Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana (Latin: Archidioecesis Sanctae Mariae in Astanansis) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan.

Archdiocese of Maria Santissima in Astana Archidioecesis Sanctae Mariae in Astanansis
Location
Country	Kazakhstan
Ecclesiastical province	Maria Santissima in Astana
Deaneries	Astana Kokshetau Kostanay Pavlodar Petropavlovsk Greek-Catholic Parishes
Statistics
Area	576,400 km2 (222,500 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2013) 3,650,000 60,000 (1,6%)
Parishes	34
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	7 July 1999
Cathedral	Our Mother of Perpetual Help Cathedral
Secular priests	17
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Tomasz Peta
Auxiliary Bishops	Athanasius Schneider
Vicar General	?
Map
Website
[1]

Its cathedral episcopal see is the Marian Cathedral of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, in the Kazakh national capital Astana. The founding and only apostolic administrator, Tomasz Peta, was appointed the first Archbishop of Mary Most Holy in Astana by John Paul II on May 17, 1999.

History

Pope John Paul II erected it as the Apostolic Administration of Astana on July 7, 1999, on territory split off from the then Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan (which lost more territories and became the diocese of Karaganda and soon after, unusually, daughter diocese Astana's suffragan), and visited it in September 2001.

The same pope promoted it to the Archdiocese of Mary Most Holy in Astana on May 17, 2003.

Province

Its ecclesiastical province comprises the metropolitan's own archdiocese and the following suffragan jurisdictions :

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Karaganda (its parent diocese)
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Santissima Trinità in Almaty.
• Apostolic Administration of Atyrau (a pre-diocesan type of jurisdiction which normally remains exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See)

Ordinaries of Astana

(all Roman Rite, so far European Latin missionaries)

Apostolic Administrator of Astana

• Tomasz Peta (7 Jul 1999 – 17 May 2003), Titular Bishop of Benda, Albania (15 Feb 2001 – 17 May 2003)

Metropolitan Archbishops of Astana

• Tomasz Peta (17 May 2003 – ... ), also President of Episcopal Conference of Kazakhstan (May 2003 – ... )

See also

• Catholic Church in Kazakhstan

Sources and external links

• GCatholic.org, with incumbent biography links
• Catholic-Hierarchy