The

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 *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Diocese of Alotau-Sideia is a Latin

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 ...

diocese in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

of the Metropolitan

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Port Moresby The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Port Moresby is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese in Papua New Guinea, yet remains dependent on the missionary Propaganda Fide Roman Congregation. Its archiepiscopal seat is St. Mary's Cathedral, in Port Moresby, N ...

, yet remains dependent on the

Roman Congregation In the Roman Curia, a congregation ( lat, Sacræ Cardinalium Congregationes) is a type of department of the Curia. They are second-highest-ranking departments, ranking below the two Secretariats, and above the pontifical councils, pontifical co ...

for the Missions

Propaganda Fide Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

. 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 Cathedral of the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This dev ...

, in

Alotau Alotau is the capital of Milne Bay Province, in the south-east of Papua New Guinea. It is located on the northern shore of Milne Bay. The town is located within Alotau Urban LLG. Alotau is also the annual forum for Australian and Papua New Guinea ...

Milne Bay Province Milne Bay is a province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Alotau. The province covers 14,345 km² of land and 252,990 km² of sea, within the province there are more than 600 islands, about 160 of which are inhabited. The province has a ...

History

* It was erected as the

Prefecture Apostolic 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 Samarai on 13 June 1946, on territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Papua. * Promoted on 11 November 1956 as Vicariate Apostolic of Samarai, 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 on 15 November 1966 as Diocese of Sideia, ceasing to be an exempt pre-diocesan mission. * Its name was changed to the Diocese of Alotau-Sideia on 28 April 1975 (after the provincial capital transfer to Alotau).

Coat of arms

The new coat of arms of the Diocese was adopted in 2016. The proposal of coat of arms created

Marek Sobola Marek Sobola (born 3 July 1981) is an authorised landscape architect, professional gardener and heraldic artist from Slovakia. Biography Sobola was born in Žilina, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) into a family from Lalinok and Divina. He spe ...

, a heraldic specialist from

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

.Marek Sobola – official site (Slovak)

Ordinaries

(all

Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...

, so far missionary members of Latin congregations) ;''Apostolic Prefects of Samarai'' *''

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 ...

André Sorin,

Sacred Heart Missionaries The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC; la, Missionarii Sacratissimi Cordis; french: Missionnaires du Sacré-Coeur) are a missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1854 by Servant of God Jules Chevalier (182 ...

(M.S.C.) (1946.06.13 – 1951.05.18),

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 Antiphræ (1946.06.13 – 1959.04.19), while Apostolic Vicar of

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

(Papua New Guinea) (1946.06.13 – 1959.04.19) * Francis John Doyle, M.S.C. (1951.05.18 – 1956.11.11 ''see below'') ;''Apostolic Vicar of Samarai'' * Francis John Doyle, M.S.C. (''see above'' 1956.11.11 – 1966.11.15 ''see below''),

of Onuphis (1956.11.11 – 1966.11.15) ;''Diocesan Bishops of Sideia'' *

Francis John Doyle Francis John Doyle (born in 1897 in Noorat) was an Australian clergyman and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alotau-Sideia. He was appointed bishop in 1966. Doyle retired in 1970 and died in 1973 in Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot ...

, M.S.C. (6.11.15 – 1970.03.07); emeritate as Titular Bishop of Árd Carna (1970.03.07 – 1973.11.04) *

Desmond Charles Moore Sir Desmond Charles Moore (12 May 1926 – 2 June 2020) was an Australian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Thebarton, South Australia, Moore was ordained to the priesthood in 1957. He was appointed bishop of Alotau-Sideia, Papua N ...

, M.S.C. (1970.03.07 – 1975.04.28 ''see below'') ;''Diocesan Bishops of Alotau-Sideia'' * Desmond Charles Moore, M.S.C. (''see above'' 1975.04.28 – retired 2001.06.25) *

Francesco Panfilo Francesco Panfilo (born November 23, 1942 in Vilminore di Scalve) is an Italian clergyman and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Alotau-Sideia The Roman Catholic Diocese of Alotau-Sideia is a Latin suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical p ...

Salesians , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turin ...

(S.D.B.) (2001.06.25 – 2010.03.18), also President of Bishops’ Conference of Papua New Guinea and Soloman Islands (2008.04 – 2011.05); later

Coadjutor Archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

(Papua New Guinea) (2010.03.18 – 2011.08.11) succeeding as Metropolitan Archbishop of Rabaul 2011.08.11 – ...) * Roland Santos,

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

(C.M.) (2011.04.06 – ...)

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic, with incumbent biography links
Alotau-Sideia {{PapuaNewGuinea-RC-diocese-stub