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=== Historical Background === | === Historical Background === | ||
Christianity has been present in Libya since Roman times. Saint Francis of Assisi brought his faith to Tripoli in the Middle Ages. The Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Our Lady of the Angels) in the Old City - Medina of Tripoli was founded in 1645 and, with the permission of the Sultan of Constantinople, the Church of the Immaculate Conception was founded in Benghazi in 1858. | |||
Before World War II the number of Catholics increased in Libya due to its status as an Italian colony, but the Catholic Cathedral of Tripoli (built in the 1920s) was converted to a mosque in the 1990s by Muammar Gaddafi's regime. | |||
There are around 50,000 Catholics in Libya, comprising less than one percent of the population. Among the Catholics are Italian Libyans and Maltese Libyans. Thousands of Filipino Catholic nurses moved to Libya during the 1980s and 1990s. The Italians were the majority of the Catholics in Libya until their expulsion in 1969 by Colonel Gaddafi. | |||
There are no dioceses in Libya, but there are four territorial jurisdictions - three Apostolic Administrations and one Apostolic Prefecture. | |||
*Apostolic Vicariate of Benghazi | |||
*Apostolic Vicariate of Derna | |||
*Apostolic Vicariate of Tripoli | |||
*Apostolic Prefecture of Misrata<ref> Wikipedia contributors, "Religion in Libya", in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia,'' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Libya, accessed 14 March 2020. </ref><ref> Wikipedia contributors, "Catholic Church in Libya", in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia,'' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_in_Libya, accessed 14 March 2020. </ref> | |||
=='''Anglican (Episcopal) Church Records'''== | =='''Anglican (Episcopal) Church Records'''== | ||