Christopher Michael Cardone, OP (born December 20, 1957) is an

American Catholic The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the cou ...

prelate who has served as Archbishop of Honiara in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

since 2016. He is a member of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

Biography

Early life and education

Christopher Cardone was born on December 20, 1957, in

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

and graduated from Chaminade High School in 1976. He attended

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

and made his religious profession to the

on August 15, 1981. He completed his studies at the

Dominican House of Studies The Dominican House of Studies is a Catholic institution in Washington, DC, housing both the Priory of the Immaculate Conception, a community of the Province of St. Joseph of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), and the Pontifical Faculty of the I ...

in Washington, D.C.

Priestly ministry

Cardone was ordained as a Dominican priest on May 30, 1986. After his ordination, Cardone served for two years as a parish priest at St. Gertrude Parish in

Madeira, Ohio Madeira is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,487 at the 2020 census. A residential suburb of Cincinnati, Madeira has a small downtown and some light industry. History Madeira was largely laid out in 1871. Befo ...

. In 1988, Cardone moved to the Dominican

vicariate A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

in the Solomon Islands. He held positions on the island of Gizo as a parish priest in Nila and Nora; pastor of St. Peter's Parish in Gizo, and as director of vocations for the Diocese of Gizo.

Episcopal ministry

Cardone was appointed titular bishop of Thuburnica and as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

for the Diocese of Gizo on March 27, 2001, 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 ...

. Bishop Bernard C. O'Grady consecrated Cardone on June 9, 2001. Cardone was appointed Bishop of Auki on Oct 19, 2004, by Pope John Paul II. Cardone made an ''ad limina'' visit to

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

in Rome as a member of the delegation from

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and the Solomon Islands on June 26, 2005. Cardone was appointed Archbishop of Honiara by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

on June 22, 2016. He was installed on September 10, 2016.

References

External links