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Archdiocese of Rabaul

Rabaulen(sis)

The Archdiocese of Rabaul is a Latin rite metropolitan see covering East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, with the Dioceses of Bougainville, Kavieng and Kimbe as suffragans. Erected in 1890 as the Vicariate Apostolic of New Pomerania from the Vicariate of Melanesia, it became a metropolitan archdiocese on 15 November 1966. Its seat is Sacred Heart Cathedral in Vunapope, with St. Francis Xavier Co-Cathedral in Rabaul.

The see

Rank
Metropolitan see
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
15 November 1966
Latin
Rabaulen(sis)
Annuario code
001002709

The see in figures

Catholics
191,400
Population
413,000
Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
46.3%
Priests
73
Catholics per priest
2,622
Extent
19,320 km²
Catholics per km²
9.9

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Archbishop
Rochus Josef Tatamai, M.S.C.

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

Sacred Heart Cathedral, Vunapope stands in Rabaul, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

Its co-cathedral is St. Francis Xavier Co-Cathedral, Rabaul.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Rabaul

This see is the metropolitan of its province.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

A Latin Catholic metropolitan archdiocese in Papua New Guinea, the Archdiocese of Rabaul divides its episcopal see between Sacred Heart Cathedral in Vunapope and Saint Francis Xavier Co-Cathedral in Rabaul. Rochus Josef Tatamai, M.S.C., appointed by Pope Francis on June 19, 2020, is the current Archbishop of Rabaul.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

Compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. Corrections: hello@catholicintelligence.com.