Rite Latin Rite Bishop Sede Vacante Country Greece | Pope Francis Area 8,393 km² | |
Metropolitan Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos Population
- Total
- Catholics (as of 2013)
512,000
5,000 (1%) Established 1213
(As Archdiocese of Candia)
28 August 1874
(As Diocese of Crete) Cathedral Assumption Cathedral, Chania Ecclesiastical province Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naxos, Tinos, Andros and Mykonos | ||
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Crete (Latin: Dioecesis Candiensis) is a diocese located on the island of Crete in the Ecclesiastical province of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos in Greece.
Contents
History
Roman Catholic presence on the island of Crete dates to its conquest by the Republic of Venice in the years after the Fourth Crusade (1204), and its establishment as a Venetian colony in 1212. Immediately after that, the first Latin Rite Archbishop of Crete was appointed, with a succession of holders until the Ottoman conquest of the island in the Cretan War (1645–69). Thereafter the see remained vacant, until re-established as a simple bishopric on 28 August 1874, initially a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Izmir, but today a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos.