The Episcopal Conference of the Indian Ocean (french: Conférence Épiscopale de l'Océan Indien, italics=yes, CEDOI) is the

episcopal conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

which includes the following

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 ...

archipelagic state An archipelagic state is an island country that consists of an archipelago. The designation is legally defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In various conferences, The Bahamas, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 o ...

Mayotte Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loca ...

and

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, ...

History

Since 1974, the bishops of the

islands would gather each year in an informal meeting. In 1976 the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

recognized this assembly with the name of Pastoral Zone of the South West Indian Ocean islands. In 1985 the assembly obtained from Rome the status of a

Bishops' Conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

with the official name of Conférence Épiscopale de l'Océan Indien. The islands that make up the C.E.D.O.I. have a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

population estimated at around one million. Its seat is the town of Port Victoria in

. The Episcopal Conference is a member of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.

Members

* Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Victoria or Seychelles *

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 O ...

, Mauritius *

Vicariate Apostolic of Rodrigues The Apostolic Vicariate of Rodrigues ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Rodrigensis) is a Roman Catholic apostolic vicariate located on the island of Rodrigues Rodrigues (french: Île Rodrigues, link=yes ; Creole: ) is a autonomous outer islan ...

, Mauritius *

Diocese of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

, Réunion * Vicariate Apostolic of the Comoros, Comoros and

Presidents

List of presidents of the Episcopal Conference: 1986–1989: Jean Margéot,

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, t ...

, bishop of Port-Louis 1989–1996: Gilbert Guillaume Jean-Marie Aubry, Bishop of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion 1996–2002:

Maurice Piat Maurice Piat CSSp GCSK (born 19 July 1941) is a Mauritian Roman Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Port Louis, Mauritius, since 1993; he is also a professed member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. Piat was ordained a priest in ...

, Bishop of Port-Louis 2002–2006: Gilbert Guillaume Jean-Marie Aubry, Bishop of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion 2006 – present: Denis Wiehe, Bishop of Port Victoria

References

{{Reflist

External links

* http://www.dioceseportlouis.org/index.php?Itemid=49&id=31&option=com_content&task=view * http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/conference/070.htm