The Apostolic Prefecture of Mariana Islands was a Roman Catholic
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 ...
(early missionary stage of a diocese) in
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, ...
, in the
South Sea.
History
It was established on 17 September 1902 in
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
, on territory previously belonging to the
Diocese of Cebu (
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
). It was exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See, never part of an ecclesiastical province.
It was suppressed on 1 March 1911, in order to create from its territory the
Apostolic Vicariate of Mariana and Caroline Islands (from which sprung the
Diocese of the Caroline Islands and the
Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands) and the
Apostolic Vicariate of Guam (which became the Metropolitan
Archdiocese of Agana, to which both aforementioned are
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...
).
See also
*
Religion in Oceania
Christianity is the dominant religion in Oceania. This article gives an outline of various religions in Oceania in 2010 according to a 2012 Pew Research Center report.
Religious distribution
Hyponyms
*Religion in Australia
*Religion in New Zeala ...
References
External links
GigaCatholic (no incumbents)
1902 establishments
1911 disestablishments
Apostolic prefectures
Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Oceania
Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Agaña
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