Country Czech Republic Rite Byzantine Rite | Population
- Catholics (as of 2013)
170,000 Established 18 January 1996 | |
 | ||
Metropolitan Immediately Subject to the Holy See Sui iuris church Ruthenian Catholic Church | ||
The Ruthenian (Greek) Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Czech Republic, also known as the Apostolic Exarchate in the Czech Republic, is an Eastern Catholic institution overseeing Catholics of the Ruthenian Catholic Church. It uses the localized Byzantine Rite in archaic Slavonic language and is based in the Czech Republic.
Contents
It's cathedral episcopal see is Katedrála sv. Klimenta, located in the Czech national capital, Prague.
History
On March 13, 1996, Pope John Paul II proclaimed a new Apostolic Exarchate (exempt pre-diocese) for Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in the Czech Republic under the rule of the Apostolic See. The church was built on territory previously covered by the Byzantine Rite, the Slovak Catholic Metropolitanate sui juris of Prešov.
The Apostolic Exarchate provides a legal organization for Catholics of the Ruthenian Church living in the Czech Republic. The head of the church is a bishop, who has the same rights as a diocesan bishop. An exarchate is the initial stage of an eparchy (the equivalent of a diocese in the Latin rites), which is exempt, i.e. not part of any ecclesiastical province but directly subject to the Holy See. It is supervised by the Roman Congregation for the Eastern Churches, a Roman Curia dicastery acting on behalf of the Pope.
Statistics
According to the 2011 census there were 9,927 Byzantine Catholics in the Czech Republic. In July 2016 according to the Statistics from the Annuario Pontificio 2016 compiled by Ron Roberson there is a combined Byzantine or Constantinopolitan Tradition (“Greek Catholic”) count of 7,677,373 for which the Ruthenian Apostolic Exarchate in the Czech Republic in Prague makes up 17,000 of.
Apostolic Exarchs
The following is a list of the hierarchs of the Apostolic Exarchate and their terms of service: