Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown
The Archdiocese Freetown (Archidioecesis Liberae Urbis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Sierra Leone.
History
It was established as the Vicariate Apostolic of Sierra Leone, on 13 April 1858 by Pope Pius IX, taking territory from the Vicariate Apostolic of Two Guineas and Senegambia. It itself lost territory in 1897 to the Prefecture Apostolic of Guinea Francese and in 1903 to the Prefecture Apostolic of Liberia.
The vicariate was elevated to the status of a diocese, taking the name of Freetown and Bo on 18 April 1950. In 1952, the Prefecture Apostolic of Makeni was split off from its territory. The diocese was elevated to an archdiocese on 11 November 1970, at which time also the diocese of Kenema was split off.
On 15 January 2010, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bo was split off the Archdiocese of Freetown and Bo which is called Archdiocese of Freetown since then.[1]
Ordinaries
- Melchior-Marie-Joseph de Marion-Brésillac MEP (1858-1859)
- John Joseph O'Gorman CSSp (1903-1932)
- Bartholomew Stanislaus Wilson CSSp (1933-1936)
- Ambrose Kelly CSSp (1937-1952)
- Thomas Joseph Brosnahan CSSp (1952-1980)
- Joseph Henry Ganda (1980-2007)
- Edward Tamba Charles (2008-)[2]
See also
List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Sierra Leone
Sources
References
- ↑ Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic Constitution Boënsis
- ↑ Kargbo, Moses A. (2008-03-17), Father Charles succeeds Henry Ganda as Archbishop, Freetown, Sierra Leone: Cocorioko Newspaper, retrieved 2008-07-15
See also
Roman Catholicism in Sierra Leone
Coordinates: 8°29′00″N 13°14′00″W / 8.4833°N 13.2333°W