Diocese of Jolo
Ioloën(sis)
Apostolic vicariate · Latin Church · Jolo, Philippines
Jolo is an Apostolic Vicariate of the Latin Church in the Sulu Archipelago, not a full diocese. The see has been vacant since September 2025 when its vicar apostolic, Charlie M. Inzon, O.M.I., was transferred to become Archbishop of Cotabato.
The see
- Rank
- Apostolic vicariate
- Tradition
- Latin Church
- Erected
- 12 July 1958
- Latin
- Ioloën(sis)
- Patron
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- Annuario code
- 001000420
The see in figures
- Catholics
- 25,166
- Population
- 1,374,259
- Catholic share
- 1.8%
- Priests
- 12
- Catholics per priest
- 2,097
- Extent
- 2,687 km²
- Catholics per km²
- 9.4
of the people living within its bounds
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
The register holds no ordinary for this see. Where a chair is vacant the vacancy is the fact, and it is recorded rather than filled in. See the bishop.
The cathedral
Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel stands in Jolo, 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 Zamboanga
A suffragan of Zamboanga.
The sees of this province:
- Diocese of IpilIpil
- Diocese of IsabelaIsabela
- Archdiocese of ZamboangaZamboanga
On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.
History
The Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces of the southern Philippines are served by the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo, a Latin Catholic missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction. Belonging to no ecclesiastical province, it is directly exempt to the Holy See, specifically to the Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, though for purposes of apostolic cooperation it is sometimes grouped with the Archdiocese of Zamboanga. Its cathedral episcopal see is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Jolo, Sulu.
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.
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].