The Diocese of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands ( la, Diœcesis Sancti Thomae in Insulis Virgineis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church on the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, comprising the United States overseas dependency of the

U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

, specifically the islands Saint Thomas, Saint Croix and Saint John. The Diocese of Saint Thomas is the sole

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria ...

in the ecclesiastical province of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Archdiocese of Washington The Archdiocese of Washington is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the District of Columbia and the counties of Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, P ...

. Bishops of Saint Thomas are members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and also hold observer status with the

Antilles Episcopal Conference The Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) is a Roman Catholic episcopal conference. Its members are bishops and archbishops from current and former British, Dutch, and French colonies and dependencies in the Caribbean (excluding Haiti), Central Ameri ...

History

The Diocese of Saint Thomas was erected as the Territorial Prelature of the Virgin Islands on April 30, 1960. Its name was changed and was elevated to a diocese on April 20, 1977. It is the only suffragan see of the

. The diocese is governed from Charlotte Amalie on the island of Saint Thomas by a bishop whose episcopal seat is the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. The current bishop is

Jerome Feudjio Jerome Feudjio (born September 30, 1955) is a Cameroonian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Saint Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands since 2021. Biography Early life Born on Sep ...

, since March 2, 2021.

Bishops

The list of bishops of the diocese and their years of service:

Apostolic Prefect of the Virgin Islands

Edward John Harper Edward John Harper (July 23, 1910 — December 2, 1990) was an American member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (more commonly known as the Redemptorists) and a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of S ...

(1960–1977)

Bishops of Saint Thomas

# Edward John Harper (1977–1985) # Seán Patrick O'Malley (1985–1992), appointed Bishop of Fall River and later Bishop of Palm Beach, Archbishop of Boston, and President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (elevated to

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

in 2006) #

Elliot Griffin Thomas Elliot Griffin Thomas (15 July 1926 – 28 February 2019) was an African-American Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Thomas. Life Thomas was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on July 15, 1926. His family had liv ...

(1993–1999) # George Murry (1999–2007), appointed Bishop of Youngstown # Herbert Bevard (2008–2020) #

(2021–present)

Coadjutor Bishops

* Seán Patrick O'Malley (1984–1985) * George Murry (1998–1999)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Adalberto Martínez Flores (priest here, 1985-1993), appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Asunción, Paraguay in 1997

High schools

St. Joseph High School St. Joseph's School, St. Joseph's Catholic School, St Joseph's School, St Joseph's Catholic School, and variants are frequently used school names, and may refer to: Africa * St Joseph's School, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Asia * St Joseph Higher Secon ...

, Frederiksted, St. Croix * Sts. Peter & Paul School, St. Thomas

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Thomas Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Thomas Roman Catholic dioceses in the Caribbean Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Washington Roman Catholic Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1960 establishments in the United States Virgin Islands