The Archdiocese Freetown (Archidioecesis Liberae Urbis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in Sierra Leone. It is centred on the city of Freetown, the capital and most populous city of the African country of Sierra Leone.
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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.
Geography
The diocese covers an area of 4,677 square kilometres (1,806 sq mi), around the Sierra Leone capital city of Freetown.
The archidiocese has three suffragan dioceses, those of Bo, Kenema and Makeni.
Cathedral
The cathedral of the Freetown archdiocese is the Sacred Heart Cathedral, also sometimes called simply the Cathedral of Freetown. The cathedral is located in the Howe street of the town of Freetown.
Work on its construction began in November 1884 and was dedicated on October 27, 1887. The Sacred Heart Cathedral follows the Roman rite.