Parishes 42 | Area 1,780 km² Cathedral Basse-Terre Cathedral | |
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Metropolitan Archdiocese of Fort-de-France Population- Total- Catholics (as of 2012)467,000390,000 (83.5%) Ecclesiastical province Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fort-de-France–Saint-Pierre | ||
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Basse-Terre and Pointe-à-Pitre (Latin: Dioecesis Imae Telluris et Petrirostrensis; French: Diocèse de Basse-Terre et Pointe-à-Pitre), more simply known as the Diocese of Basse-Terre, is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the Caribbean.
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The diocese comprises the entirety of the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, one of the Leeward Lesser Antilles. It is also responsible for parishes in the small overseas departments of Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin. The diocese is a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Fort-de-France, and both are members of the Antilles Episcopal Conference.
Its cathedral, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe (the island's eponymous 'Mexican' patron saint), which has the status of a minor basilica, is hence known as the Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Guadeloupe de Basse-Terre or the Basse-Terre Cathedral.
History
It was erected in 1850, as the Diocese of Guadeloupe and Basse-Terre, on territory split off from the then Apostolic Prefecture of Îles de la Terre Ferme (an Antillian missionary jurisdiction, which was promoted to diocese of Martinique and meanwhile became the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fort-de-France), its present Metropolitan.
The bishopric was renamed in 1951 to the present name, Diocese of Basse-Terre. Also on 1951.07.19, it was united with the thus suppressed diocese of Pointe-à-Pitre (on Grande Terre, which still has its former cathedral of St. Peter and Paul), so its incumbents' (rarely used) full title is bishop of Basse-Terre-Pointe-à-Pitre.
Incumbent Ordinaries
All Latin (Roman Rite). Most bishops were secular, a few belonged to specified religious congregations