Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rhodes

Archdiocese of Rhodes Archidioecesis Rhodiensis Αρχιεπισκοπή Ρόδου
Location
Country	Greece
Metropolitan	Immediately subject to the Holy See
Statistics
Area
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2010) 150,000 2,000 (1.3%)
Information
Rite	Latin Rite
Established	28 March 1928
Cathedral	Cathedral of St Francis of Assisi
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Sede vacante
Apostolic Administrator	Sevastianos Rossolatos

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rhodes (Latin: Archidioecesis Rhodiensis) is an exempt, non-Metropolitan archdiocese, former titular see and originally a diocese later pormoted to metropolitan archdiocese.

It is directly subject to the Holy See, not part of an ecclesiastical province, and has its cathedral see Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in the eponymous capital of the island of Rhodes in Greece.

One former cathedral of "Our Lady of the Castle" was turned into a mosque during the Ottoman period and is now a museum, the other former cathedral of St. John was turned into a Greek Orthodox church.

History

An ancient diocese was established in Rhodes around 200 AD and promoted to Metropolitan Archdiocese around 400 AD. It continues as the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Rhodes.

A Roman Catholic see was established on the island when it became the seat of the Knights Hospitaller in 1308. In 1523, with the fall of the island to the Ottoman Empire, it was suppressed as residential diocese but turned into a titular see.

On March 28, 1928, it was restored as non-metropolitan, exempt Archdiocese of Rhodos on the territory of the suppressed Apostolic Prefecture of Rhodes and adjacent islands.

Episcopal ordinaries

Metropolitan Archbishops of Rhodes

• Belijan (? – 1324.09.26), later Metropolitan Archbishop of Salona (Croatia) (1324.09.26 – 1328.01.28)
• Ugo de Scuria, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1351.06.20 – 1361.12.15), later Metropolitan Archbishop of Ragusa (Croatia) (1361.12.15 – 1370.07.12), finally Archbishop-Bishop of Ostuni (Italy) (1370.07.12 – death 1374)

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Titular Archbishops of Rhodes

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Exempt Archbishops of Rhodes

• • Archbishop Florido Ambrogio Acciari, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) as Apostolic Administrator (1928 – 1929)
• Giovanni Maria Emilio Castellani, O.F.M. (1929.01.15 – 1937.03.25)
  • Friar Pier Crisologo Fabi, O.F.M. as Apostolic Administrator (1937 – 1938)
• Florido Ambrogio Acciari, O.F.M. (1938.03.30 – 1970.03.10)
  • Friar Michail-Petros Franzidis, O.F.M. as Apostolic Administrator (1970 – 1992)
  • Archbishop Nikolaos Foskolos as Apostolic Administrator (1992 - 2014); retiring for age reasons; resignation accepted by Pope Francis on 12 August 2014
• Sevastianos Rossolatos 12 August 2014 – ...

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Greece

Sources

• GCatholic.org, with episcopal incumbent biography links
• Catholic Hierarchy
• Diocese website