdioceses, and consequently the province of Brazzaville was split into 3 provinces.

Special churches

The seat of the archbishop is the Cathédrale Sacré-Coeur in Brazzaville, founded in 1887 by Monseigneur Augouard.

Bishops

Ordinaries

• Vicar Apostolic of French Congo
  • Antoine-Marie-Hippolyte Carrie, C.S.Sp. 8 June 1886 – 14 October 1890, appointed Vicar Apostolic of Lower French Congo {Congo Francese Inferiore}
• Vicar Apostolic of Upper French Congo (Roman rite)
  • Prosper Philippe Augouard, C.S.Sp. 14 October 1890 – 3 October 1921
• Vicars Apostolic of Brazzaville
  • Firmin-Jules Guichard, C.S.Sp. 12 June 1922 – 27 April 1936
  • Paul Joseph Biéchy, C.S.Sp. 27 January 1936 – 1954
  • Michel-Jules-Joseph-Marie Bernard, C.S.Sp. 18 July 1954 – 14 September 1955; see below
• Metropolitan Archbishops of Brazzaville
  • Michel-Jules-Joseph-Marie Bernard, C.S.Sp. 14 September 1955 – 2 May 1964; see above
  • Théophile Mbemba 23 May 1964 – 14 June 1971
  • Emile Biayenda 14 June 1971 – 23 March 1977 (Cardinal in 1973)
  • Barthélémy Batantu 15 November 1978 – 23 January 2001
  • Anatole Milandou since 23 January 2001

Coadjutor archbishops

• Théophile Mbemba (1961-1964)
• Émile Biayenda (1970-1971); later cardinal
• Bienvenu Manamika Bafouakouahou (18 April 2020^[3] – present)

Auxiliary bishop

• Anatole Milandou (1983-1987), appointed Bishop of Kinkala (later returned here as Archbishop)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

• Urbain Ngassongo, appointed Bishop of Gamboma in 2013

Suffragan Dioceses

• Gamboma
• Kinkala

See also

• Roman Catholicism in the Republic of the Congo
• List of Roman Catholic dioceses in the Republic of the Congo

Sources

1. "Archdiocese of Brazzaville". catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
2. "Metropolitan Archdiocese of Brazzaville". GCatholic.org. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
3. "Rinunce e nomine, 18.04.2020" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 18 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.

Bibliography

• Maria Petringa, Brazza, A Life for Africa, Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006, ISBN 978-1-4259-1198-0

4°16′13″S 15°16′26″E / 4.2702°S 15.2739°E / -4.2702; 15.2739