The Mission ''sui iuris'' of the Cayman Islands () is a mission ''sui iuris'' of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. The Mission comprises the entirety of the British dependency of the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

and consists of five

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es, including Saint Ignatius in George Town, Christ the Redeemer Church in West Bay, and Stella Maris Church on

Cayman Brac Cayman Brac is an island that is part of the Cayman Islands. It lies in the Caribbean Sea about north-east of Grand Cayman and east of Little Cayman. It is about long, with an average width of . Its terrain is the most prominent of the thre ...

. The Mission was erected on 14 July 2000 on territory divided from the Archdiocese of Kingston in Jamaica, the metropolitan see to which it is

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

. Exceptionally, the Mission is not "exempt", i. e., directly dependent on the

Apostolic See An apostolic see is an episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus or to one of their close associates. In Catholicism, the phrase "The Apostolic See" when capitalized refers specifically to the See of ...

and thus independent of a metropolitan archdiocese, but rather is a

of the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kingston in Jamaica, and thus a member of the Antilles Episcopal Conference. However, the Mission is held in personal union with the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Detroit in the

State of Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, USA.

Ecclesiastical Superiors

The following Catholic

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

s have served as

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical exampl ...

ordinary of the Mission, who is titled its "Ecclesiastical Superior": * Cardinal Adam Joseph Maida (2000–9) * Archbishop Allen Henry Vigneron (2009–25) * Archbishop Edward Weisenburger (2025–present)

Relationship with the Archdiocese of Detroit

In November 2000, the

Archdiocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church covering the south-east portion of Michigan in the United States. The archdiocese consists counties of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lap ...

was assigned pastoral responsibility for the Catholic Church in the Cayman Islands. The Mission and the Archdiocese are related in the ''person'' of the Ecclesiastical Superior, presently Archbishop Weisenburger of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, while the Mission is not otherwise part of his archdiocese.

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic
Roman Catholic Church in the Cayman Islands Missions sui iuris Roman Catholic dioceses in the Caribbean Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Kingston in Jamaica {{RC-diocese-stub