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In the canon law of the Catholic Church, a mission sui iuris (Latin : missio sui iuris, pl. missions sui iuris), also known as an independent mission, can be defined as: "an ecclesial structure erected from a previous territory, with explicit boundaries, under the care of a religious community or other diocese, responding to a missionary exigency and headed by a superior nominated by the Holy See, under the aegis of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples." [1]
It is generally applied to an area with very few Catholics, or in areas where Christianity (in particular Roman Catholicism) is either outlawed or undergoing persecution, often desolate or remote, and ranks below an apostolic prefecture and an apostolic vicariate.
The clerical head is styled Ecclesiastical Superior and can be a regular cleric, titular or diocesan bishop, archbishop or even a cardinal, but if of episcopal rank often resides elsewhere (notably, in another diocese or the Vatican) in chief of his primary office there.
It can either be exempt (i.e. directly subject to the Holy See, like apostolic prefectures and apostolic vicariates), or suffragan of a Metropolitan Archbishop, hence part of his ecclesiastical province.
As of March 2017, the only remaining cases — all of the Latin Church — were:
In Asia :
In the Atlantic Ocean :
In the Caribbean :
In Oceania :
Those for which no province is named are exempt, i.e. directly under the Holy See.
by continent and (present/colonial) country
An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often a promotion for a former apostolic prefecture, while either may have started out as a mission sui iuris. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more. The hope is that the region will generate sufficient numbers of Catholics for the Church to create a diocese one day.
An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese, or is a diocese, archdiocese, eparchy or similar permanent ordinariate that either has no bishop or archbishop or, in very rare cases, has an incapacitated (arch)bishop. The title also applies to an outgoing (arch)bishop while awaiting for the date of assuming his new position.
The Apostolic Prefecture of the Marshall Islands is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or apostolic prefecture of the Catholic Church in the Marshall Islands.
An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it usually has an (embryonal) see, it is often not called after such city but rather after a natural feature, or administrative geographical area, which may be a name in use by the local inhabitants, or one assigned by a colonial authority, depending on the circumstances under which the prefecture was established.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia consists of the Independent State of Samoa.
The Mission Sui Iuris of Funafuti is a Catholic Latin mission sui juris in Tuvalu, Polynesia.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kananga is the Metropolitan See for the ecclesiastical province of Kananga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The episcopal cathedral is the Cathédrale Saint Joseph Mikalayi in Kazumba. The Pro-cathédrale Saint Clément is in Kananga.
The Archdiocese of Kinshasa is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its ecclesiastic territory includes the capital city of Kinshasa and surrounding districts. The archdiocese is the metropolitan see for the Ecclesiastical Province of Kinshasa. The current archbishop is Fridolin Ambongo Besungu.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mbandaka-Bikoro is the Metropolitan See for the Latin Rite Ecclesiastical province of Mbandaka-Bikoro, in the western part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri is the Metropolitan See for the ecclesiastical province of Nyeri, one of four in Kenya, Eastern Africa, yet depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mbeya is an archdiocese located in Mbeya in Tanzania.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lanzhou is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Catholic church with an Ecclesiastical province, yet depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The Apostolic Prefecture of Ulaanbaatar is a Roman Catholic Latin apostolic prefecture located in Mongolia, with its territory consisting of the entire country.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Ajmer is a suffragan Latin diocese in the ecclesiastical province of Agra in northwestern India, yet still depends on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The Diocese of Oslo is an exempt Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Oslo in Norway.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bikoro was a Latin Church diocese in Congo (Zaire) from 1931 to 1975, named after its then headquarters/ episcopal see Bikoro, run by the Vincentians.
The Mission sui juris of I-li was a pre-diocesan Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or mission sui iuris of the Catholic Church in Mongol-imperial China, notably in East Turkestan.
The Apostolic Prefecture of Xinjiang-Urumqi is a pre-diocesan missionary Latin jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in north-western China's vast region Xinjiang, which is exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See and its missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, not part of any ecclesiastical province.