{{short description|none}} {{Catholic Church by country}} [[File:Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Victoria, Seychelles.jpg|thumb|[[Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Seychelles]]]] The [[Catholic Church]] has been active in [[Seychelles]] since the arrival of Léon des Avanchers in 1851. An [[apostolic prefecture]] administered by the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Louis]] was established in 1851, raised to an [[apostolic vicariate]] in 1880, and became the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Victoria]] in 1892.
==History== ===Organisation=== Léon des Avanchers, a member of the [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin]] from Savoy, arrived in [[Victoria, Seychelles]], on 1 March 1851. During his three-week visit he baptised hundreds of people. The [[Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples]] placed the islands under the administration of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port-Louis]] on 26 November 1852.{{sfn|A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese}}
[[Pope Pius IX]] established an [[apostolic prefecture]] for the islands on 26 November 1852. It was raised to an [[apostolic vicariate]] on 5 April 1880, and then as the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Victoria]] on 21 July 1892.{{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}}
Two missionaries, Jérémie de Paglietta and Théophile, arrived on 20 September 1853. Paglietta was the first apostolic prefect.{{sfn|A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese}} The Catholic Church acquired its first property in the Seychelles in 1879.{{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}} ''L’Action Catholique'' was launched by Bishop Ernest Joye in 1935, the it was renamed to ''L’Écho des Îles'' in 1957.{{sfn|A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese}}
An act of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] incorporated the Catholic Church in the Seychelles in 1938. On 12 June 2000, the [[National Assembly (Seychelles)|National Assembly]] voted to change the official name of the church from "The Mission of Seychelles" to "The Catholic Church in Seychelles".{{sfn|A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese}}
===People=== Priests from the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in Savoy served the area from the 1860s to 1922, when they were replaced by members of the order from Switzerland.{{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}} The first three nuns, member of the [[Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny]], arrived on 15 January 1861. The [[Marist Brothers]] arrive on 4 January 1884.{{sfn|A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese}}
Bishop Marc Hudrisier performed the Sacerdotal ordination in Seychelles on 19 September 1895, with the ordination of Jerome Pattoret.{{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}} James Chang-Tave became the first priest from the Seychelles when he was ordained on 1 January 1950. [[Félix Paul]] became the first bishop from the Seycehlles with his appointment on 25 July 1975.{{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}}{{sfn|A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese}}
Bishop [[Marcel Olivier Maradan]] participated in the [[Second Vatican Council]] from 1962 to 1965.{{sfn|A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese}}
[[Pope John Paul II]] visited the islands on 1 December 1986.{{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}}
The [[Bible]] was translated into [[Seychellois Creole]] in 2015.{{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}}
==Education== St. Louis College was established by Father Ignace Galfione in 1867, and has been administered by the Marist Brothers since 1881. During Hudrisier's tenure there were 23 [[Catholic schools]] in the islands with 2,129 students.{{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}} All of the schools were nationalised by the government in 1981, but an agreement on 20 April 1999 recognised the church's ownership of these schools with a 99-year lease to the government.{{sfn|A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese}}
==Population== [[Prempeh I]] and other leaders of the [[Asante Empire]] were sent into exile in the Seychelles. The Catholic Church unsuccessfully sought to convert them, but they chose to join the [[Church of England]].{{sfn|Akyeampong|1999|p=290}}
The 2022 census reported that around 70% of the population was Catholic.{{sfn|2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Seychelles}}
==Division== *[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Victoria]]
==Leadership== *[[Marc Hudrisier]] - apostolic vicar (1890–1892) and bishop (1892–1910){{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}} *[[Bernard Thomas Edward Clark]] - bishop (1910–1915){{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}} *[[Louis-Justin Gumy]] - bishop (1921–1934){{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}} *[[Marcel Olivier Maradan]] - bishop (1937–1972){{sfn|A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese}} *[[Félix Paul]] - bishop (1975–1994){{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}} *[[Gilbert Aubry]] - apostolic administrator (1994–1995){{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}} *[[Xavier-Marie Baronnet]] - bishop (1995–2001){{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}} *[[Denis Wiehe]] - bishop (2001—){{sfn|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}}
==See also== *[[Religion in Seychelles]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==Works cited== {{refbegin|30em}}
===Journals=== * {{cite journal |last=Akyeampong |first=Emmanuel |title=Christianity, Modernity and the Weight of Tradition in the Life of "Asantehene" Agyeman Prempeh I, c. 1888-1931 |journal=[[Africa (journal)|Africa]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |date=1999 |volume=69 |issue=2 |pages=279–311 |doi=10.2307/1161026 |jstor=1161026 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1161026 |url-access=subscription}}
===News=== * {{Cite news |date=21 July 2017 |title=The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old |work=[[Seychelles Nation]] |url=https://www.nation.sc/archive/254955/the-catholic-diocese-of-victoria-is-125-years-old |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250713223103/https://www.nation.sc/archive/254955/the-catholic-diocese-of-victoria-is-125-years-old |archive-date=13 July 2025 |ref={{harvid|The Catholic Diocese of Victoria is 125 years old|2017}}}}
===Web=== * {{Cite web |title=2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Seychelles |publisher=[[United States Department of State]] |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/seychelles/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250713223224/https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-freedom/seychelles/ |archive-date=13 July 2025 |ref={{harvid|2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Seychelles}}}} * {{Cite web |title=A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese |publisher=[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Port Victoria]] |url=https://dioceseportvictoria.org/diocese/?page_id=33&lang=en_GB |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250713223228/https://dioceseportvictoria.org/diocese/?page_id=33&lang=en_GB |archive-date=13 July 2025 |ref={{harvid|A Short History of Seychelles & the Diocese}}}}
{{refend}}
==External links== *[https://dioceseportvictoria.org/diocese/?lang=en_GB&page_id=33 Diocese of Port Victoria website]
{{Africa in topic|Catholic Church in|groupstyle=background-color:gold|titlestyle=background-color:gold}} {{Seychelles topics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Catholic Church in Seychelles}} [[Category:Catholic Church in Seychelles| ]] [[Category:Catholic Church by country|Seychelles]] [[Category:Catholic Church in Africa|Seychelles]]