Catholic Intelligence

Apostolic Prefecture of Falkland Islands o Malvinas

de Insulis Falkland seu Malvinis

Latin rite apostolic prefecture erected on 10 January 1952, covering the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It is immediately exempt to the Holy See and not part of any ecclesiastical province; its principal church is St Mary's Church in Stanley. Since 18 July 2024 it has been led by apostolic administrator Fr Tom Thomas, I.C.; about 400 Catholics (2022).

The see

Rank
Apostolic prefecture
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
10 January 1952
Latin
de Insulis Falkland seu Malvinis
Patron
Our Lady, Star of the Sea
Annuario code
001000474

The see in figures

Catholics
400
Population
2,530
Catholic share
15.8%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
2
Catholics per priest
200
Extent
12,173 km²
Catholics per km²
0.0

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Hugh Allan

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

St Mary's Church, Stanley stands in Falkland Islands o Malvinas, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

History

The Falkland Islands together with South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, UK overseas possessions in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, are covered by a Latin Church missionary jurisdiction, the Apostolic Prefecture of Falkland Islands (Latin: Apostolica Præfectura de Insulis Falkland). Immediately exempt to the Holy See, it belongs to no ecclesiastical province. Its only church in the Falklands at present is St. Mary's Church in Stanley, the Falklands capital.

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].