The Catholic Diocese of Caroline Islands ( la, Diœcesis Carolinensium) is an ecclesiastical territory or

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...

and in the

Republic of Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

. It is a suffragan diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Agaña. The Diocese of

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the ce ...

is led by a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

who

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

s the

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metropo ...

, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.Roman Catholic Diocese of Caroline Islands
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History

The diocese was established on 19 December 1905, as the

Apostolic Prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

(missionary jurisdiction) of Caroline Islands, uniting the

Mission sui iuris of Eastern Carolines The Catholic Diocese of Caroline Islands ( la, Diœcesis Carolinensium) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Federated States of Micronesia and in the Republic of Palau. It is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Cat ...

and Mission sui iuris of Western Carolines, both of which had been split from the Apostolic Prefecture of Micronesia in 1886. It became the Apostolic Vicariate (higher missionary stage jurisdiction, entitled to a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

) of Marianne and Caroline Islands on 1 March 1911. It grew to become the Apostolic Vicariate of Marianne, Caroline and Marshall Islands on 4 May 1923. It changed its name to become the Apostolic Vicariate of Caroline and Marshall Islands on 4 July 1946. It was elevated to become the

Carolines-Marshalls by promotion on 3 May 1979. The diocese was split on 23 April 1993 by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, resulting in the creation of the present-day Diocese of Caroline Islands and the

Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands The Roman Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands ( la, Praefectura Apostolica Insularum Marshallensium) is a Latin rite apostolic prefecture (pre-diocesan missionary ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church, below apostol ...

Bishops

Ordinaries

* Salvador-Pierre Walleser (1912 – 1919) *Vacant (1920 – 1922) * Santiago López de Rego y Labarta S.J. (1923 –b1938) *Vacant (1939 – 1951) * Thomas John Feeney S.J. (1951 - 1955) * Vincent Ignatius Kennally S.J. (1956 – 1971) * Martin Joseph Neylon S.J. (1971 – 1995) ** coadjutor 1969 – 1971 * Amando Samo (1995 – 2020) ** auxiliary 1987 – 1994 ** coadjutor 1994 – 1995 * Julio Angkel (2020 – present) ** coadjutor 2017 – 2020

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy Profile of the Diocese of Caroline Islands
{{coord, 7, 27, 26, N, 151, 51, 52, E, type:city_source:kolossus-plwiki, display=title Catholic Church in the Federated States of Micronesia Catholic Church in Palau

Christian organizations established in 1905

1905 establishments in the German colonial empire