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Diocese of Saint Thomas

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Diocese of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands
Diœcesis Sancti Thomae in Insulis Virgineis
Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral
Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral
Location
Country United States
Territory Saint Thomas, Saint Croix and Saint John in the United States Virgin Islands
Ecclesiastical province Washington
Statistics
Area 135 km2 (52 sq mi)
Population
Total
Catholics 		(as of 2010)
108,612
30,000 (27.6%)
Parishes 8
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Sui iuris church Latin Church
Rite Roman Rite
Established April 30, 1960 (66 years ago)
Cathedral Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul
Patron saint Saints Peter and Paul
Current leadership
Pope Leo XIV
Bishop Jerome Feudjio
Metropolitan Archbishop Robert McElroy
Vicar General Andrea Filippucci
Map
The U.S. Virgin Islands of Saint Thomas, Saint Croix and Saint John
Website
catholicvi.com

Diocese of Saint Thomas — The Diocese of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands (Latin: Diœcesis Sancti Thomae in Insulis Virgineis) is a diocese of the Catholic Church for the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is the only suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Washington. The mother church is Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Thomas. The bishop is Jerome Feudjio.

History

1700 to 1960

By 1733, the present day US and British Virgin Islands were a colony of the Kingdom of Denmark, but were under the Catholic jurisdiction of the Diocese of San Juan in Puerto Rico, then a Spanish colony. The first Catholic church in the Virgin Islands was Holy Cross Catholic Church in Christiansted on the island of St. Croix, opening in 1755.[1] On the island of St. Thomas, the first Catholic building opened in 1802 in Charlotte Amalie.

The Vatican in 1804 asked Bishop John Carroll from the Diocese of Baltimore in the United States to send priests to the Virgin Islands. These priests tended to Spanish merchants and French planters living there.[2] The current Saints Peter and Paul church in Charlotte Amalie was constructed in 1848. In 1917, during World War I, the Government of Denmark sold St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas to the United States. They became the US Virgin Islands.[3]

1960 to 1993

Pope Paul VI erected the Territorial Prelature of the Virgin Islands in 1960, taking the Virgin Islands from the Diocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico.[4] He named Edward Harper as the apostolic prefect. In 1977, Paul VI elevated the prefecture to the Diocese of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Harper was its first bishop.[5]

Pope John Paul II in 1984 appointed Seán Patrick O'Malley from Washington as coadjutor bishop in St. Thomas to assist Harper.[6] After 25 years of service, Harper retired in 1985. O'Malley succeeded him. While bishop, O'Malley worked with the homeless and opened a home for people with HIV/AIDS. In 1992, he was named bishop of the Diocese of Fall River.

1993 to present

The next bishop of St. Thomas was Elliot Thomas of St. Thomas, taking office in 1993. Auxiliary Bishop George V. Murry from the Archdiocese of Chicago was appointed coadjutor bishop by John Paul II in 1998.[7] When Thomas retired in 1999, Murry replaced him. Murry transferred to the Diocese of Youngstown in 2007.[8]

To replace Murry, Benedict XVI named Monsignor Herbert Bevard from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2008.[9] In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria in 2017, Catholic Charities opened five soup kitchens in the Virgin Islands to aid storm victims.[10]

A health emergency forced Bevard to retire as bishop in 2020. Jerome Feudjio of St. Thomas succeeded him in 2021.[11][12]

As of 2025, Feudjio is the current bishop of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

Bishops

Apostolic Prefect of the Virgin Islands

Edward John Harper (1960–1977)

Bishops of Saint Thomas

  1. Edward John Harper (1977–1985)
  2. 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 in 2006)
  3. Elliot Griffin Thomas (1993–1999)
  4. George Murry (1999–2007), appointed Bishop of Youngstown
  5. Herbert Bevard (2008–2020)
  6. Jerome Feudjio (2021–present)

Coadjutor Bishops

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

Another diocesan priest who became bishop

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

Parishes

As of 2025, the Diocese of St. Thomas had four parishes.[13]

Schools

As of 2025, the Diocese of St. Thomas had four schools.[13]

Canonical status and jurisdiction

Diocese of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands is a diocese of the catholic church of the Catholic Church.[14]

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Diocese of Saint Thomas — (SANCTI THOMAE IN INSULA)

The Diocese of Saint Thomas, comprising the Islands of São Thomé and Principe, in the Gulf of Guinea, was erected on 23 November, 1584, as suffragan of Lisbon; in 1676 it was made subject to the Metropolitan of San Salvador, Brazil, and in 1844 to Lisbon once more. The last bishop, Bartolomeo de Martyribus, a Carmelite of Sandomir, was preconized on 8 March, 1816, and died in 1847. The see then remained vacant. Since 1865 it has been ruled as a vicariate. São Thomé, lying one hundred and fifty miles off the African mainland at 0°28' N. lat. and 6°42" E.long., has an area of three hundred and fifty-eight square miles and a population of 37,776 inhabitants (in 1900). It is very fertile, and is noted for its cocoa. The capital, São Thomé, situated on the Bay of Santa Anna, contains 6000 inhabitants. The island, when discovered on 21 December, 1470, by João de Santarem, was uninhabited; in 1485 João de Paiva and in 1493 Pereira attempted to colonize it. Most of the present inhabitants are of African slave origin. About 1544 a ship carrying a cargo of Angolares was wrecked at Sete Pedras and 3000 of their descendants still live in the south-west. The Capuchins arrived in 1659 and established a definite mission in 1688. Principe, lying ninety miles north-east of São Thomé and discovered in 1471, had an area of 42 square miles and a population of 4327. Its chief town is São Antonio. The diocese contains 8 parishes and 22,000 Catholics. Owing to the development of the cocoa trade in recent years the population, recruited chiefly from Africa, is estimated to have increased by over 20,000 since the last official census (1910).

NEGREIROS, Ila de San Thomé (Paris, 1901).

References

  1. Back to citation "Historic Churches". St. Croix Landmarks Society. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
  2. Back to citation "Caribbean, Catholic Church in the | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
  3. Back to citation "U.S. Virgin Islands | U.S. Department of the Interior". www.doi.gov. 2023-03-23. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
  4. Back to citation "San Juan de Puerto Rico (Archdiocese) [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
  5. Back to citation "Bishop Edward John Harper, C.SS.R." Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
  6. Back to citation Cheney, David M. "Sean Patrick Cardinal O'Malley [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  7. Back to citation Sheehan, Pete (June 5, 2020). "Retired Bishop George Murry dies after two-year battle with leukemia". Crux. Catholic News Service. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  8. Back to citation "Bishop George Vance Murry". Kansas City: Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  9. Back to citation "Bishop Herbert Armstrong Bevard [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  10. Back to citation "Virgin Islands diocese still recovering from 2017 double hurricanes". Retrieved 2025-03-19.
  11. Back to citation "Diocese of Saint Thomas". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
  12. Back to citation "Diocese of Saint Thomas". Gcatholic. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
  13. Back to citation occurrence 13.0 Back to citation occurrence 13.1 "Parishes and Schools". Diocese of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
  14. Back to citation Diocese of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands, official website

18°20′28″N 64°56′12″W / 18.34111°N 64.93667°W

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