The Apostolic Vicariate (originally Apostolic Prefecture) of Micronesia was a 19th-century Roman Catholic missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction in Micronesia (

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

History

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 ...

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

was established in 1844, on territory split off from the

Apostolic Vicariate of Western Oceania The Roman Catholic Diocese of Auckland is a Latin Rite diocese of the Catholic Church in Auckland, New Zealand. It was one of two dioceses in the country that were established on 20 June 1848. Auckland became a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catho ...

. On 15 May 1886, it lost territory to establish the

Mission sui juris 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 Ecclesia ...

and the

Mission sui juris of Western 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 Ecclesia ...

. In 1887 it was promoted to Apostolic Vicariate (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 Micronesia. It remained exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy see, not part of any

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of seve ...

. On 10 May 1889, it was suppressed, its territory passing to the

Apostolic Vicariate of New Britain The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rabaul is a Latin Rite Metropolitan Archdiocese in Papua New Guinea. It has its cathedral episcopal see Sacred Heart Cathedral in Vunapope and a Co-Cathedral, St Francis Xavier's Co-Cathedral, in Rabaul. On Ju ...

(another offspring of the

, now the Archdiocese of Rabaul).

References

External links

GigaCatholic (no incumbents)
Apostolic vicariates Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Oceania Religious organizations established in 1844 1844 establishments in Oceania {{Oceania-RC-diocese-stub