Roman Catholic Diocese Of Bikoro
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The Roman Catholic Diocese (formerly a missionary jurisdiction) of Bikoro was a
Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...
diocese in (initially Belgian) Congo (Zaire) from 1931 to 1975, named after its then headquarters/ episcopal see
Bikoro Bikoro is a market town in Équateur Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lying on Lake Tumba, south of Mbandaka. It is the administrative center of Bikoro Territory. In 2012, the estimated population was 7,426. Bikoro was the ...
, run by the
Vincentians Vincentian can refer to: People *A citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *A person from Saint Vincent (island), the largest island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines *A member of one of the orders or societies in the Vincentian Family, both ...
(Lazarists, C.M.).


History

It was founded on 3 January 1931 as the
Mission sui iuris In the canon law of the Catholic Church, a mission (, pl. ), also known as an independent mission, can be defined as: "an ecclesial structure erected from a previous territory, with explicit boundaries, under the care of a religious communit ...
of Bikoro, on territories split from the then
Apostolic Vicariate of Léopoldville The Archdiocese of Kinshasa (; ; ) is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its ecclesiastic territory includes the capital city of Kinshasa and surrounding districts. The archdiocese is the metropol ...
and Apostolic Prefecture of Coquilhatville. It was promoted on 25 June 1940 as
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 ...
of Bikoro, and again on 28 June 1957 as
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 ...
of Bikoro, hence entitled to a titular bishop. It lost its missionary ''exempt'' status (directly subject to the Holy See) by its final promotion on 10 November 1959 to Diocese of Bikoro, becoming a
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 ...
of the Metropolitan then Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mbandaka. On 12 April 1975 it was suppressed, its territory being divided between its Metropolitan, which absorbed its title by renaming to Archdiocese of Mbandaka–Bikoro, and the equally preexisting Diocese of Inongo.


Ordinaries

:(''All Latin rite missionary members of the
Lazarists The Congregation of the Mission (), abbreviated CM and commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Vincent de Paul. It is associated with the Vincentian Family, ...
; C.M.'') ;
Ecclesiastical Superior In the canon law of the Catholic Church, a mission (, pl. ), also known as an independent mission, can be defined as: "an ecclesial structure erected from a previous territory, with explicit boundaries, under the care of a religious communit ...
s of the ''Mission sui iuris'' of Bikoro * Father Leone Sieben, C.M. (born Belgium) (1931.06.27 – 1932) * Fr. Felice de Kempeneer, C.M. (1933 – 1938) * Fr. Andrea Windels, C.M. (1939 – 1940.06.25 ''see below'') ; ''Apostolic Prefects'' of Bikoro * Fr. Andrea Windels, C.M. (''see above'' 1940.06.25 – death 1946) * Fr. Camille Vandekerckhove, C.M. (1946.06.21 – 1957.06.28 ''see below'') ; ''Apostolic Vicar'' of Bikoro * Camille Vandekerckhove, C.M.,
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 Sufetula (''see above'' 1957.06.28 – 1959.11.10 ''see below'') ; ''Bishop'' of Bikoro * Camille Vandekerckhove, C.M. (''see above'' 1959.11.10 – death 1975.02.27).


See also

* List of Catholic dioceses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Catholic Church in the Republic of the Congo


References


Sources and external links


GigaCatholic, with incumbent biography links - data for all sections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bikoro, Roman Catholic Diocese Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Africa
1931 establishments in the Belgian Congo Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...