Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Blantyre
The Archdiocese of Blantyre is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Blantyre in Malawi.
The Cathedral Church of the Archdiocese is the Our Lady of Wisdom Cathedral, Blantyre.
The Archdiocese of Blantyre is 9,166 square miles (23,740 km2). Out of a total population of 4,600,000, there are 1,133,850 Catholics. There are 78 priests and 287 religious.
As of Wednesday, July 3, 2013, the Archdiocese is a vacant see (sede vacante). The Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Blantyre (he had served since January 23, 2001), Archbishop Tarcisius Gervazio Ziyaye, age 60, was appointed by Pope Francis to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe, which had previously, as a Diocese, been a part of the Archdiocese of Blantyre's Ecclesiastical Province. Archbishop Ziyaye, as stated below, had once been Bishop of Lilongwe when it was a Diocese.[1]
On Monday, January 25, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Father Montfort Stima, age 52, then the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Blantyre, as Titular Bishop of Puppi and as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese. On Friday, December 6, 2013, Pope Francis named Auxiliary Bishop Stima as the successor to Bishop Alessandro Pagano, SMM, who had been serving as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangochi, a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Blantyre (based in Mangochi, Malawi). His office of Auxiliary Bishop of Blantyre is therefore vacant.[2]
History
- 1903.12.03: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Shiré from Apostolic Vicariate of Nyassa
- 1908.04.14: Promoted as Apostolic Vicariate of Shiré
- 1952.05.15: Renamed as Apostolic Vicariate of Blantyre
- 1959.04.25: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Blantyre
Leadership
- Metropolitan Archbishops of Blantyre (Roman rite)
- Thomas Luke Msusa:2013.11.21 -
- Tarcisius Gervazio Ziyaye:2001.01.23 - 2013.07.03; transferred to be Archbishop of Lilongwe due to a resignation
- James Chiona:1967.11.29 – 2001.01.23
- John Baptist Hubert Theunissen, S.M.M.:1959.04.25 – 1967.10.14
- Vicars Apostolic of Blantyre (Roman rite)
- Archbishop John Baptist Hubert Theunissen, S.M.M.:1949.12.25 – 1959.04.25