Archeparchy of Asmara Archieparchia Asmarensis |
|
---|---|
Kidane Mehret Cathedral, Asmara
Cathedral of the archeparchy |
|
Location | |
Country | Eritrea |
Ecclesiastical province | Central |
Statistics | |
Area | 53,183 km2 (20,534 sq mi) |
Population - Total - Catholics |
(as of 2012) 3,934,000 67,314 (1.7%) |
Parishes | 58 |
Information | |
Denomination | Eritrean Catholic Church |
Rite | Ge'ez Rite |
Established | 4 July 1930 (86 years ago) |
Cathedral | Kidane Mehret Cathedral, Asmara |
Current leadership | |
Pope | Francis |
Archeparch | Menghesteab Tesfamariam, M.C.C.I. |
Map | |
The Eritrean Catholic Archeparchy of Asmara, officially the Archeparchy of Asmara (Latin: Archieparchia Asmarensis) is the Metropolitan see of the Eritrean Catholic Church, officially the Metropolitan Church of Asmara (Latin: Metropolitana Ecclesia Asmarensis), a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church whose territory corresponds to that of the State of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa.
As head of an autonomous particular Church, the Metropolitan Archeparch, currently Menghesteab Tesfamariam, is mentioned by name, after the Pope, in the liturgies celebrated within the suffragan eparchies of Barentu, Keren and Segheneyti.
The Eritrean Catholic Church, like the Ethiopian Catholic Church, from which it was separated in 2015, uses in its liturgy the Ethiopic variant of the Alexandrian Rite in the Ge'ez language. It is the Eastern Catholic counterpart of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which was granted in 1993 and is headed by a Patriarch, who also is based in the Eritrean capital.