The Archdiocese of Monrovia (''Archidioecesis Monroviensis'') is 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 ...

Archdiocese in

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. It follows the

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

. It was elevated to an archdiocese in December 1981. It was initially established as the Prefecture Apostolic of Liberia in 1903, being separated from the

Apostolic Vicariate of Sierra Leone The Archdiocese of Freetown (''Archidioecesis Liberae Urbis'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Sierra Leone. Its episcopal see is the city of Freetown, the capital and most populous city of the Afric ...

(which is now the Archdiocese of Freetown and Bo). Until Saturday, February 12, 2011, the Archdiocese of Monrovia had been headed by

Michael Kpakala Francis Michael Kpakala Francis (born 12 February 1936 – 19 May 2013) was a Liberian prelate of the Catholic Church who led the Apostolic Vicariate of Monrovia from 1976 to 1981 and then served as the first Archbishop of the newly established Archdio ...

, who had been Monrovia's Archbishop since its elevation in 1981, but

Vatican Information Service The Vatican Information Service (VIS) is an official, free news service of the Holy See Press Office, founded in 1991 in the Vatican City during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. It transmits news on a daily basis at 3 p.m. local Rome time ...

(VIS) stated that he resigned that day for reasons of age and was succeeded immediately by his Coadjutor Archbishop,

Lewis Jerome Zeigler Lewis Jerome Zeigler (4 January 1944 – 12 August 2022) was a Liberian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Archbishop of Monrovia since 2011 until 2021. Zeigler was born in Harrisburg in 1944 and was ordained in 1974 before he was appo ...

(under canon law, each bishop must offer to resign when he turns 75, which may or may not be accepted then). According to church statistics, the percentage of Catholics under the Archdiocese has risen to 8.2% of the total population in 2004 out of a total of approximately 1.6 million people. The

Diocese of Cape Palmas The Diocese of Cape Palmas ( la, Dioecesis Capitis Palmensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Liberia. Its episcopal see is Cape Palmas. The Diocese of Cape Palmas is a suffragan diocese in the ...

was created from it in 1981. The

Diocese of Gbarnga The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gbarnga ( la, Gbarngan(us)) is a diocese located in the city of Gbarnga in the Ecclesiastical province of Monrovia in Liberia. History * November 17, 1986: Established as Diocese of Gbarnga from the Metropolitan ...

was created from it in 1986.

Bishops

Ordinaries

Prefect Apostolic of Liberia

* Father

Jean Ogé Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * ...

, SMA (3 January 1911 – 16 November 1931) * Father John Collins, SMA (26 February 1932 – 9 April 1934); ''see below''

Vicar Apostolic of Liberia

* John Collins, SMA (9 April 1934 – 2 February 1950); ''see above & below''

Vicars Apostolic of Monrovia

* John Collins, SMA (2 February 1950 – 20 December 1960); ''see above'' *

Francis Carroll Francis Patrick Carroll (born 9 September 1930), a retired Australian archbishop, was the fifth Roman Catholic Archbishop of CanberraGoulburn, serving between 1983 until his retirement in 2006. Prior to his election as archbishop, Carroll ser ...

, SMA (20 December 1960 – 28 October 1976); concurrent with this, became nuncio in 1961 and titular archbishop in 1964 *

(28 October 1976 – 19 December 1981); ''see below''

Archbishops of Monrovia

(19 December 1981 – 12 February 2011); ''see above'' *

(12 February 2011 – 7 June 2021)

Coadjutor Archbishop

(2009-2011)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

(priest here, 1974–1986), appointed Bishop of Gbarnga in 2002; later returned here as Coadjutor

Sources

Archdiocese of Monrovia on catholichierarchy.org
Christian organizations established in 1903 Roman Catholic dioceses in Liberia

Archdiocese of Monrovia The Archdiocese of Monrovia (''Archidioecesis Monroviensis'') is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Monrovia, Liberia. It follows the Latin Rite. It was elevated to an archdiocese in December 1981. It was initially established as the Prefecture A ...

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century {{Africa-RC-diocese-stub