Established March 21, 1929 Country Bahamas | Ecclesiastical province Province of Nassau Area 13,872 km² Metropolitan archbishop Patrick Pinder | |
Population- Total- Catholics (as of 2013)340,40050,202 (14.7%) Patron saints Francis Xavier, Thérèse of Lisieux | ||
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nassau (Latin: Archidioecesis Nassaviensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in the Caribbean. The diocese encompasses the islands of the former British dependency of the Bahamas. The Archdiocese is the Metropolitan responsible for the suffragan diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda and the Mission sui iuris of Turks and Caicos, and is a member of the Antilles Episcopal Conference.
The diocese was originally erected as the Prefecture Apostolic of the Bahama in March 1929, and was subsequently elevated to the Vicariate Apostolic of the Bahama Islands in January 1941, and then to a full diocese, as the diocese of Nassau in June 1960. On June 22, 1999, the diocese was again elevated as the new Archdiocese of Nassau.
As of 2004, the diocese contains 30 parishes, 15 active diocesan priests, 14 religious priests, and 48,000 Catholics. It also has 28 Women Religious, 14 Religious Brothers, and 13 permanent deacons.