History

Region

The jurisdiction of the Hierarchical Vicariate of Constantinople covers the faithful of the Latin Catholic rite living in the European part of Turkey and the provinces of Kocaeli, Düzce, Zonguldak, Bartın, Kastamonu, Çankırı, Kırıkkale, Ankara, Karabük, Bolu, Eskişehir, Sakarya, Bilecik, Yalova, Bursa, Balıkesir and Çanakkale in Northwestern Anatolia.

The Apostolic See is in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Istanbul.

The region is divided into 12 local churches.  

History

After the conquest of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade (1204), the city became the seat of the Latin Patriarchate as opposed to the Orthodox Patriarchate. After the fall of the Latin empire (1261), the Patriarchate continued to exist as a title and was based in Constantinople.[1] retained the right to appoint a living Patriarchal Vicar until 1652.

In 1623, Propaganda Fide decided to appoint an auxiliary bishop of Constantinople in order to gradually reduce the powers of the patriarchal title. The two auxiliary bishops, Livio Lilio was appointed on August 19, 1625 and Giacinto Subiano on March 5, 1652. However, there was inevitably a conflict of authority between the auxiliary bishops and the Patriarchal Representatives. For this reason, on March 5, 1652, Pope Innocent X approved the decree Propoganda fide: "super unione vicariatus constantinopolitani cum suffraganeatu eiusdem.”[2] On April 15 of the same year, the decision was communicated to Patriarchal Representative Severoli and Auxiliary Bishop Subiano, who was then the first Apostolic Representative. Thus the Vatican defended the Apostolic Vicariate of Constantinople, which from that moment on assumed episcopal dignity, under its own authority.

April 15, 1652 Establishment of the Apostolic Vicariate of Istanbul. [3]

March 24, 1876 The Church of the Holy Spirit was declared the cathedral of the Apostolic See.[4]

On March 16, 1926, the region of Bitola and its environs were transferred to the episcopal diocese of Skopje.

On March 18, 1926, part of its jurisdiction was transferred in favor of the establishment of the Apostolic See of Thessaloniki.

From 1925 to 1974, no Apostolic Vicar was appointed in Constantinople and the vacant office (sede vacante) was entrusted with the apostolic administration of the apostolate to a temporary Apostolic Administrator (representative) residing in Istanbul, Turkey. 

On November 30, 1990, with the Quo Melius decree of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, the Apostolic Vicariate took its present name and transferred part of its territory to the Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia.

Since 1999, the Apostolic Vicar has been in charge of the vacant office of the Apostolic Exarchate of Constantinople, the only site of the Byzantine rite on Turkish territory (sede vacante) is also its director. 

Timeline of Bishops

Not more than 2 years old or historically unidentifiable sede vacante periods are excluded.

Patriarchal Deputies

Bonaventura Secusio, O.F.M.Obs. † (1594 - appointed Patriarch March 10 1599)

Cherubino da Macerata, O.F.M.Obs. † (1604 - ?)

Giovanni Battista de Monte Barochio, O.F.M.Obs. † (December 15, 1614 - ?)

Giovanni Battista Sangallo, O.F.M.Conv. † (1616 - ? deceased)

Giuseppe de Bruni, O.F.M.Obs. † (July 14, 1618 - 1622)

Benedetto da Verona, O.F.M.Obs. † (February 15, 1622 - ?)

Andrea Gislanti, O.F.M. † (1626 -? resigned)

Guglielmo Foca, O.F.M.Conv. † (1627 - resigned 1629)

Giovanni Mauri, O.F.M.Conv. † (resigned January 30, 1629 - 1631)

Giovanni Francesco Circhi, O.F.M.Conv. † (May 7, 1631 - resigned after 1633)

Guglielmo Vizzani, O.F.M.Conv. † (1635 - resigned October 17, 1637)

Angelo Petricca, O.F.M.Conv. † (January 30, 1638 - 1639)

Francesco Castogna, O.F.M.Conv. † (died February 25, 1640 - 1641)

Giovanni Mercredini, O.F.M.Conv. † (January 20, 1642 - ? deceased)

Giovanni Battista Siroli, O.F.M.Conv. † (resigned September 1, 1643 - 1644)

Giacinto Subiano, O.P. † (1646 - ? resigned)

Giovanni Francesco Circhi, O.F.M.Conv. † (July 3, 1647 -? resigned) (for the second time)

Filippo Severoli, O.F.M.Conv. † (September 27, 1649 -? resigned)

Apostolic vicars

Giacinto Subiano, O.P. † (resigned March 5, 1652 - 1653) (for the second time)

Bonaventura Teuli, O.F.M.Conv. † (resigned January 7, 1656 - 1662)

Andrea Ridolfi, O.F.M.Conv. † (February 12, 1662 - died April 15, 1677[5])

Vito Piluzzi, O.F.M.Conv. † (1675 - ? resigned)

Paride Maria Boschi, O.F.M.Conv. † (1677 - ? resigned) (deputy)

Hieronim Polokaj, O.F.M.Conv. † (1678 - resigned 1678) (deputy)

Gasparo Gasparini, O.F.M.Conv. † (May 31, 1677 - died August 22, 1705)

Raimondo Galani, O.P. † (April 19, 1706 - resigned 1720)

Pier Battista Mauri, O.F.M.Ref. † (June 15, 1720 - died April 2, 1730)

Antonio Balsarini † (August 18, 1730 - died January 2, 1731)[6]

Francesco Girolamo Bona † (June 23, 1731 - resigned 1749)

Biagio Paoli † (March 18, 1750 - resigned 1767)

Giuseppe Roverani, Batt. † (March 10, 1767 - died July 2, 1772)

Giovanni Battista Bavestrelli † (August 31, 1772 - died April 20, 1777)

Nicolò Pugliesi † (July 7, 1777 - died July 8, 1778)

Francesco Antonio Fracchia, bapt. † (September 26, 1778 - died October 21, 1795)

Giulio Maria Pecori d'Ameno, O.F.M.Ref. † ( October 21, 1795 - died February 28, 1796)

Nicolò Timoni † (June 3, 1796 - resigned 1796)[7]

Giovanni Battista Fonton, O.F.M.Conv. † (March 16, 1799 - died August 26, 1816)

Vincenzo Coressi † (August 26, 1816 - died March 7, 1835)

Julien-Marie Hillereau, S.M.M. † (March 7, 1835 - died March 1, 1855)

Antonio Mussabini † (1855 - 1858) (deputy)

Paolo Brunoni † (November 23, 1858 - resigned 1869)

Joseph Pluym, C.P. † (June 3, 1869 - died January 13, 1874) (Apostolic Administrator)

Serafino Milani, O.F.M. † (March 20, 1874 -? resigned)[8]

Leopoldo Angelo Santanchè, O.F.M.Ref. † (November 13, 1874 -? resigned)[9]

Antonio Maria Grasselli, O.F.M.Conv. † (December 22, 1874 - resigned January 23, 1880)

Vincenzo Vannutelli † (January 23, 1880 - December 22, 1882 appointed Apostolic Ambassador to Brazil) Died before taking office.

Luigi Rotelli † (January 26, 1883 - May 23, 1887 appointed Apostolic Ambassador to France)

Augusto Bonetti, C.M. † (May 6, 1887 - died August 19, 1904)

Giovanni Tacci Porcelli † (December 19, 1904 - December 31, 1907 appointed Apostolic Ambassador to Belgium)

Vincenzo Sardi † (April 6, 1908 - resigned 1914) from Rvisondoli

Angelo Maria Dolci † (January 11, 1914 - December 14, 1922 appointed Apostolic Ambassador to Belgium)

Angelo Rotta † (June 6, 1925 - March 20, 1930 appointed Apostolic Ambassador to Hungary) (Apostolic Administrator)

Carlo Margotti † (March 8, 1930 - July 25, 1934 appointed bishop of Gorizia and Gradisca) (Apostolic Administrator)

St. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli † (November 30, 1934 - December 23, 1944 appointed Apostolic Ambassador to France) (Apostolic Administrator)

Alcide Giuseppe Marina, C.M. † (1945 - May 18, 1947 appointed Apostolic Ambassador to Lebanon) (Apostolic Administrator)

Andrea Cassulo † (1947 - died January 9, 1952) (Apostolic Administrator)

Paolo Bertoli † (March 24, 1952 - May 7, 1953 appointed Apostolic Ambassador to Colombia) (Apostolic Administrator)

Giacomo Testa † (June 18, 1953 - resigned 1959) (Apostolic Administrator)

Francesco Lardone † (retired 1959 - 1966) (Apostolic Administrator)

Xavier Zupi † (August 30, 1966 - resigned 1969) (Apostolic Administrator)

Salvatore Asta † (June 7, 1969 - resigned November 15, 1974) (Apostolic Administrator)

Gauthier Pierre Georges Antoine Dubois, O.F.M.Cap. † (November 15, 1974 - died May 29, 1989)

Antuvan Marovitch † (succeeded May 29, 1989 - passed away December 15, 1991)

Louis Pelâtre, A.A. (July 9, 1992 - retired April 16, 2016)

Rubén Tierrablanca González, O.F.M. † (April 16, 2016 -died December 22, 2020)[10]

Massimiliano Palinuro has been in office since September 14, 2021.

Statistiche

As of 2020, 17,000 baptized people are registered in the Apostolic Succession.

[1] The Latin Pontiffate was abolished by Pope Paul VI in 1964.

[2]  Lemmens, op. cit., p. 271.

[3] Idem.

4  Breve Gratum Nobis, in Pii IX Pontificis Maximi Acta. Pars prima, vol. VII, Romae, 1878, pp. 196-197.

[5] He resigned in 1675, but his successor could not come to Constantinople to take office, so he remained in office until his death.

[6] He died before he could take office.

[7] He was appointed Archbishop of Marcianopolis and Vicar of the Hierarchy of Constantinople, but he refused (Eubel, Hierarchia catholica, VI, pp. 275-276 in note).

[8] The appointment had no effect. On December 21, 1874, he was appointed bishop of Pontremoli.

[9] He did not accept the mission. On April 3, 1876, he was appointed archbishop of Fabiano and Matelica.  

[10] From December 24, 2020 to December 18, 2021, Lorenzo Piretto, Archbishop Emeritus of Izmir, served as Apostolic Administrator until December 24, 2020, when Massimiliano Palinuro took over.