Eastern Africa—1
This blog covers four countries in East Africa—Kenya, South
Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.
Kenya
Portuguese explorers came to Kenya
in 1498 and although some Kenyans became Catholic at that time, it was not
until Protestant missionaries came in 1844 that Christianity took root in
Kenya. The Holy Ghost Fathers came to
Kenya in 1892 and were successful evangelizers for the Catholic Faith. The efforts of the Holy Ghost Fathers and other
Catholic missionaries to establish schools and educate Africans were an
important contribution to Kenyan society.
Kenya came under the control of the British East Africa Company in 1887
and became a British Colony in 1920.
Kenya became an independent nation in 1963. There are 13 million Catholics in Kenya or 29
percent of the total population. About
half of all Kenyans are Protestant.
There are four ecclesiastical provinces:
Nairobi, Kisumu, Nyeri, and Mombasa. There is also a military diocese and the
Apostolic Vicariate of Isiolo, which was established in 1995 and is immediately
subject to the Pope. As an aside, the
first Apostolic Vicar of Isiolo, Luigi Locati, was murdered in 2005 by four men
who were paid for the killing by one of Locati’s priests.
Province of
Nairobi
The province consists of south
central Kenya. The Metropolitan
Archdiocese of Nairobi was created in 1953.
The first church for Holy Family
parish was built in 1904 by the Holy Ghost Fathers. This small church was the first stone
building in Nairobi. Construction of the
current church took place during the 1940s and 1950s. The building was designed by Dorothy Hughes,
a British architect, and it seats over 3,000.
The church became the Cathedral for the Archdiocese of Nairobi in 1953
and was named a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1982. See holyfamilybasilica.infor for more
information.
The Province has six suffragan
dioceses.
·
The Diocese of Kitui was created in 1956 as an
apostolic prefecture and became a Diocese in 1963.
·
The Diocese of Nakuru was established in 1968.
·
The Diocese of Machakos was established in 1969.
·
The Diocese of Ngong was established as an
apostolic prefecture in 1959 and became a Diocese in 1976.
·
The Diocese of Kericho was established in 1995.
· The Diocese of Woto was established in 2023.
Province
of Kisumu
The province consists of western
Kenya. The Apostolic Prefecture of
Kavirondo was established in 1925 and became the Apostolic Vicariate of Kisumu
in 1932. The Diocese of Kisumu was
erected in 1953 and was promoted to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kisumu in
1990. The Metropolitan Cathedral is
dedicated to St. Theresa. See
archdioceseofkisumu.org.
The Province has seven suffragan
dioceses.
·
The Diocese of Eldoret began as an apostolic
prefecture in 1953 and became a Diocese in 1959.
·
The Diocese of Kisii was established in 1960.
·
The Diocese of Lodwar started as an apostolic
prefecture in 1968 and became a Diocese in 1978.
·
The Diocese of Kakamega was established in 1978.
·
The Diocese of Bungoma was established in 1987.
·
The Diocese of Homa Bay was established in 1993.
·
The Diocese of Kitale was established in 1998.
Province of Nyeri
The province consists of north
central Kenya. The Mission sui juris of
Kenya was erected in 1905 and became an apostolic vicariate in 1909. The Diocese of Nyeri was created in 1953 and
became a metropolitan archdiocese in 1990.
Our Lady of Consolata Metropolitan Cathedral is in Nyeri. There is a Facebook page.
The first picture is from Twitter and the second from Wikipedia.
The Province has six suffragan
dioceses.
·
The Diocese of Meru started as an apostolic
prefecture in 1926 before becoming a Diocese in 1953.
·
The Diocese of Marsabit was created in 1964.
·
The Diocese of Murang’a was created in 1983.
·
The Diocese of Embu was created in 1986.
·
The Diocese of Maralal was established in 2001.
·
The Diocese of Nyahururu was created in 2002.
The Diocese of Isiolo was created in 2023.
Province of Mombasa
The province consists of eastern
Kenya. The Diocese of Mombasa and
Zanzibar was created in 1955 and became the Diocese of Mombasa in 1964. It was promoted to the Metropolitan
Archdiocese of Mombasa in 1990.
Holy Ghost Cathedral in Mombasa is
the oldest parish in Kenya. Construction
of the current building was completed in 1923.
The Romanesque building is made of stone and has two towers at the
front. See holyghostcathedral.org.
The Province has two suffragan
dioceses.
·
The Diocese of Garissa began as an apostolic
prefecture in 1976 and became a Diocese in 1984.
·
The Diocese of Malindi was created in 2000.
South Sudan
South Sudan gained independence from The Sudan in 2011. There are 5.7 million Catholics in South
Sudan, or about 40 percent of the total.
There is one province: Juba. There are some Greek-Melkite and Syriac
Catholics in South Sudan served by bishops outside of the country.
Province of Juba
The province consists of South
Sudan. The Apostolic Prefecture of Bahr
el-Gebel was established in 1927 and became an apostolic vicariate in
1951. It became the Apostolic Vicariate
of Juba in 1961 and was promoted to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Juba in
1974. The Cathedral of St. Therese in
Juba was built in 1952.
From Tripadvisor
The Province has six suffragan
dioceses.
·
The Diocese of Wau began as the Apostolic
Prefecture of Bahr el-Ghazal in 1913 and became an apostolic vicariate in
1917. It became the Diocese of Wau in
1974.
·
The Diocese of Malakal began as an apostolic prefecture
in 1938 and became a diocese in 1974.
·
The Diocese of Tombura-Yambio began as the
Apostolic Prefecture of Mupoi in 1949 and became the Diocese of Tombura in
1974. It acquired its current name in
1986.
·
The Diocese of Rumbek was established as an apostolic
vicariate in 1955 before being raised to a diocese in 1974.
·
The Diocese of Torit was created in 1983.
·
The Diocese of Yei was created in 1986.
The Diocese of Bentiu was created in 2024.
Ethiopia
Catholic missionaries from Egypt
established the Faith in Ethiopia in the 4th Century, but most
Ethiopians became monophysites in the 6th Century and eventually
Orthodox Christians. Today, Orthodox and
Protestant Christians make up 62 percent of the total population and Muslims 34
percent. Catholics make up 900,000 or
only 1 percent of the total. Italian
missionaries came to Ethiopia in the 1830s and reestablished the Church.
About 90 percent of the Catholics
are Roman-rite Catholics living in the southern part of Ethiopia. These Catholics are under the jurisdiction of
8 apostolic vicariates (Awasa, Gambella, Harar, Hosanna, Jimma-Bonga, Meki,
Nekemte, and Soddo) and one apostolic prefecture (Robe)—all are immediately
subject to the Pope. The oldest of these
jurisdictions was established in 1846, but all but three were established in
the last 40 years. Ethiopian Rite
Catholics live mostly in Northern Ethiopia and are under the jurisdiction of
the Ethiopian Rite Province of Addis Ababa.
Province of Addis
Ababa
The province consists of Ethiopian
Rite Catholics in Ethiopia. The
Apostolic Prefecture of Abyssinia was created in 1839 and became an apostolic
vicariate in 1847. Pope Pius XII
established the Apostolic Exarchate of Addis Ababa in 1951 and Pope John XXIII
raised it to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Addis Ababa in 1961. The Archbishop of Addis Ababa is the Metropolitan of all Ethiopian Rite Catholics. The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Nativity of
the Blessed Virgin Mary in Addis Ababa has a website: catholicaddis.org/cathedral.
Both pictures are from Wikipedia.
The Province has three suffragan dioceses.
·
The Diocese of Adigrat began as the Apostolic
Prefecture of Tigray in 1937 before acquiring its current name in 1961.
·
The Diocese of Emdeber was created in 2003.
·
The Diocese of Bahir Dar-Dessie was created in
2015.
Eritrea
Eritrea, as a former province of
Ethiopia, shares Ethiopia’s history until 1993, when Eritrea gained its
independence. The Eritrean Rite was
created in 2015. Eritrean Rite Catholics
number about 200,000, or less than 4 percent of the total population of 6
million. There is one province: Asmara.
Province of Asmara
The province consists of Eritrea. The Ordinariate of Eritrea was established in
1930, became the Apostolic Exarchate of Asmara in 1951, and the Diocese
of Asmara in 1961. The Metropolitan Archdiocese was created in
2015. The Archbishop of
Asmara is the Metropolitan of all Eritrean Rite Catholics.
The Metropolitan Cathedral is
dedicated to Our Blessed Mother as Kidane Mehret in the Ge’ez language or
Covenant of Mercy in English. This
refers to Our Lord’s promise to His Mother that He would forgive the sins of
those who sought her intercession. The
Cathedral was built in 1969.
The top picture is from panaramio and the bottom picture is from Wikipedia.
The Province has three suffragan dioceses.
·
The Diocese of Barentu was created in 1995.
·
The Diocese of Keren was created in 1995.
·
The Diocese of Segheneyti was created in 2012.
Definitions
The Catholic Church is mostly
divided into ecclesiastical provinces—a province consists of a metropolitan archdiocese
and one or more dioceses. The province and the archdiocese are led by an
archbishop. Each of the dioceses is called a suffragan diocese and is led
by a bishop. Archbishops have some
responsibilities for the province, but all bishops answer directly to the
Pope. There are also archdioceses that are not part of a province that
are directly under the jurisdiction of the Pope. There are also jurisdictions below the level
of a diocese. These include apostolic
vicariates and apostolic prefectures. Both are missionary territories
below the level of a diocese. The difference is that a vicar apostolic
holds the rank of a bishop and the prefect apostolic is a priest, but not a
bishop. There is also a jurisdiction
called a mission sui juris. A mission
sui juris may be part of a province and is often administered by a bishop of
another diocese.
Most Catholics in the world belong
to the Latin or Roman rite. Rite refers
to liturgical practices, ecclesiastical discipline, and spiritual
heritage. Many Catholics belong to one
of two dozen Eastern rite churches. Eastern rite churches trace their
heritage to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Eastern rite churches
sometimes use different terminologies. For example, a diocese might be
called an eparchy and is led by an eparch. A vicariate apostolic is
called an exarchy and is led by an exarch.
A basilica is an honorary title
bestowed on a church by the Pope because of the church’s antiquity, dignity, historical
importance, or significance as a center of worship. Some cathedrals are also basilicas.
Each basilica has a ceremonial umbrella in the papal colors of white and yellow
and a ceremonial bell (although some basilicas do not display them). Both
of these are symbolic of the Pope’s special relationship to the basilica.
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