Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town


The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cape Town is a Latin archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Cape Town, in the south-western part of South Africa.
The archdiocese's motherchurch and its archbishop's see is the cathedral of St. Mary of the Flight into Egypt, who is also the archbishopric's patron.
The archdiocese is headed by the Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Reverend Archbishop Stephen Brislin and is assisted by The Right Reverend Sylvester David OMI, the Auxiliary Bishop.

History

It was erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Cape of Good Hope on 18 June 1818 by Pope Pius VII, on territories split off from the then–Territorial Prelature of Mozambique and Diocese of Tomé.
On 4 April 1819, it gained territory from the suppressed Apostolic Prefecture of New Holland.
It repeatedly lost territory, to establish: in 1834 the Apostolic Vicariate of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land and again on 6 June 1837 to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Mauritius.
It was renamed the Apostolic Vicariate of Cape of Good Hope, Western District on 30 July 1847, losing territory to establish the Apostolic Vicariate of Cape of Good Hope, Eastern District.
On 3 August 1874, it lost territory to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Cape of Good Hope, Central District.
It was renamed the Apostolic Vicariate of Cape Town on 13 June 1939.
Pope Pius XII elevated it to the rank of a metropolitan archdiocese on 11 January 1951.
On 18 August 1986, it lost territory to establish the Mission sui juris of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha off its Atlantic Coast.

Extent

The geographical area of Cape Town is divided up into 80 parishes. Each parish is obliged to have its own pastoral council as well as a finance council.
Representatives from these parish councils – as well as of other bodies – together form the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, whose task it is to advise the archbishop in certain matters.
In total the archdiocese covers an area of 30 892 square kilometres with a total population of 3 324 539 people, of whom 215187 are Catholics. The administrative centre of the archdiocese is called a chancery and is located at 12 Bouquet Street in Cape Town.
Its postal address is P O Box 2910, Cape Town, 8000. The telephone number for all departments in the chancery is 462-2417; the fax number is 461-9330 and the e-mail address is infoatcatholic-
ct.org.za
The archdiocese is centred on the city of Cape Town and includes the southernmost tip of the continent of Africa; its area is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean,
on the north by the southern boundaries of
the Van Rhynsdorp district, on the east by the western boundaries of the Calvinia,
Ceres, Tulbagh, Worcester, Robertson and Swellendam districts, and on the south by the Indian Ocean.
The civil districts within the ecclesiastical area of the archdiocese are the districts of Cape, Wynberg, Simon's Town, Bellville, Somerset West, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Wellington, Caledon,
Bredasdorp, Malmesbury, Piketberg and Clanwilliam.
About the Most Reverend Stephen Brislin, Archbishop of Cape Town:
Born in Welkom on 24 September 1956.
Schooling at St Agnes' Convent, Welkom andCBC, Welkom
Seminary: Philosophy at St John Vianney,Pretoria and Theology at the MissionaryInstitute, London
Ordained a priest on 19 November 1983.
Ordained Bishop of Kroonstad on 28 January
2007.
Installed as Archbishop of Cape Town on 7 February 2010, on the Solemnity of Our Lady of the Flight into Egypt, thepatronal feast of the Archdiocese of Cape Town.

Context

The Catholic Church throughout the world is
divided into administrative units called dioceses. Each diocese is headed by a
bishop. In some cases those dioceses which are of greater importance are called archdioceses and are headed by an archbishop. In South Africa there are five
such archdioceses, one of which is Cape Town. Each diocesan bishop in the world is responsible directly to the Pope. In order to facilitate and co-ordinate various matters of national interest such as seminaries, the bishops of South Africa are associated into the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference. This conference is affiliated to two other such conferences: IMBISA and SECAM.
A representative of the Pope was appointed in 1922 as the Apostolic Delegate. In 1994 the Holy See and South Africa established diplomatic relations, setting up an Apostolic Nunciature for the Holy Seein Pretoria and a South African Embassy in the Vatican.
To help him administer the Archdiocese of Cape Town, the Archbishop has appointed two vicars general.
A chancellor is appointed in each diocese, whose task it is to act as a notary or
someone who authenticates any official document which the archbishop might issue.
To help in the ministry of the various departments of the Archdiocese of Cape
Town, a number of priests have been appointed as vicars or heads of those
departments. Together with an equal number of other
priests elected by the priests serving in Cape Town, these constitute the presbyteral council, and it is from this body that the
archbishop chooses his consultors or advisors.
In order to co-ordinate the pastoral function of the various parishes in Cape
Town, five deans have been elected by the priests as their spokesmen in certain
matters. The body of deacons constitutes the Council of Deacons and the Archbishop appoints a
co-ordinator as a liaison between himself and the deacons.

Province

The ecclesiastical province comprises the Metropolitan's own archdiocese and the suffragan sees :
'' all Roman Rite

Ordinaries">Ordinary (Catholic Church)">Ordinaries of Cape Town

; Apostolic Vicars of Cape of Good Hope and adjacent territories
; Apostolic Vicars of Cape of Good Hope, Western District
; Apostolic Vicars of Cape Town
; Metropolitan Archbishops of Cape Town''