SEYCHELLES (Port Victoria), DIOCESE OF. — It comprises all the islands of the Seychelles archipelago. These are situated in the Indian Ocean to the northeast of Madagascar and opposite Mombasa, from which they are about 1,800 km distant.
Ecclesiastically, the Seychelles islands were united to the island of Mauritius (see PORTO LUIGI) until 26 November 1852, when
Sévigné, Marie De Rabutin Chantal, Mme de - Portrait by P. Mignard (1612-95) - Florence, Uffizi Gallery.
they were detached from it and erected into an apostolic prefecture. On 30 August 1880 this was raised to an apostolic vicariate. Then, on 21 July 1892, it became a diocese (suffragan of Colombo, Ceylon), which was finally declared immediately subject to the Holy See on 13 June 1899. The population is largely of French origin and culture. Politically, too, all the Seychelles islands were dependent on France and were occupied by the English during the Napoleonic wars. The diocese is currently entrusted to the Capuchins of the Swiss Province and covers an area of 252 sq. km with a population of 34,677, of whom 31,485 are Catholics (only 134 of these being foreigners and 292 of mixed race), 2,781 Protestants, 108 Muslims and 303 pagans. It has 20 foreign priests, 15 foreign brothers, 33 foreign nuns and 23 native sisters, a preparatory seminary and 2 major seminaries, 14 principal and 10 secondary missionary stations, 14 churches and 16 chapels, 2 orphanages with 27 orphans and a hospice for the elderly, 25 schools with 4,169 pupils of both sexes, and two periodicals with a circulation of about 3,000 copies each. The “Legio Mariae” and the “Ligue ouvrière féminine” flourish there.