) is the only Latin Catholic diocese in the
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...
.
It is exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See, and remains missionary, governed by the Roman
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship.
Congregation may also refer to:
* Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship
*Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...
.
Its
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
episcopal see is the
Cathédrale de l’Immaculée Conception (dedicated to the
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...
) in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, the capital city of the country.
History
* Established in 1852 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 Seychelles, on insular territory split off from the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Louis
The Diocese of Port-Louis (Latin: ''Portus Ludovici''; French: ''Diocèse de Port-Louis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Port Louis, the capital city of Mauritius.
History
On ...
(
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
neighbour
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
).
* Promoted on 31 August 1880 as
Apostolic Vicariate of Seychelles, hence 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 an ...
.
* Promoted and renamed after its see on 14 July 1892 as Diocese of Port Victoria (also still known as Seychelles).
* It enjoyed a papal visit from
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
in December 1986.
Ordinaries
Apostolic Prefects of Seychelles
*
Jérémie de Paglietta (1853–1855)
*
Léon des Avanchers (1855–1863)
*
Symphorien Jean-Pierre-Ignace Galfione,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(1863 – 30 August 1880 ''see below'')
Apostolic Vicars of Seychelles
*
Symphorien Jean-Pierre-Ignace Galfione,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(''see above'' 30 August 1880 – 19 December 1881)
*
Charles-Jacques Mouard,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(8 August 1882 – 8 August 1888), appointed Bishop of Lahore, Pakistan
*''Not possessed:''
Edmond Alfred Dardel
Edmond is a given name related to Edmund. Persons named Edmond include:
* Edmond Canaple (1797–1876), French politician
* Edmond Chehade (born 1993), Lebanese footballer
* Edmond Conn (1914–1998), American farmer, businessman, and politici ...
,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(23 August 1889 – 21 March 1890)
*
Marc Hudrisier,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(2 September 1890 – 14 July 1892 ''see below'')
Bishops of Port Victoria
*
Marc Hudrisier,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(''see above'' 14 July 1892 – 6 January 1910)
*
Bernard Thomas Edward Clark,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(18 June 1910 – 26 September 1915)
*
Georges-Jean-Damascène Lachavanne,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(13 April 1916 – 24 July 1920)
*
Louis-Justin Gumy,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(10 March 1921 – 9 January 1934)
*
Aloys Ernest Joye
Alois (Latinized ''Aloysius'') is an Old Occitan form of the name Louis (given name), Louis. Modern variants include ''Aloïs'' (French language, French), ''Aloys'' (German language, German), ''Alois'' (Czech language, Czech), ''Alojz'' (Slovak l ...
,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(9 January 1934 – 4 June 1936)
*''
Apostolic Administrator
An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...
:''
Aloys Ernest Joye
Alois (Latinized ''Aloysius'') is an Old Occitan form of the name Louis (given name), Louis. Modern variants include ''Aloïs'' (French language, French), ''Aloys'' (German language, German), ''Alois'' (Czech language, Czech), ''Alojz'' (Slovak l ...
,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(4 June 1936 – 17 June 1937)
*''
Marcel Olivier Maradan,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(17 June 1937 – 6 October 1972)
*
Apostolic Administrator
An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...
:''
Gervais Aeby Gervais may refer to:
People
* Gervais (name), list of people with the given name or surname
Places
* Gervais, Oregon
* Gervais Lake, a lake in Minnesota
* Gervais Township, Minnesota
* Gervais Road, part of 170 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
...
,
OFM Cap
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...
(1972-1975)
*
Félix Paul (17 March 1975 – 30 May 1994)
*''
Apostolic Administrator
An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...
: ''
Gilbert Aubry
Gilbert Guillaume Marie-Jean Aubry (born 10 May 1942 in Saint-Louis, Réunion) is the Réunionnais bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion, as well as a poet and a singer. Aubry has served as the bishop of the diocese, ...
(1994 – 3 March 1995)
*
Xavier-Marie Baronnet,
SJ (3 March 1995 – 1 June 2002)
*
Denis Wiehe
Denis Wiehe C.S.Sp. (born 21 May 1940 Curepipe, Mauritius) is the former Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Victoria, Seychelles, where he is now bishop emeritus. He succeeded Bishop Xavier-Marie Baronnet in 2002.
Wiehe was ordained a Ca ...
,
CSSp (1 June 2002 – 10 September 2020)
*
Alain Harel Alain may refer to:
People
* Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Alain (surname)
* "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein
* Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...
(10 September 2020 – )
See also
*
Catholic Church in Seychelles
The Catholic Church in Seychelles is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope.
There are around 70,000 Catholics in the Seychelles - almost 76.2% of the total population. Seychelles forms a single diocese ...
*
List of Catholic dioceses in Indian Ocean Episcopal Conference
The Roman Catholic Church in the lesser East African Indian Ocean states (not Madagascar) is composed of only a Latin hierarchy, without a proper ecclesiastical province but joined in a single episcopal conference, comprising five exempt jurisdict ...
*
St. Francis of Assisi Church, Baie Lazare
The St. Francis of Assisi Church (french: Église de Saint François d’Assise) or simply Church of St. Francis, is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church located in Baie Lazare, on the island of Mahé in the Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ...
References
Sources and external links
GigaCatholic, with incumbent biography links
Roman Catholic dioceses in Seychelles
Religious organizations established in 1892
Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century
{{Africa-RC-diocese-stub