Rite Roman Rite Area 1,080 km² | Pope Francis Country Martinique | |
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Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2006)
390,000
312,000 (80.0%) Bishop Reverend Father Prior David Macaire, O.P., Archbishop-elect (formerly, Prior of the convent La Sainte-Baume, in Toulon, France; appointed by Pope Francis, Saturday, 7 March 2015; to be ordained to the archiepiscopate and installed at a later date) Emeritus Bishops Gilbert Marie Michel Méranville Archbishop Emeritus (2015-); Maurice Rigobert Marie-Sainte Archbishop Emeritus (1972-2004) Cathedral St. Louis Cathedral, Fort-de-France | ||
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint-Pierre and Fort-de-France (Latin: Archidioecesis Sancti Petri et Arcis Gallicae; French: Archidiocèse de Saint-Pierre et Fort-de-France), more simply known as the Archdiocese of Fort-de-France, is a Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the Caribbean. The Archdiocese comprises the entirety of the French overseas department of Martinique.
Contents
The Metropolitan's ecclesiastical province includes the suffragan dioceses of Cayenne and Basse-Terre, and all are members of the Antilles Episcopal Conference.
Archbishop Gilbert Marie Michel Méranville's retirement for age reasons was accepted by Pope Francis on Saturday, 7 March 2015; he is succeeded by the Reverend Father Prior David Macaire, O.P., a Dominican, who until then had been serving as prior of the convent La Sainte-Baume, in Toulon, France.
As of 2006, the diocese contained 47 parishes, 35 active diocesan priests, 23 religious priests and 310,000 Catholics. It also has 171 Women Religious and 33 Religious Brothers.
History
The diocese received its present status on 27 September 1850, when the Apostolic Prefecture of Îles de la Terre Ferme (which had lost French Guyana in 1731) was promoted from the missionary status of Apostolic Prefecture to Diocese of Martinique (Latin: Dioecesis Martinicensis; French: Diocèse de la Martinique), but also lost territory to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Guadeloupe et Basse-Terre.
1853.09.12, it was renamed as Diocese of Saint-Pierre, 1902.05.08 again as Diocese of Fort-de-France–Saint-Pierre.
It was elevated to an Archdiocese on 26 September 1967.