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Jerome Feudjio
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Jerome Feudjio

Bishop of Saint Thomas
Bishop
1955
1990
Ordained
2021
Consecrated Bishop
Saint Thomas
Diocese
United States
Country
The Life

Jerome Feudjio was born on September 30, 1955, in Fonakeukeu, near Dschang, Cameroon, a son of Tontsa Tonleu Etienne and Justine Komegou. His father died when he was five, and the family home burned in the fighting before Cameroon's independence. He trained in bookkeeping at St. John College of the Christian Brothers of Quebec, came to Washington, D.C., in 1980, and studied at Oblate College and at the Major Seminary of Nkolbisson before joining the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, making temporary profession in 1987.

He was ordained a priest on September 29, 1990, for the Diocese of Saint Thomas by Bishop Sean O'Malley, and the Virgin Islands became his life's work: parochial vicar at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral and at St. Anne's Chapel, teacher and assistant principal at Sts. Peter and Paul School, diocesan finance officer and vocations director, cathedral rector across two long stretches, chancellor, pastor of Holy Family Parish, and from 2008 vicar general. He was named a Chaplain of His Holiness in 2002.

When Bishop Herbert Bevard resigned for reasons of health on September 18, 2020, Cardinal Wilton Gregory administered the diocese until Pope Francis named Feudjio its sixth bishop on March 2, 2021. He was ordained a bishop and installed on April 17, 2021, at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Charlotte Amalie, with Cardinal Gregory as principal consecrator - the first African-born bishop to serve in the United States. His episcopal motto is Vivit Christus in me - "Christ lives in me."

Major Works & Initiatives
First African-born bishop in the United States
His 2021 appointment made him the first African-born bishop serving in the United States; in April 2026 African Catholics honored his 70th birthday and his fifth anniversary as bishop at a Mass in Beltsville, Maryland.
USCCB cultural diversity liaison
Serves as the U.S. bishops' Committee on Cultural Diversity liaison for African Catholics.
In His Own Words
I come to you as a pilgrim. It has really been a pilgrimage for me from when I left Cameroon to when I am standing here as the bishop of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Homily at St Camillus Church, Silver Spring, Maryland, September 5, 2021, to a congregation of African Catholics, months after becoming the first African-born bishop serving in the United States; Catholic Standard
We lived six in one room. But we managed.
Homily of September 5, 2021, on arriving in Washington in 1980 - he had interrupted seminary after a brother died, to join another brother in the US and help his family; Catholic Standard
I wanted to see what I could do to keep my family together.
Homily of September 5, 2021, on why he first came to Washington; Catholic Standard
my dear African brothers and sisters in the diaspora
How he addressed the congregation at St Camillus, September 5, 2021, with nearly two dozen African-born priests concelebrating; Catholic Standard
The Old Mass, See by See
Saint Thomas2021-04-17 – presentNo act of his own
What he inheritedBishop Feudjio took possession on 17 April 2021, three months before Traditionis custodes, at the end of Cardinal Wilton Gregory's apostolic administration (18 September 2020 - 17 April 2021, per Catholic-Hierarchy). No provision for the 1962 Missal in the diocese has been documented at any point, before or during his tenure. On the old Mass, his record so far is the record he inherited: there was nothing in place to continue, restrict, or suppress, and he has made no documented act in either direction.
Since the SSPX decree of 2 July 2026: No statement recorded as of 2026-10-23.
Reviewed 2026-10-23Confidence: medium
Domus Dei’s Verdict
The Bishop & the Mass of Ages
No public record on the old Mass

No Traditional Latin Mass, decree, permission, or statement on the old Mass has been found anywhere in the sources consulted for this small island diocese - eight parishes across St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John. The CNA survey of diocesan responses in July 2021 lists Saint Thomas as N/A, and no FSSP, ICKSP, or other society apostolate is present.

Bishop Feudjio took possession on April 17, 2021, three months before Traditionis custodes, after an apostolic administration under Cardinal Wilton Gregory. Nothing happened here in either direction, and that is the finding: a diocese that never had the old Mass in this era, and a bishop with no act on it, is recorded as no_record, plainly.

References & Further Reading
1.
Bishop Jerome Feudjio — Catholic-Hierarchy (David M. Cheney) · catholic-hierarchy.orgBishop ID bfeudjio verified against the project's cached CH listings; CH Saint Thomas page: Bevard resigned 18 Sep 2020, Feudjio appointed 2 Mar 2021, and Cardinal Gregory listed as apostolic administrator 18 Sep 2020 - 17 Apr 2021, which fixes the possession date canonically.
2.
Diocese of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands — GCatholic.org · gcatholic.orgDiocese page: appointed 2 Mar 2021; ordination and installation 17 Apr 2021.
3.
New Virgin Islands bishop says installation affirms his role to teach, sanctify, govern — Catholic Standard · cathstan.org · 2021Contemporary account of the April 17, 2021 ordination and installation at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Charlotte Amalie, with Cardinals Gregory, O'Malley and Wuerl as consecrators.
4.
The Bishop — Diocese of Saint Thomas · catholicvi.comDiocesan biography: Cameroon birth, Saint Thomas assignments, vicar general, motto Vivit Christus in me.
5.
African Catholics honor first African-born bishop in the United States for two milestones — Catholic Standard · cathstan.org · 2026Profiles him as the first African-born bishop serving in the United States, on the Mass honoring his 70th birthday and fifth anniversary as bishop.
6.
Pope Francis' Traditional Latin Mass restrictions: Has your diocese responded yet? — National Catholic Register (CNA survey) · ncregister.com · 2021Saint Thomas listed as N/A in the July 2021 survey of diocesan responses.
Portrait: Own work / Wikimedia Commons
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