The Catholic Diocese of Caroline Islands () is an ecclesiastical territory or

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, prov ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...

and in the

Republic of Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands, w ...

. 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 cen ...

is led by a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

who

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

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 church, or ...

, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.G Catholic website, 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 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 An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

(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 an ...

) of Marianne and Caroline Islands on 1 March 1911. It grew to become the

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 (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, resulting in the creation of the present-day Diocese of Caroline Islands and the Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands.

Demographics

According to 2022 government statistics, 55% of residents were Catholic; 42% of the population were Protestant and 2% belonged to other Christian denominations.US State Dept 2022 report
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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