Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Vanimo

Uanimitan(us)

The Diocese of Vanimo is a Latin rite diocese covering West Sepik (Sandaun) Province, Papua New Guinea, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Madang. Erected as a vicariate apostolic in 1963, it was elevated to a diocese on 15 November 1966 and counts 13 parishes and 96 mission stations. Its seat is the Holy Cross Pro-Cathedral in Vanimo.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
15 November 1966
Latin
Uanimitan(us)
Patron
The Holy Cross
Annuario code
001000075

The see in figures

Catholics
37,765
Population
111,000
Catholic share
34.0%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
26
Catholics per priest
1,453
Extent
26,000 km²
Catholics per km²
1.5

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
Francis Meli
Born
21 July 1962
Birthplace
Poi Island

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

Holy Cross Pro-Cathedral, Vanimo stands in Vanimo, 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.

The province of Madang

A suffragan of Madang.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

In the province of West Sepik (Sandaun) in Papua New Guinea, the Diocese of Vanimo is a Latin Catholic suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Madang and depends on the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Its cathedral episcopal see is the Holy Cross Pro-cathedral in Vanimo.

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.

Ask to enter

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].