page_title: Christianity in Libya
section_title: Roman Catholic Church
hierarchical_section_title: Christianity in Libya / Christian denominations / Roman Catholic Church
caption_attribution_description: English: Church of Massah (Luigi Razza Town) (1940) Italiano: Chiesa del villaggio Luigi Razza, oggi Massah (1940)
context_page_description: Christianity is a minority religion in Libya. Since Roman times it has always been present in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica.
context_section_description: There are about 50,000 Roman Catholics, mostly Italian Libyans and Maltese Libyans.
  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 Italian colonialism. The Catholic Cathedral of Tripoli (built in the 1930s) was converted to a mosque.
  Roman Catholic Vicariates Apostolic exist in Benghazi, Derna and Tripoli. There is a Prefecture Apostolic in Misrata.
  There are two Bishops, one in Tripoli (Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli - serving the Italian community in the Church of San Francisco in Dhahra). and one in Benghazi (Bishop Sylvester Carmel Magro - serving the Maltese community in the Church of the Immaculate Conception).
  In Libya currently 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
caption: Catholic Church of Massah in 1940
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