Denomination Roman Catholic Rite Roman Rite Episcopal Vicars Paul Hinder | Sui iuris church Latin Church Pope Francis Area 3.182 million km² | |
Country Yemen
United Arab Emirates
Oman Cathedral St. Joseph's Cathedral, Abu Dhabi Countries Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Oman | ||
New year 2017 message bishop paul hinder
The Apostolic Vicariate (or Vicariate Apostolic) of Southern Arabia (Latin: Vicariatus Apostolicus Arabiæ Meridionalis) is a Roman Catholic apostolic vicariate located in the United Arab Emirates.
Contents
It is a territorial jurisdiction of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church covering the following countries of the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding region: Oman, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The superior of the vicariate is the Swiss born Bishop Paul Hinder OFM Cap. It was established in 1888 as the Apostolic Vicariate of Aden and changed to its current name in 2011. The See of the jurisdiction was in Aden until 1973, when it was transferred to St. Joseph's Cathedral in Abu Dhabi. Since 1916 it has been in the care of the Capuchins of Florence.
History
Originally part of the Vicariate Apostolic of the Gallas, the Vicariate Apostolic of Arabia was formed as a prefecture by Pope Pius IX on 21 January 1875. It was made into a vicariate Apostolic on 25 April 1888, by Pope Leo XIII as the Vicariate Apostolic of Aden, located in Yemen. On the 28 June 1889 the name was changed to the Vicariate Apostolic of Arabia responsible for the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding region: Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Somalia and Yemen, an area of over 1,200,000 square miles (3,100,000 km2). There are Catholic parishes in all these countries with the exception of Saudi Arabia and Somalia, where the public practice of non-Islamic religions is forbidden.
On 29 June 1953, the then Apostolic Prefecture of Kuwait (which has become the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia) was separated from the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia, and a subsequent redrawing of boundaries in 2011 reduced its jurisdiction to the countries of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The vicariate was governed by the Capuchin friars, though Franciscan sisters have also been involved, especially in the beginning.