Catholic Church in the Maldives

The Catholic Church in the Maldives is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The Annals of the Propagation of the Faith mentions that in 1833 after the consecration of Clément Bonnand as the Vicar Apostolic of Pondicherry, he was authorized by the Holy See to send missionaries to the Maldive Islands where the Christian faith has not reached. But there is not and has never been any Roman Catholic territorial jurisdiction in the Maldives, but has been covered by the Archdiocese of Colombo in Sri Lanka since 1886. The constitution of the island does not allow citizenship of those who are not Muslims, and those found with non-Islamic religious materials can be subject to arrest.