DERNA, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - Erected on 22 June 1939 by division of the ancient apostolic vicariate of Cyrenaica (now of Benghazi), it comprises the entire territory of the civil province of D., as it was in 1939 (approx. 113,000 sq km). It was entrusted to the Salesians, and before the last war it numbered over 103,000 inhabitants, of whom approx. 49,000 were Muslims, 859 Isma'ilis, 11,688 Catholics, almost all Italians, not including the military. There were about ten churches.

Given the repatriations caused by the war and the progressive depopulation of the region following the repeated invasions, and with this state of affairs persisting even after the end of hostilities, in 1946 the apostolic vicar was permitted to repatriate, and so too, subsequently, were the Salesian missionaries, the last two of whom left D. and Razza in 1947. The care of the very few faithful and the few nuns of the vicariate of D. was entrusted to the apostolic vicar of Benghazi, who governs that vicariate as apostolic administrator, awaiting better times.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: AAS, 31 (1939), pp. 603-604; archivio di Propaganda Fide, Prospectus status missionis, posiz. n. prot. 1384/39; posiz. n. prot. 1049/47.

Carlo Corvo

@incollection{ec4_derna_vicariato_apostolico_di, author = {Corvo, Carlo}, title = {Derna, vicariato apostolico di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IV}, pages = {1450}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/derna-vicariato-apostolico-di} }

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Derna, Apostolic Vicariate of

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