Territory Guam Denomination Roman Catholic Area 556.8 km² Country United States of America | Parishes 26 Rite Roman Rite Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron | |
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Ecclesiastical province Ecclesiastical province of Agaña Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2006)
155,687
132,494 (85.1%) Cathedral Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica | ||
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agaña (Latin: Archidioecesis Aganiensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. It comprises the United States dependency of Guam. The prelate is an archbishop whose cathedral is the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica.
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The archdiocese is a member of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) and of the Federation of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Oceania, and an observer to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
History
The first Catholic church was established on Guam on June 15, 1668 by Spanish colonizers Diego Luis de San Vitores and Pedro Calungsod. Catholics in Guam were part of the Diocese of Cebu, the Philippines. The United States acquired Guam from Spain after the Spanish–American War of 1898. On September 17, 1902, the Apostolic Prefecture of Mariana Islands was established which included Guam.
On March 1, 1911, the Apostolic Vicariate of Guam was canonically erected. On July 4, 1946, territory was added from the suppressed Vicariate Apostolic of Marianne, Caroline, and Marshall Islands.
On October 14, 1965, the Vatican elevated the apostolic vicariate to the Diocese of Agaña, as a suffragan diocese to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco.
On March 8, 1984, in response to the growth of Catholicism in Guam and its vicinity, the diocese was elevated to a metropolitan see, the Archdiocese and Metropolitan Province of Agaña. The metropolitan province consists of the Archdiocese of Agaña and its suffragan Roman Catholic Dioceses of Chalan Kanoa and of Caroline Islands, and the Roman Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands.
Scandal
In 2016, for the first time in the history of the Archdiocese, sexual allegations surfaced against its Ordinary (at the time Archbishop Anthony Apuron). Consequently on June 6, 2016, Pope Francis took charge of the pastoral and administrative governance of the local church through Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, S.D.B. in a status known as sede plena.
On October 31, 2016, after months of an Apostolic Administration, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Michael J. Byrnes of the Archdiocese of Detroit to become coadjutor to Archbishop Anthony with special faculties. Those faculties included complete authority in all pastoral and administrative matters in the Archdiocese, both civilly and ecclesiastically.
Education
Schools operated by the archdiocese include:
Schools previously operated by the archdiocese include:
High schools:
Elementary and middle schools:
Elementary schools:
Parishes
The Archdiocese of Agaña consists of twenty-six parishes on the island of Guam:
Northern Region
Central I Region
Central II Region
Southern Region