Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo

The Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo is a Latin Catholic missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction that cover the Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces in southern Philippines.

Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo Vicariatus Apostolicus Ioloensis[1]
Catholic
Location
Country	Philippines
Territory	Sulu and Tawi-Tawi[1]
Ecclesiastical province	Immediately subject to the Holy See
Statistics
Area	2,687.8 km2 (1,037.8 sq mi)[1]
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2021) 1,374,259 19,240[2] (1%)
Parishes	5[1]
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	28 October 1953[1]
Cathedral	Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Patron saint	Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Secular priests	12
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Vicar Apostolic	Charlie Malapitan Inzon

It is directly exempt to the Holy See, specifically to the Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and is not part of any ecclesiastical province. However, for the purpose 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, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

History

Established on 28 October 1953 as Apostolic Prefecture of Sulu,^[1] of territory split off from the then Territorial Prelature of Cotabato and Sulu (now Archdiocese of Cotabato).

Promoted and renamed after its see on 12 July 1958 as Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo, led by a titular bishop.^[1]

Ordinaries

Apostolic Prefect of Sulu (1954-1958)

Name		Period in office
1.	Fr. Francis Joseph McSorley, O.M.I.	1954 – July 12, 1958

Apostolic Vicars of Jolo (1958-present)

Name		Period in office	Coat of arms
1.	Bishop Francis Joseph McSorley, O.M.I.	July 12, 1958 – November 20, 1970+, Died in office (12 years, 131 days)
2.	Bishop Philip Francis Smith, O.M.I.	June 26, 1972 – April 11, 1979, Transferred to Cotabato (6 years, 289 days)
3.	Bishop George Eli Dion, O.M.I.	January 28, 1980 – October 11, 1991, Resigned (11 years, 256 days)
4.	Bishop Benjamin D. de Jesus, O.M.I.	October 11, 1991 – February 04, 1997, Died in office (5 years, 116 days)
5.	Bishop Angelito R. Lampon, O.M.I.	November 21, 1997 – November 06, 2018, Transferred to Cotabato (20 years, 350 days)
–	Fr. Romeo S. Saniel, O.M.I.	December 16, 2018 – April 04, 2020,Apostolic Administrator (1 year, 110 days)
6.	Bishop Charlie M. Inzon, O.M.I.	April 04, 2020 – present (5 years, 123 days)