Mission sui iuris

See also: Catholic Church hierarchy#Equivalents of diocesan bishops in law

A mission sui iuris, or in Latin missio sui iuris, also known as an independent mission, is a rare type of Roman Catholic missionary pseudo-diocesan jurisdiction in an area with very few Catholics, often desolate or remote.

The clerical head is styled Ecclesiastical Superior; he can be a regular cleric, bishop, archbishop or even a cardinal, but if of high rank often resides elsewhere (notably, in another diocese or the Vatican) in chief of his primary office.

Present mission(e)s sui iuris

In April 2006, the only cases — all of the Latin rite — were:

In Asia:

• Afghanistan
• Baku (capital of independent Azerbaijan)
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan

In the Atlantic Ocean:

• Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha

In the Caribbean:

• Cayman Islands, in the ecclesiastical province of the Archbishop of Kingston (in Jamaica)
• Turks and Caicos, in the ecclesiastical province of the Archbishop of Nassau (in the Bahamas)

In Oceania:

• Funafuti, in Tuvalu, in the ecclesiastical province of the Archbishop of Apia (on Samoa)
• Tokelau, in the ecclesiastical province of the Archbishop of Apia

Those for which no province is named are exempt, i.e directly under Rome.

See also

Catholicism portal

• Roman Catholicism in Afghanistan
• List of Roman Catholic dioceses (alphabetical)
• List of Roman Catholic dioceses (structured view)
• List of Roman Catholic archdioceses
• List of Roman Catholic military dioceses
• List of Roman Catholic apostolic administrations
• List of Roman Catholic apostolic vicariates
• List of Eastern Catholic exarchates
• List of Roman Catholic apostolic prefectures
• List of Roman Catholic territorial prelatures

External links

• List of Missions sui iuris by Giga-Catholic Information