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Diocese of Willemstad

Gulielmopolitan(us)

Suffragan diocese · Latin Church · Willemstad, Aruba

Latin-rite diocese covering the Dutch Caribbean (Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba), erected 28 April 1958 from a vicariate apostolic dating to 1842, suffragan of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain. Its seat is the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Willemstad. The see has been vacant since 7 January 2025, with Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon serving as apostolic administrator.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
28 April 1958
Latin
Gulielmopolitan(us)
Annuario code
001000156

The see in figures

Catholics
247,320
Population
295,264
Catholic shareof the people living within its bounds
83.8%
Priests
52
Catholics per priest
4,756
Extent
993 km²
Catholics per km²
249

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Apostolic Administrator of Willemstad
Charles Jason Gordon
Born
17 March 1959
Birthplace
Port of Spain

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, Willemstad stands in Willemstad, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Port of Spain

A suffragan of Archdiocese of Port of Spain.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

Catholics of the Dutch Caribbean belong to the Diocese of Willemstad (Latin: Dioecesis Gulielmopolitana; Dutch: Bisdom Willemstad; Papiamento: Diosesano (di Obispado) di Willemstad), a Latin Church see whose territory is the Caribbean portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: the countries (Dutch: landen) Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten (the southern half of St. Martin), together with the islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, which are part of the Netherlands. The cathedra stands in the city of Curaçao.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

Compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. Corrections: hello@catholicintelligence.com.