The Catholic Church in Misurata: the Apostolic prefecture
Misurata, the third city of Libya, is the seat of one of the four Catholic constituencies of the country: the Apostolic prefecture of Misurata, erected on 22 June 1939 and entrusted to the Franciscans. Although the seat has been vacant since 1969, the Church has not erased its name from the map, and Christian communities continue to live in the city.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- The Apostolic prefecture of Misurata was erected on June 22, 1939, torn from the Vicariate of Tripolitania, and entrusted to the Minor Fratuses of the Marks; it is directly dependent on the Holy See.
- After the 1969 revolution and the expulsion of the Italians in 1970, the headquarters became vacant and became governed by apostolic administrators: Guido Attilio Previtali administered it from 1969 to 1985, and from February 5, 2017 it was administered by Franciscan George Bugeja from Tripoli.
- The face of the Libyan Church changed completely: today it is more African-Asian than European, supported mainly by foreign workers, including the thousands of Catholic Filipino nurses arrived in the 1980s and 1990s.
- The religious freedom report of the US State Department. The United States (2022) confirms that Christian communities are still present in Misurata; the Orthodox Copts maintain the church of St. Mary and St. George, which serves Egyptian workers.
Misurata Prefecture
In Misurata the Catholic Church retains an apostolic prefecture erected in 1939 and entrusted to the Franciscans, vacant since 1969 but never suppressed. It is a faithful memory of a Christendom that stands in silence, sustained today by communities of foreign workers.
The Holy Mary, Mother of the Church, guards Christians who persevere in Misurata and throughout Libya.
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