Apostolic Vicariate of Eritrea

The Apostolic Vicariate of Asmara was a Roman Catholic missionary jurisdiction in Eritrea. It was the Apostolic Prefecture of Eritrea and then the Apostolic Vicariate of Eritrea.

On 13 September 1894, the Holy See established the Apostolic Prefecture of Eritrea, then an Italian colony, with the decree Ut saluti animarum of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. Its territory was taken from that of the Apostolic Vicariate of Abyssinia, which at that time had its headquarters in Keren, Eritrea, a town that became the first seat of the new Apostolic Prefecture of Eritrea. On 7 February 1911, it was promoted to Apostolic Vicariate (with a titular bishop as ordinary).

The Apostolic Vicariate of Abyssinia was entrusted to missionaries of the Congregation of the Mission, who followed the lead of Saint Giustino de Jacobis, the founder of the mission, by using in the liturgy the local Ethiopic variant of the Alexandrian Rite in the Ge'ez language, not the Roman Rite in Latin. They were mainly French and, after Eritrea was declared an Italian colony in 1890, were expelled by the colonial authorities, who accused them of fomenting armed resistance. The Apostolic Prefecture of Eritrea was created for the Italian Capuchins, who replaced them. These promoted use of the Roman Rite, in view also of the arrival of Italian immigrants. Discontent among the Eritrean Catholics led to the sending in 1927 of the future cardinal Alexis Lépicier as an Apostolic Visitor to examine the situation. As a result, Father Kidanè-Maryam Cassà was appointed at first Pro-Vicar Apostolic for the Ethiopic-Rite Catholics and then, on 4 July 1930, bishop in charge of an independent Ordinariate of Eritrea. The Eritrean Catholic Church is the continuation of this Ordinariate and of the first Eritrean Catholic community.

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