In Moroni, the capital of the Comoros, the church of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus serves as the seat of the apostolic vicariate of the Comoros Archipelago. On that basis the leading Catholic reference sources call it a «cathedral», although it is technically the seat of a vicar apostolic rather than of a diocesan bishop in the strict sense. No construction date for the present building is documented. The Catholic presence in the islands goes back to the apostolic prefecture of the small Malagasy islands of 1848, entrusted at first to the Jesuits. The Comoros became an autonomous apostolic administration on 5 June 1975, barely a month before independence from France, and were raised to an apostolic vicariate on 1 May 2010 with the bull Divini Salvatoris of Pope Benedict XVI. The present vicar apostolic is Charles Mahuza Yava, of the Salvatorians, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in office since 2010. The Catholic population is estimated at between four thousand three hundred and six thousand six hundred people, depending on the year taken as reference. That is fewer than one per cent of a nation whose constitution, since the referendum of 2009, declares Islam the religion of the State according to the Shafi’i school of law, with prison terms of up to a year for anyone who spreads another religion among Muslims, and expulsion for foreigners who do so. The Catholic community is made up, according to the United States State Department, mostly of foreign residents, although some Comorian citizens who converted faced discrimination at work around 2000, according to other sources. The Comoros have seen more than twenty coups or attempted coups since independence in 1975. A Catholic church on the island of Anjouan, not this cathedral, was destroyed by arson in February 1998, a year before the coup of 1999 that brought Azali Assoumani to power, under whose presidency restrictions on the Christian community grew harsher still, according to encyclopaedic sources. No attack on this particular cathedral of Moroni is documented. The Holy See does not maintain full diplomatic relations with the Comoros, and is represented there only by a non-residential apostolic delegation, entrusted to the apostolic nuncio in Madagascar. No papal visit is recorded.
About the Cathedral
In Moroni, Comoros, Holy Rosary — Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus Church serves as the seat of the Apostolic Vicariate of the Comoros Archipelago, and is referred to as a “cathedral” by Catholic reference sources on that basis, though it is technically the seat of a vicar apostolic rather than a diocesan bishop in the strict canonical sense; no construction date for the current building is documented.
Key facts
- 5 June 1975: the Apostolic Administration of Comoros erected, weeks before independence.
- 1 May 2010: elevated to Apostolic Vicariate of the Comoros Archipelago.
- Catholics number roughly 4,300 to 6,600 people, under 1% of the population.
- Comoros’s constitution declares Islam the state religion under Shafi’i law.
- Converting a Muslim to another religion is a criminal offense.
- No full Vatican diplomatic relations with Comoros; no papal visit on record.
History
Serving a Catholic community under one percent of the population in a constitutionally Islamic state, this church became the vicariate’s seat in 2010, decades after Catholic missionary presence in the archipelago first arrived under an 1848 apostolic prefecture. Comoros’s more than twenty coups and coup attempts since 1975 have coincided with periods of tightened restriction on the small Christian community — a 1999 coup-installed government notably hardened constraints on Christians nationally — though the one documented act of violence against a Comorian church, an arson on Anjouan in 1998, predates that coup and struck a different island, not this cathedral.
What you see
A whitewashed single-story church with a red-tiled roof and an arched, colonnaded entrance porch topped with a small cross stands beside a tall, freestanding pierced-concrete bell tower crowned with a larger cross.
Practical information
- Opening hours: generally open daily outside services; check current hours before visiting.
- Address: Moroni, Grande Comore, Comoros.
Getting there
The church stands in Moroni, the capital of Comoros on the island of Grande Comore. GPS: 11°42′31″S, 43°15′10″E.
Nearby
- Old Friday Mosque — one of Moroni’s principal mosques, reflecting the country’s overwhelmingly Muslim population.
Sources
- Wikipedia — “Apostolic Vicariate of the Comoros Archipelago”
- GCatholic.org and Catholic-Hierarchy.org — Apostolic Vicariate of the Comoros Archipelago records.
- US State Department — International Religious Freedom Reports, Comoros.
- Humanists International — Freedom of Thought Report, Comoros.
- Encyclopedia.com — “Catholic Church” entry, Comoros history.
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