Diocese of Port Victoria

Diocese of Port Victoria (or Seychelles) Dioecesis Portus Victoriae (o Seychellarum)
Immaculate Conception Cathedral Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Location
Country	Seychelles
Ecclesiastical province	Immediately exempt to the Holy See
Statistics
Area	457 km2 (176 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2022) 102,612 62,952 (61.3%)
Parishes	17
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	14 July 1892
Cathedral	Immaculate Conception Cathedral
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	Alain Harel
Website
dioceseportvictoria.org

Diocese of Port Victoria — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Victoria (or Seychelles) (French: Diocèse de Port-Victoria) is the only Latin Catholic diocese in the Seychelles. It is exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See, and remains missionary, governed by the Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Its cathedral episcopal see is the Cathédrale de l’Immaculée Conception (dedicated to the Immaculate Conception) in Victoria, the capital city of the country.

History

• Established in 1852 as Apostolic Prefecture of Seychelles, on insular territory split off from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Louis (Indian Ocean neighbour Mauritius).
• Promoted on 31 August 1880 as Apostolic Vicariate of Seychelles, hence entitled to a titular bishop.
• Promoted and renamed after its see on 14 July 1892 as Diocese of Port Victoria (also still known as Seychelles).
• It enjoyed a papal visit from Pope John Paul II in December 1986.

Ordinaries

Apostolic Prefects of Seychelles

• Jérémie de Paglietta (1853–1855)
• Léon des Avanchers (1855–1863)
• Symphorien Jean-Pierre-Ignace Galfione, OFM Cap (1863 – 30 August 1880 see below)

Apostolic Vicars of Seychelles

• Symphorien Jean-Pierre-Ignace Galfione, OFM Cap (see above 30 August 1880 – 19 December 1881)
• Charles-Jacques Mouard, OFM Cap (8 August 1882 – 8 August 1888), appointed Bishop of Lahore, Pakistan
• Not possessed: Edmond Alfred Dardel, OFM Cap (23 August 1889 – 21 March 1890)
• Marc Hudrisier, OFM Cap (2 September 1890 – 14 July 1892 see below)

Bishops of Port Victoria

• Marc Hudrisier, OFM Cap (see above 14 July 1892 – 6 January 1910)
• Bernard Thomas Edward Clark, OFM Cap (18 June 1910 – 26 September 1915)
• Georges-Jean-Damascène Lachavanne, OFM Cap (13 April 1916 – 24 July 1920)
• Louis-Justin Gumy, OFM Cap (10 March 1921 – 9 January 1934)
• Aloys Ernest Joye, OFM Cap (9 January 1934 – 4 June 1936)
• Apostolic Administrator: Aloys Ernest Joye, OFM Cap (4 June 1936 – 17 June 1937)
• Marcel Olivier Maradan, OFM Cap (17 June 1937 – 6 October 1972)
• Apostolic Administrator: Gervais Aeby, OFM Cap (1972-1975)
• Félix Paul (17 March 1975 – 30 May 1994)
• Apostolic Administrator: Gilbert Aubry (1994 – 3 March 1995)
• Xavier-Marie Baronnet, SJ (3 March 1995 – 1 June 2002)
• Denis Wiehe, CSSp (1 June 2002 – 10 September 2020)
• Alain Harel (10 September 2020 – )

See also

• Catholic Church in Seychelles
• List of Catholic dioceses in Indian Ocean Episcopal Conference
• St. Francis of Assisi Church, Baie Lazare
• Notre Dame de L'Assomption Church, La Digue

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Victoria o Seychelles is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.

External links

• Official website

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Port Victoria — (PORTUS VICTORIÆ SEYCHELLARUM.)

Port Victoria comprises the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean. With their dependencies, these eighty-nine islands, the principal of which are Mahé, Praslin, Silhouette, Curieuse, and La Digue, cover an area of 148½ sq. miles. The French occupied the islands about 1742, but they were captured by the British in 1794, and were formally ceded to Great Britain in 1848. Port Victoria, the capital of Mahé and situated on the north-eastern side of the island, is the seat of the colonial government, the present governor being Walter Edward Davidson, C.M.G. In December, 1909, the estimated population of the islands was 22,409. Both Catholic and Church of England primary schools are aided by the State. The principal exports are vanilla cocoanuts, cocoa-nut oil, tortoise-shell, soap, and guano. The double cocoa-nut known as Coco de Mer is grown in Mahé and Praslin, while Aldabra, a dependency about 680 miles from Mahé, is famous for enormous land tortoises. By a Papal Decree of 26 November, 1852, the Seychelles were separated from the Diocese of Port Louis and made a prefecture Apostolic, to which a Decree of 6 December, 1854, joined the Amirantes and Agalega Islands, likewise separated from Port Louis. The first prefect Apostolic was the Right Reverend Jeremias Paglietti, who as a missionary had laboured successfully in the region for many years. In 1863 the mission was confided to the Capuchins, and was made a vicariate Apostolic on 31 Aug., 1880. As the Diocese of Port Victoria (erected 14 July, 1892), it was a suffragan of Colombo, Ceylon, but by a Decree of 3 June, 1899, it became directly subject to the Holy See. The present bishop is the Right Reverend Bernard Thomas Clarke, O.M.Cap. (born at London, 12 November, 1856; made titular Bishop of Tingis, 19 March, 1902, and Vicar Apostolic of Arabia). On 10 June, 1910, he was transferred to Port Victoria, where he succeeded Bishop Marc Hudrisier (born at Faverges, France, 27 July, 1848; became Bishop of Port Victoria, 21 July, 1892; died Feb., 1910). Besides Capuchins there are in the diocese Marist Brothers and Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny. There are 18 ecclesiastical residences, 18 churches or chapels, 1 infirmary, 24 schools with 2170 pupils, 2 colleges with 215 students, 2 orphanages with 67 orphans.

Missiones Catholicœ (Rome, 1907); Statesman's Year Book (1911); BATTANDIER, Ann. pont (Paris, 1911).

External links

• Diocese of Port Victoria website
• GigaCatholic, with incumbent biography links
• Catholic Hierarchy