AMBANJA, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. - Located in insular Africa, it derives from the prefecture of Île Sainte-Marie, Nosy Be and Mayotte (the latter belonging to the Comoros group), and was erected in 1848, by dismemberment of the apostolic vicariate of Madagascar, and enlarged (1858) with the annexation of the remaining Comoros (Grande Comore, Anjouan, Mohéli). With Île Sainte-Marie definitively detached from it (1898), the jurisdiction was extended to the districts of Sambirano and Maromandia (Madagascar), ceded by the vicariate of Diego Suarez; on 2 Feb. 1932, the prefecture was entrusted to the Capuchins of Alsace, and its territorial limits were at the same time precisely defined. The name was changed to that of A. by decree of 14 June 1938.

The surface area of the territory is 14,780 sq km and the total population 240,000 inhabitants, that is, 128,155 Muslims, 64,233 pagans, 4,936 Catholics (of whom 3,723 are indigenous), 821 catechumens. The missionary apostolate, entrusted to 16 priests and two Capuchin lay brothers, and three Franciscan sisters of Calais, is carried out effectively, especially among the Malagasy of the Madagascan districts.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: AAS, 24 (1932), pp. 293-94; 30 (1938), pp. 347-48; Guida delle Missioni, Rome 1935, p. 276, col. 1; MG, pp. 12-13.

Giuseppe Monticone

@incollection{ec1_ambanja_prefettura_apostolica, author = {Monticone, Giuseppe}, title = {Ambanja, prefettura apostolica di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {980}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ambanja-prefettura-apostolica-di} }

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Ambanja, Apostolic Prefecture of

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