Apostolic Vicariate of New Britain

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rabaul is a Latin Rite Metropolitan Archdiocese in Papua New Guinea.

It has its cathedral episcopal see Sacred Heart Cathedral in Vunapope and a Co-Cathedral, St Francis Xavier’s Co-Cathedral, in the national capital Rabaul.

In 1844, it was established as Apostolic Vicariate of Melanesia (a pre-diocesan jurisdiction, entitled to a titular bishop and exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See) on territory split off from the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Oceania.

On 8 December 1890, it was renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of New Pomerania.

It lost territories repeatedly, to establish :

On 14 November 1922, it was renamed after its see as Apostolic Vicariate of Rabaul.

On 5 July 1957, it lost territory again to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Kavieng (now its suffragan diocese).

On 15 November 1966, it was promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Rabaul.

On 4 July 2003, it lost territory to establish another suffragan see, the Diocese of Kimbe.

The new coat of arms of the Archdiocese was adopted in 2016. The proposal of coat of arms created Marek Sobola, a heraldic specialist from Slovakia, who also made a coat of arms for the Archbishop Francesco Panfilo S.D.B.

Its ecclesiastical province comprises, besides the Metropolitan's Archdiocese, the following suffragan bishoprics :

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