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 jurisdictions, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See : * three exempt dioceses (on Mauritius,

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

and the Seychelles) * two missionary pre-diocesan Apostolic vicariates (entitled to titular bishops) : one for the

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

and Mayotte; the other in above Mauritius. There are no titular sees. All defunct jurisdictions have current successors. There are also three papal diplomatic representations (in fact all vested in the apostolic nunciature (embassy) on Madagascar) : * an apostolic nunciature to Mauritius * an apostolic nunciature to the Seychelles * an

apostolic delegation An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

(papal legation) to the Comoros;
none to Mayotte or Réunion, as those depend on metropolitan France without full statehood.

Current jurisdictions

Episcopal Conference of the Indian Ocean (minor African East Coast Island states)

:''all Immediately subject to the Holy See'' * Mauritius **

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 ...

on Mauritius (also covers the

British Indian Ocean Territory The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1,000 ...

) **

Apostolic Vicariate of Rodrigues The Apostolic Vicariate of Rodrigues ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Rodrigensis) is a Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * ...

, covering part of Mauritius * Diocese of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion on and for

* Diocese of Port Victoria on and for the Seychelles * Apostolic Vicariate of Archipel des Comores, on the

, also for Mayotte.

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org Comoros

{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Indian Ocean Indian Ocean