Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Monrovia
The Archdiocese of Monrovia is the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Monrovia, Liberia. It follows the Latin Rite. It was elevated to an archdiocese in December 1981. It was initially established as the Prefecture Apostolic of Liberia in 1903, being separated from the Apostolic Vicariate of Sierra Leone. Until Saturday, February 12, 2011, the Archdiocese of Monrovia had been headed by Michael Kpakala Francis, who had been Monrovia's Archbishop since its elevation in 1981, but Vatican Information Service stated that he resigned that day for reasons of age and was succeeded immediately by his Coadjutor Archbishop, Lewis Jerome Zeigler.
According to church statistics, the percentage of Catholics under the Archdiocese has risen to 8.2% of the total population in 2004 out of a total of approximately 1.6 million people.
The Diocese of Cape Palmas was created from it in 1981. The Diocese of Gbarnga was created from it in 1986.Bishops
Ordinaries
- Father Jean Ogé, SMA
- Father John Collins, SMA ; see below
- John Collins, SMA ; see above & below
- John Collins, SMA ; see above
- Francis Carroll, SMA ; concurrent with this, became nuncio in 1961 and titular archbishop in 1964
- Michael Kpakala Francis ; see below
Archbishops of Monrovia
- Michael Kpakala Francis ; see above
- Lewis Jerome Zeigler
Coadjutor Archbishop
- Lewis Jerome Zeigler
Other priest of this diocese who became bishop
- Lewis Jerome Zeigler, appointed Bishop of Gbarnga in 2002; later returned here as Coadjutor
