Archdiocese of Athens

Archdiocese of Athens Archidioecesis Atheniensis Ιερά Αρχιεπισκοπή Καθολικών Αθηνών
Cathedral Basilica of St. Dionysius the Areopagite, Athens
Location
Country	Greece
Metropolitan	Immediately Subject to the Holy See
Statistics
Area	46,775 km2 (18,060 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2015) 6,150,000 100,00 (1.6%)
Information
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	23 July 1875
Cathedral	Καθεδρικός Ναός Αγ. Διονυσίου Αρεοπαγίτου των Καθολικών (Cathedral Basilica of St. Dionysius the Areopagite)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Archbishop	Sevastianos Rossolatos

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Athens (Latin: Archidioecesis Atheniensis or Athenarum) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Athens in Greece. The seat is the neoclassic Cathedral Basilica of St. Dionysius the Areopagite.

The See of Athens is one of the oldest Christian bishoprics, dating back to Hierotheos the Thesmothete in the mid-1st century AD. In ca. 800, it was raised to a metropolitan see.

In 1205, the city was captured by the Crusaders, who had conquered Constantinople and dissolved the Byzantine Empire the year before. The city's incumbent Greek Orthodox bishop, Michael Choniates, retired to the island of Kea, and a Roman Catholic archbishop was installed in his place, with the French cleric Berard being elected to the post in 1206.

The Crusaders largely maintained the ecclesiastical order they found, appointing Catholic bishops to replace the Orthodox prelates. Thus, in a latter by Pope Innocent III to Berard in 1209, 11 suffragan sees are mentioned under Athens, identical to those under Byzantine rule, although most of them were de facto vacant: Negroponte (Egripontis), Thermopylae (Cermopilensis, seat in Bodonitsa), Davleia (Davaliensem), Aulon (Abelonensem), Oreoi (Zorconensis), Karystos (Caristiensem), Koroneia (Coroniacensem), Andros (Andrensem), Megara (Megarensem), Skyros (Squirensem), and Kea (Cheensem). In the Provinciale Romanum, a list of the sees subordinate to the See of Rome, dating to some time before 1228, the number of suffragans is reduced to eight: Thermopylae, Daulia, Salona, Negroponte, Aulon, Oreoi, Megara, and Skyros.