Mission sui iuris

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A mission sui iuris, or in Latin missio sui iuris, also known as an independent mission, is a rare type of 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.

[edit] Present mission(e)s sui iuris

In April 2006, the only cases -all of the Roman 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.

[edit] See also

• Apostolic administration
• Prefecture apostolic

[edit] Source

• List of Missions sui iuris by Giga-Catholic Information