Roman Catholic Diocese of Tallinn

An ancient diocese with the see in Reval (Reval was the name of Tallinn until 1918) existed between 1219 and 1557. Between 1782 and 1918 Estonia was part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mohilev and in 1786 the Roman Catholic community was officially recognized. In 1918, when Estonia gained independence from Russia, its citizens had complete freedom of religion. The Holy See recognized Estonia on 10 October 1921. The Apostolic Administration of Estonia was established on November 1, 1924, on territory split off from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Riga (in the neighboring Baltic country Latvia). The see remained vacant during most of the period when Estonia was occupied and annexed into the USSR after the death of Bishop Eduard Profittlich in 1942 because of the suppression of the Church by Soviet communist authorities. Since 1992, after Estonia's post-communist independence, apostolic administrators are once again appointed. Pope John Paul II visited in September 1993. On 26 September 2024, the Apostolic Administration of Estonia was raised to the Diocese of Tallinn. ==Leadership==