Apostolic Constitutions – Page 8

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre leading a Catholic procession in Fada N'Gourma, surrounded by African faithful and Redemptorist missionaries.

Niameyensis (Fadangurmaensis) (1959.02.12)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The Latin text published under the name of John XXIII on 12 February 1959 decrees the division of the Apostolic Prefecture of Niamey in French West Africa and the erection of a new Apostolic Prefecture of Fada N’Gourma (Fadangurmaënsis). It assigns this new jurisdiction to the Redemptorists, subjects it to Ouagadougou as metropolitan see, invests its ordinary with the usual rights and obligations of apostolic prefects, and entrusts the execution of the decree above all to Marcel Lefebvre as Apostolic Delegate in French Africa.

A solemn Catholic bishop in traditional vestments stands before a colonial-era church in Berberati, French Equatorial Africa, holding the 1959 'Berberatensi' constitution.

Apostolic Constitutions

BERBERATENSI (1959.02.09)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The constitution “Berberatensi” (Bossangoaensis), dated 9 February 1959 and signed by John XXIII, decrees the territorial division of the Berberati diocese in French Equatorial Africa to erect a new apostolic prefecture of Bossangoa, entrusted to the Capuchin Friars, dependent on Bangui as metropolitan see and executed by Marcel Lefebvre and collaborators. Behind the bureaucratic elegance of canonical formulas, this act is one more brick in the construction of a counterfeit hierarchy: the usurper on the Chair of Peter reshapes missionary structures to serve the coming conciliar revolution, not the immutable Kingdom of Christ the King.

A solemn Catholic ceremony markig the establishment of the Sicuani Prelature in 1959, reflecting the theological crisis and administrative changes in the Archdiocese of Cuzco.

Apostolic Constitutions

CUSCHENSIS (SICUANENSI) (1959.01.10)

amdg / 2025-11-09

Apostolic Constitution “Cuschenis (Sicuanensis)” of John XXIII briefly: by an administrative act, the occupier of the Apostolic See carves out several provinces from the historic Archdiocese of Cuzco in Peru (Canchis, Canas, Espinar, Chumbivilcas) and erects a new so‑called “prelatura nullius Sicuani,” assigns its boundaries, designates Sicuani as the see, elevates the local church of the Immaculate Virgin to a “prelatic” church, regulates clergy incardination and seminary formation, and orders the transfer of archives and temporal goods according to the 1917 Code of Canon Law—presenting all this as pastoral solicitude for souls and better governance of the “universal Church.”

Image of Syro-Malabar Changanacherry diocese elevation to archdiocese with traditional Eastern Catholic liturgy and church hierarchy.

Apostolic Constitutions

Changancherrensis et aliarum (1959.01.10)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The referenced constitution of John XXIII, “Changancherrensis et aliarum,” elevates the Syro-Malabar Changanacherry diocese to an archdiocese and erects a new ecclesiastical province (Changanacherry with Palai and Kottayam as suffragans), cloaking the act in pious biblical imagery about the mustard seed and the universal spread of the Church, and decorating it with the usual juridical formulae, privileges of the pallium, and self-asserted irreformability. It is a deceptively brief text in which the future architect of the conciliar revolution seeks to dress a structural mutation of the Eastern Catholic hierarchy in the external continuity of pre-conciliar canonical language, while in reality preparing one more brick in the construction of the conciliar sect’s autonomous, national, quasi-autocephalous system opposed to the one, visible, Roman-centered Church of Christ.

A traditional Catholic scene depicting the erection of a collegiate chapter of canons in the metropolitan cathedral of Chihuahua.

Apostolic Constitutions

Chihuahuensis (1959.01.08)

amdg / 2025-11-09

The document “Chihuahuensis” of John XXIII, issued as an apostolic constitution on 8 January 1959, juridically erects a collegiate chapter of canons in the metropolitan cathedral of Chihuahua: it specifies the number of canons and prebendaries, their dignities (Archdeacon, Theologian, Penitentiary, Administrator), regulates choir dress and external habit, links the new chapter to certain solemn liturgical functions, outlines competencies regarding benefices, and declares that diocesan consultors’ office ceases ipso facto once the chapter is erected.

A solemn depiction of the newly erected Praelatura Nullius of Coroico in Bolivia, with a traditional Latin Mass being celebrated in the church of St. Peter, symbolizing the unchanging Catholic faith and tradition.

Apostolic Constitutions

Pacensis in Bolivia (1958.11.07)

amdg / 2025-11-09

In this Latin text dated 7 November 1958, Giovanni Roncalli, under the name of John XXIII, issues an apostolic constitution that reorganizes territories of the Archdiocese of La Paz in Bolivia in order to erect a new territorial jurisdiction: the so‑called praelatura nullius of Coroico (Coroicensis). The document details: the territorial detachment from La Paz, subordination of the new entity to the metropolitan see, transfer of clergy and acts, erection of the church of St Peter in Coroico as cathedral, norms on the seminary and revenues, and execution clauses entrusted to the then apostolic nunciature. Beneath the administrative precision, this text is the first cold bureaucratic seal of the conciliar usurpation: a man elected after Pius XII, without Catholic faith, begins to act as legislator of the Church while introducing a new, fraudulent line of authority.

A traditional Catholic missionary scene in Papua in 1959, reflecting the true mission of the Church before conciliar changes.

Apostolic Constitutions

Portus Moresby (1959.07.16)

amdg / 2025-11-08

John XXIII’s apostolic constitution “Portus Moresby” (1959) reorganizes mission territories in Papua by carving new ecclesiastical jurisdictions—Yule Island vicariate and Daru prefecture—from the existing Port Moresby vicariate, assigning them to specific missionary congregations, and redefining borders with Samarai. Behind the seemingly technical redrawing of lines and the bureaucratic invocation of papal authority stands the incipient program of conciliar subversion: the transformation of the apostolic hierarchy into an administrative apparatus preparing the “Church of the New Advent” in place of the Mystical Body of Christ.

A solemn scene depicting the signing of the Apostolic Constitution 'Lagosensis' by 'John XXIII' in a Vatican room, surrounded by cardinals in red robes.

Apostolic Constitutions

Lagosensis (Kadunaënsis) (1959.07.16)

amdg / 2025-11-08

This Latin text is an Apostolic Constitution of John XXIII from 16 July 1959, by which he elevates the diocese of Kaduna in northern Nigeria to a metropolitan archdiocese and erects a new ecclesiastical province (Kadunaensis) with Kaduna as metropolitan see and Jos and Otukpo as suffragan dioceses, juridically detaching them from Lagos and Onitsha and granting the new metropolitan the usual canonical rights, privileges, and obligations, to be executed through the papal delegation and recorded according to curial formalities.

A solemn Catholic priest in liturgical vestments holds a map of the newly erected Apostolic Vicariate of Goma, surrounded by indigenous clergy in a lush African landscape.

Apostolic Constitutions

Bukavuensis (1959.06.30)

amdg / 2025-11-08

The Latin text under examination is the apostolic constitution by which John XXIII reorganizes the missionary jurisdiction in the then Belgian Congo, detaching territories from the Apostolic Vicariate of Bukavu to erect a new Apostolic Vicariate of Goma, formally entrusted to indigenous clergy. It delineates borders in meticulous civil-geographical terms, confirms all ordinary canonical rights and duties for the new circumscription, delegates execution to the apostolic delegate, and closes with the usual juridical formulas of perpetuity, nullity of contrary acts, and sanctions for disobedience. The entire document presents itself as an act of pastoral solicitude and missionary promotion, yet it stands as an early juridical symptom of the conciliar subversion to come, cloaking the mutation of the Church’s nature in seemingly neutral cartography and bureaucratic piety.

A traditional Catholic bishop in full liturgical regalia stands solemnly before the cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Hiroshima, Japan.

Apostolic Constitutions

Hiroshimensis (1959.06.30)

amdg / 2025-11-08

The document “Hiroshimensis,” dated 30 June 1959 and signed by antipope John XXIII, declares the elevation of the Apostolic Vicariate of Hiroshima to the rank of a diocese, assigns it as suffragan to Nagasaki, entrusts it to local clergy, orders the establishment of a cathedral chapter and seminary, regulates temporal goods, and mandates execution through the Apostolic Internuncio and the “Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith,” claiming perpetual canonical force for all these provisions within the conciliar structure.