Roman Catholicism in Nigeria

Catholic Church in  Nigeria
Catholics 18 million (2009)
Population of Nigeria 170 million (2012)[1]
President of Bishops' Conference Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama
Conference website cbcn-ng.org
Catholic Secretariat csnigeria.org
Catholic News Service cnsng.org
Papal Nuncio Archbishop Augustine Kasujja
Archdioceses 9
Suffragan Dioceses 43
Apostolic Vicariates 2
Parishes 1,905 (2004)
Diocesan Priests 3,452
Religious Priests 694
♦Total Priests 4,146 (2004)
Religious Women 3,674
Major seminaries in Nigeria6
Major seminarians
Minor seminaries in Nigeria2
Minor seminarians
♦Total seminarians 3,755 (2004)
Educational institutes 4,163
Charitable institutes 1,202
References Italian page for 2004[2]

The Catholic Church in Nigeria is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, the curia in Rome, and the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria. The president of the Bishops Conference is Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama (Archbishop of Jos).[3]

The Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches comprise the world's largest Christian Church, and its largest religious grouping. In 2005, there were an estimated 19 million baptised Catholics in Nigeria [4] and 22.6 million in 2010.[5]

Nigeria, together with Congo Democratic Republic, boasts of the highest number of priests in Africa. The boom in vocation to the priesthood in Nigeria is mainly in the eastern part (especially among the Igbo ethnic group) which accounts for over 70 percent of the country's Catholic population.

The second papal visit to the country in 1998 witnessed the beatification of Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi. Pope John Paul II proclaimed him blessed at Oba, Onitsha Archdiocese, a local Church established by the apostle of eastern Nigerian, Bishop Joseph Shanahan, CSSp.

The official patron saints of Nigeria are: Mary, Queen of Nigeria and Saint Patrick of Ireland.[6]

Map of Nigeria

List of Dioceses

Within Nigeria the hierarchy consists of:

Episcopal conference

Main article: Episcopal conference
See footnote[7]

Catholic traditionalism

A more traditionalist subset of the Catholic Church is also present in Nigeria and embodied by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (Nne Enyemaka Shrine,[8] Umuaka). There also exists a community of the irregular status Society of St. Pius X (Saint Michael’s Priory,[9][10] Enugu).

Catholic Universities in Nigeria

Major Seminaries in Nigeria

Minor Seminaries in Nigeria

Nigerians who have been Canonized

Catholic Religious Congregations Founded in Nigeria

Missionary Societies Active in Nigeria

See also

References

External links

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