Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia

Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia Apostolicus Vicariatus Arabiae Meridionalis النيابة الرسولية من جنوب الجزيرة العربية
Location
Country	Yemen United Arab Emirates Oman
Statistics
Area
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	St. Joseph's Cathedral, Abu Dhabi
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Episcopal Vicars	Paul Hinder
Emeritus Bishops	Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli Vicar Apostolic Emeritus (1976-2005)
Map
File:Apostolisches Vikariat Südliches Arabien.png
Website
Website of the Apostolic Vicariate

The Apostolic Vicariate (or Vicariate Apostolic) of Southern Arabia (Latin: Vicariatus Apostolicus Arabiæ Meridionalis) is a Roman Catholic apostolic vicariate located in the United Arab Emirates.

It is a territorial jurisdiction of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church covering the following countries of the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding region: Oman, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The superior of the vicariate is the Swiss born Bishop Paul Hinder OFM Cap. It was established in 1888 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Aden and changed to its current name in 2011. The See of the jurisdiction was in Aden until 1973, when it was transferred to St. Joseph's Cathedral in Abu Dhabi. Since 1916 it has been in the care of the Capuchins of Florence.

History

Originally part of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Gallas, the Vicariate Apostolic of Arabia was formed as a prefecture by Pope Pius IX on 21 January 1875. It was made into a vicariate Apostolic on 25 April 1888, by Pope Leo XIII as the Vicariate Apostolic of Aden, located in Yemen. On the 28 June 1889 the name was changed to the Vicariate Apostolic of Arabia responsible for the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding region: Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Somalia and Yemen, an area of over 1,200,000 square miles (3,100,000 km²). There are Catholic parishes in all these countries with the exception of Saudi Arabia and Somalia, where the public practice of non-Islamic religions is forbidden.

On 29 June 1953, the then Apostolic Prefecture of Kuwait (which has become the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia) was separated from the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia, and a subsequent redrawing of boundaries in 2011 reduced its jurisdiction to the countries of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The vicariate was governed by the Capuchin friars, though Franciscan sisters have also been involved, especially in the beginning.

Statistics

Population

• Total population as of 2004: 47,760,669
• Total Catholic population as of 2004: 1,300,500 (2.7% of the whole)
• Parishes: 20
• Total priests (diocesan and religious): 45
• Catholics per priest: 28,900

Ordinaries

• Louis-Callixte Lasserre, O.F.M. Cap. (1888 Appointed - April 1900 Resigned)
• Bernard Thomas Edward Clark, O.F.M. Cap. (21 March 1902 Appointed - 18 June 1910 Appointed, Bishop of Port Victoria o Seychelles)
• Raffaele Presutti, O.F.M. Cap. (13 September 1910 Appointed - 1915 Died)
• Evangelista Latino Enrico Vanni, O.F.M. Cap. (15 April 1916 Appointed - 1925 Resigned)
• Pacifico Tiziano Micheloni, O.F.M. Cap. (25 April 1933 Appointed - 6 July 1936 Died)
• Giovanni Tirinnanzi, O.F.M. Cap. (2 July 1937 Appointed - 27 January 1949 Died)
• Irzio Luigi Magliacani, O.F.M. Cap. (25 December 1949 Appointed - 1969 Retired)
• Giovanni Bernardo Gremoli, O.F.M. Cap. (2 October 1975 Appointed - 21 March 2005 Retired)
• Paul Hinder, O.F.M. Cap. (21 March 2005 Appointed - current)

See also

• Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia
• Roman Catholicism in the United Arab Emirates
• Roman Catholicism in Oman
• Roman Catholicism in Yemen

External links

• Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia
• Interview with Mgr Paul Hinder about Catholicism in the region
• Catholic Hierarchy.org entry
• GCatholic.org