Roman Catholic Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi

Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi Dioecesis Islamabadensis-Ravalpindensis اسلام آباد راولپنڈی کے کیتھولک چرچ
Location
Country	Pakistan
Ecclesiastical province	Lahore
Metropolitan	Lahore
Statistics
Area	178,341 km2 (68,858 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2006) 36,522,000 174,208 (0.5%)
Information
Denomination	[Catholic]]
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Cathedral	St Joseph’s Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	vacant
Metropolitan Archbishop	Sebastian Francis Shaw

The Catholic Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi (Lat: Dioecesis Islamabadensis-Ravalpindensis) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan.

The diocese has a long history, as it was originally erected in 1887, as the Apostolic Prefecture of Kafiristan and Kashmir. The prefecture was erected from the Diocese of Lahore.

In 1947, the Apostolic prefecture was elevated to a full diocese, and renamed the diocese of Rawalpindi.

In 1952, Kashmir was lost to the diocese, and a new diocese created from territory in Rawalpindi and Lahore to create the Apostolic Prefecture of Kashmir and Jammu.

In 1979, the name was changed to the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lahore. It comprises the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Azad Kashmir and the Northern Areas, Gujrat District of Gujranwala Division, the Rawalpindi Division, and the Sargodha Division. At the time there were only 16 priests to minister to the Catholics in the diocese.

The principal church of the diocese is the St. Joseph's Cathedral, Rawalpindi.

The Diocese has a population of about 35 million, including 250,000 Catholics many of whom are committed to education (through its more than 70 schools like the Catholic Public High School in Sangota, in the Swat Valley), training institutes and hospitals.

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Wikipedia