Roman Catholic Diocese of Oran

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oran (French: Diocèse d'Oran, Latin: Dioecesis Oranensis) is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Algiers in Algeria.

This article is about a Catholic Diocese in Algeria. For the Catholic Diocese in Argentina, see Roman Catholic Diocese of Orán.
Diocese of Oran

Dioecesis Oranensis
catholic
Map of the Diocese of Oran
Location
CountryAlgeria
Ecclesiastical provinceAlgiers
MetropolitanOran
Statistics
Area77,353 km2 (29,866 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics (including non-members)		(as of 2013)
8,645,000
5,000 (0.1%)
Information
RiteRoman
EstablishedJuly 25, 1866 (1866-07-25)
CathedralSt. Mary's Cathedral, Oran
Secular priests14
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
BishopSede vacante
Metropolitan ArchbishopJean-Paul Vesco
Bishops emeritusAlphonse Émile Georger
Website

History
Chapel of Santa Cruz

The current diocese of Oran was created on 25 July 1866, with the diocese of Constantine, by dismemberment of the single diocese of Algiers (established in 1838). It is limited to the east by the Archdiocese of Algiers, to the south by the Sahara, to the west by the border of Morocco; it covers nearly 56,000 km2 (22,000 sq mi). It is believed that its current population is around 8 million inhabitants spread over 9 departments. At the time of Saint Augustine, about thirty bishoprics existed on the current extent of the diocese; from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

Oran, occupied by the Spaniards, depended on the Archbishop of Toledo. After the massive departure of the French at the independence of Algeria in 1962, then of foreign workers at the beginning of the Algerian civil war, the Catholic community only has a few hundred members nowadays.[1]

Special churches

The seat of the bishop is Cathédrale Sainte-Marie in Oran.

Ordinaries

Bishops of Oran
Bishop Gaussail of Oran, 1884
  1. Jean-Baptiste-Irénée Callot (January 12, 1867 (1867-01-12) – November 1, 1875 (1875-11-01))
  2. Louis-Joseph-Marie-Ange Vigne (March 1, 1876 (1876-03-01) – February 27, 1880 (1880-02-27)), appointed Bishop of Digne, France
  3. Pierre-Marie-Etienne-Gustave Ardin (February 12, 1880 (1880-02-12) – March 27, 1884 (1884-03-27)), appointed Bishop of La Rochelle (-Saintes), France
  4. Noël-Mathieu-Victor-Marie Gaussail (January 10, 1884 (1884-01-10) – June 10, 1886 (1886-06-10)), appointed Bishop of Perpignan-Elne, France
  5. Géraud-Marie Soubrier (March 2, 1886 (1886-03-02) – March 24, 1898 (1898-03-24))
  6. Edouard-Adolphe Cantel (July 8, 1898 (1898-07-08) – December 10, 1910 (1910-12-10))
  7. Pierre-Firmin Capmartin (February 19, 1911 (1911-02-19) – December 25, 1914 (1914-12-25))
  8. Christophe-Louis Légasse (December 6, 1915 (1915-12-06) – August 13, 1920 (1920-08-13)), appointed Bishop of Périgueux (-Sarlat), France
  9. Léon-Auguste-Marie-Joseph Durand (October 11, 1920 (1920-10-11) – March 20, 1945 (1945-03-20))
  10. Bertrand Lacaste (December 29, 1945 (1945-12-29) – November 30, 1972 (1972-11-30))
  11. Henri Teissier (November 30, 1972 (1972-11-30) – December 20, 1980 (1980-12-20)), appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Alger
  12. Pierre Lucien Claverie, OP (May 25, 1981 (1981-05-25) – August 1, 1996 (1996-08-01))
  13. Alphonse Georger (July 10, 1998 – December 1, 2012)
  14. Jean-Paul Vesco, OP (December 1, 2012 (2012-12-01) – )

References
  1. "Diocèse d'Oran" (in French). Archived from the original on August 5, 2004.

Sources
Wikisource has the text of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article Oran.

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