Denomination Roman Catholic Rite Roman Rite Area 45,213 km² | Sui iuris church Latin Church Established 1 November 1924 Country Estonia | |
 | ||
Metropolitan Immediately subject to the Holy See Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2011)
1,340,000
5,745 (0.4%) Bishop Philippe Jean-Charles Jourdan Cathedral St Peter and St Paul's Cathedral, Tallinn | ||
The Apostolic Administration of Estonia is a Latin, territorial Catholic circonscription that covers all of the Baltic state of Estonia.
Contents
It is an apostolic administration (quasi-diocesan jurisdiction) of the Latin Roman Catholic church in Estonia, hence is exempt (i.e. directly subject to the Holy See, not part of any ecclesiastical province) and has its cathedral episcopal see, Peeter-Pauli katedraalis (Saints Peter and Paul), in the national capital Tallinn.
The post of apostolic administrator has often been held by titular archbishops, combining it with papal diplomatic posts in the three Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania).
History
In 1918, when Estonia gained independence, its citizens had complete freedom of religion. The Holy See recognized Estonia on 10 October 1921. The Apostolic Administration of Estonia was established on November 1, 1924, on territory split off from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Riga (in Baltic neighbor state Latvia).
The see remained vacant during most of the periode the country was demoted to constituent Soviet Republic of Estonia within the Communist USSR after the death of Bishop Eduard Profittlich in 1942 because of the suppression of the church by Soviet authorities.
Since 1992, after Estonia's post-communist independence, apostolic administrators are once again appointed. It enjoyed a papal visit in September 1993 from Pope John Paul II.