The Roman Catholic Diocese (formerly a missionary jurisdiction) of Bikoro was a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

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: *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 Roman ...

(Lazarists, C.M.). No statistics available.

History

It was founded on 3 January 1931 as the

Mission sui iuris A mission ''sui iuris'', or in Latin ''missio sui iuris'' (plural ''missions sui iuris''); also spelled mission(s) sui juris), also known as an independent mission, is a rare type of Roman Catholic missionary pseudo-diocesan jurisdiction, rankin ...

of Bikoro, on territories split from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Léopoldville and

Apostolic Prefecture of Coquilhatville The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mbandaka-Bikoro ( la, Mbandakan(us)–Bikoroën(sis)) is the Metropolitan See for the Latin Rite Ecclesiastical province of Mbandaka-Bikoro, in the western part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is under the ...

. 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 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 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 jurisdictiona ...

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 , logo = , image = Vincentians.png , abbreviation = CM , nickname = Vincentians, Paules, Lazarites, Lazarists, Lazarians , established = , founder = Vincent de Paul , fou ...

; C.M.'') ;

Ecclesiastical Superior A mission '' sui iuris'', or in Latin ''missio sui iuris'' (plural ''missions sui iuris''); also spelled mission(s) sui juris), also known as an independent mission, is a rare type of Roman Catholic missionary pseudo-diocesan jurisdiction, rank ...

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).

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

History

Ordinaries

See also

References

Sources and external links