1700 to 1960 By 1733, the present day US and British Virgin Islands were a colony of the
Kingdom of Denmark, but were under the Catholic jurisdiction of the
Diocese of San Juan in
Puerto Rico, then a Spanish colony. The first Catholic church in the Virgin Islands was Holy Cross Catholic Church in
Christiansted on the island of St. Croix, opening in 1755. On the island of St. Thomas, the first Catholic building opened in 1802 in
Charlotte Amalie. The Vatican in 1804 asked Bishop
John Carroll from the
Diocese of Baltimore in the United States to send priests to the Virgin Islands. These priests tended to Spanish merchants and French planters living there. The current Saints Peter and Paul church in Charlotte Amalie was constructed in 1848. In 1917, during
World War I, the
Government of Denmark sold St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas to the United States. They became the US Virgin Islands.
1960 to 1993 Pope Paul VI erected the
Territorial Prelature of the Virgin Islands in 1960, taking the Virgin Islands from the
Diocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico. He named Reverend
Edward Harper of the
Diocese of Brooklyn as the apostolic prefect. In 1977, Paul VI elevated the prefecture to the Diocese of Saint Thomas in the Virgin Islands, naming Harper as its first bishop.
Pope John Paul II in 1984 appointed Reverend
Seán Patrick O'Malley from Washington as
coadjutor bishop in St. Thomas to assist Harper. After 25 years of service, Harper retired in 1985. O'Malley automatically succeeded him as the next bishop of St. Thomas. While bishop, O'Malley worked with the
homeless and opened a home for people with
HIV/AIDS. In 1992, he was named bishop of the
Diocese of Fall River.
1993 to present The next bishop of St. Thomas was Reverend
Elliot Thomas of St. Thomas, appointed by John Paul II in 1993. Auxiliary Bishop
George V. Murry from the
Archdiocese of Chicago was appointed
coadjutor bishop by John Paul II in 1998. When Thomas retired in 1999, Murry replaced him. In 2007,
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Murry as bishop of the
Diocese of Youngstown. To replace Murry, Benedict XVI named Monsignor
Herbert Bevard from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2008. In the aftermath of
Hurricane Irma and
Hurricane Maria in 2017,
Catholic Charities opened five soup kitchens in the Virgin Islands to aid storm victims. A health emergency forced Bevard to retire as bishop in 2020.
Pope Francis then named Monsignor
Jerome Feudjio of St. Thomas in 2021 as the new bishop. As of 2025, Feudjio is the current bishop of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. ==Bishops==