Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Wallis et Futuna

Uvean(us) et Futunen(sis)

The Latin rite Diocese of Wallis and Futuna covers the French Pacific territory of the same name, where about 96 percent of residents are Catholic. Erected as an Apostolic Vicariate on 11 November 1935, it became a diocese on 21 June 1966 and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Noumea. Its cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Mata-Utu; the see is sede vacante following Bishop Susitino Sionepoe's 2025 transfer to Noumea.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
21 June 1966
Latin
Uvean(us) et Futunen(sis)
Patron
Peter Chanel
Annuario code
001000134

The see in figures

Catholics
13,631
Population
14,231
Catholic share
95.8%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
12
Catholics per priest
1,136
Extent
256 km²
Catholics per km²
53

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

Born
9 July 1943
Birthplace
Juvardeil
Institute
SOCIETÀ DI MARIA (MARIANISTI) (S.M.)

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

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, Mata-Utu stands in Wallis et Futuna, 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 Noumea

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Noumea.

The sees of this province:

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

History

First erected as a Vicariate Apostolic in 1935 and raised to a diocese in 1966, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wallis et Futuna (Latin: Dioecesis Uveanus et Futunensis; French: Diocèse de Wallis et Futuna) serves Wallis and Futuna as a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nouméa. Its bishop sits on the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific.

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].